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Sukanya Roy



Sukanya Roy

Researcher @Indian School of Business

Embrace Failure

It was a rainy evening and I was enjoying a cup of coffee with hot samosas. A soothing Rabindra sangeet truly made my evening. I truly believe in celebrating myself. While I was enjoying my coffee, suddenly the bell rang. After switching off the music, I moved towards the door. “Who’s there?” A male voice: “Open Sukanya, Dharmik here.” Me: “Ohh great! What a pleasant surprise! No prior notice and you visit my place, suddenly.” Dharmik: “Yeah, to give a surprise.” Me: “Great! Let’s enjo...

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No of Suggestion

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Story Writing

Dark Practices: Still Exist

Nature attracts everyone & so do me and I want to get wet again and again by nature's love. I always love & wait for the rainy season to come throughout year...
One rainy day, while enjoying the rain, I was standing in the balcony with a cup of tea in my hand & suddenly my eyes stopped at the vegetable shop of the society just opposite to my landlord’s house. I saw society cleaner cleaning and collecting the society garbage in his cart, but my eyes got stuck in the cart, where his 5yrs old son was sitting aside, he was properly dressed and waiting for his father in the cart, and in the same frame I saw  a young professional father carrying his little girl, they stopped at the society’s gate waiting for her school bus. That scene made me realized father love is eternal, no matter what your profession is, rich or poor you are, that fatherly love is same everywhere. I got so mesmerized by that view that I didn’t even realize when my tea mug stood empty & I was just standing, thinking, joining dots of my own thoughts.
Few hours later, I saw Rajkumari didi(my maid), entered my room and said, Sorry didi, I got late due to rain.
Me: No worry, Didi. I understand your issue, its rainy season. You can come any time
Rajkumari: Thank you didi, you are very supportive.
Time flies, in my new job and new city
One morning, I was as usual getting ready for my college, suddenly Didi came in my room, from her gestures I assume than she was not  feeling well.
Me: Didi, all well ?
Didi: I am fine and I have to be fine or else how will I be able to work?
Me: No Didi, it’s not like that, your body is also made of flesh & bones. You don’t need to come to my home for work when you are sick, and  I will never deduct single penny from your salary.
Didi: You think so, but everybody does not think so.
And as soon as she said so, Didi started crying heavily. I tried to console her, but she kept crying, then I gave her a glass of water and said, “drink water and tell me what happened”.
Didi: Rajkumari Didi got emotional and said, working in the house of the people is my helplessness and my source of income too, but at the end I am also human and woman too. God have created all human beings. 
Me: Yes didi, I understand you & life struggles of a woman.
Didi: Like every woman, I too face a mensuration cycle every month and its natural for every woman.
You know before coming to your home, I do the cleaning job of aunty’s place(landowner). Today is the second day of my mensuration cycle and for this reason and I am not  feeling well. Though I am not well still I attended my daily work schedule. As, I was  doing my cleaning job, I have a sudden stomach ache. Could not go to the washroom which mainly used by the cleaning staff, So, without  thinking much I used the owner’s washroom, once I open the gate of the washroom, mistress  screamed with a loud voice “ How dare you use to our washroom, that too in your mensuration period” 
Me: Why? She screamed on you?
Didi: I belong from the slum areas, that is the reason.
Me: Didi, but you clean their house and wash their cooking utensils too. How can people be so inhuman. 
Me: Didi, I am sorry I was not aware of such “washroom discrimination rituals”, you are always welcome to use my washroom in any moments of time, and you don’t have to come when in your first two days of your mensuration periods.
Didi: Thank you, you think like that, but people do not have the same thoughts. A house like a splendid palace, branded cars in front of the house, people are highly educated but thoughts did not change, still holding the discrimination thoughts.
Me: Do not worry Didi, all will be fine. I am getting late for college. Please take care.
Few hours later, I reached college, sitting on my work station I was thinking about the episode, which was share by Rajkumari Didi..
Every day I read about discrimination in the name of caste and racial discrimination, but never thought never thought about washroom discrimination that exist in our society. 
This episode might sound common, but I can’t accept these practices around me & living with these suffocates me. At the end some things can’t be changed completely the way you want. You can’t change world, can’t change society, can’t change people, the only thing you can change is YOU, by accepting every situation & people as they are. My thoughts are still scattered like stars, can’t make constellations out of these.
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The Beauty of Failure

My Journey of an ordinary girl to become an Author: Failure is the assets of life. 

Failures and success are two interconnected phenomena that characterize human life. I (Sukanya Roy) am successful failure, I failed in every venture of my life and that helps me to learn more and explore my life in a meaning way.  I still remember my childhood instance, when I was in 8th std and secured low scores in computer subject, I was bit scared to show my marks to  maa, but her reaction regarding my marks was little different , she neither scold or make negative remarks on my  computer marks,  in fact she hold my hands and   told  “next time prepared well and try to learn the concept more and If you try and failed again, we will celebrate because  your learning helps you in future not your scores”   That small instance change my perspective towards failure till today  when I failed, I don’t take the pain rather  I enjoy the failed moments which provides a  rich  experience and that experience  helps me to gain more knowledge and knowledge make you  better person.
Today I want to share the failure framework which I learned from my life experience.
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Embrace Failure

It was a rainy evening and I was enjoying a cup of coffee with hot samosas. A soothing Rabindra sangeet truly made my evening. I truly believe in celebrating myself.
While I was enjoying my coffee, suddenly the bell rang. After switching off the music, I moved towards the door.
“Who’s there?”
A male voice: “Open Sukanya, Dharmik here.”
Me: “Ohh great! What a pleasant surprise! No prior notice and you visit my place, suddenly.”
Dharmik: “Yeah, to give a surprise.”
Me: “Great! Let’s enjoy coffee and samosas.”
On hearing the evening snacks menu, Dharmik was super excited and started doing his favourite salsa steps. As he was engaged with his salsa, I went to the kitchen to fry more samosas and to make another cup of coffee.
Samosas were served with green chutney to Dharmik.
I served the hot samosas in his favourite plate; he grabbed them and took a bite with green chutney without wasting a second. His indulging expression can't be expressed in words. From here, our never-ending food chat started.
We knew each other but he never visited me without prior notice. This was making me puzzled and to get the answer, I finally asked, “Is everything okay with you?”
Dharmik: “Yeah, but today I feel low.”
Me: “(My eyes popped out) seriously Dharmik, I never saw you in a low mood!”
Dharmik: “Yeah, I am also human, I have emotions too”
Me: “Why? What Happened? Please, open your heart.”
Before starting the conversation, we picked samosas to start the discussion with some hot relishes.
Dharmik: “Sometimes I wonder, what is the purpose of life? I have a wonderful career graph, worked with all big brands and now, I joined the topmost educational institute ‘Global Educational Institute/GEI’ institute to explore the academic world, learn lots of frameworks. I am, now, aware of what I will do after this.”
Me: “Dharmik, no worry. Everyone has their own successful graph, in terms of professional and personal life. But one thing you know Dharmik! I have gone through a successful failure, in every aspect of my life, either professional or personal.”
I added more details to elicit the discussion,
“In my entire family generation, I was the only girl whose marriage sustained for only three months. My marriage was not fruitful. But after this incident, I realized the importance of me and my existence. Marriage is not the only relation. Other than human relations, I have a relation with Mother Nature and animals too.
Similarly, my professional life is not too great. In my school days, I was an average student, so not attained great scores or neither my surname includes the name of Ambani and Birla. So, I had to continue my studies at an average college. Though my course structure didn’t meet with the great education system, I learned the most important skills i.e Basic human skills (where I learned to give respect and learned a positive attitude towards life).
The second incident took place when I was preparing for government jobs. That too was a big failure for me as I attempted many exams but, fortunately, or unfortunately, didn’t get selected in any of the govt jobs, even in the Railway peon entrance exam. But today, I understood, God has some bigger plans for me. If I was selected in any govt jobs my life would be stagnant. There would be no scope to learn or explore new things from my environment. Additionally, I would not be able to understand the ground reality and problems of my small area. In those periods, I was in Jhunjhunu, where I learned the basic aptitude skills, which further helped me to open a small coaching institute, especially for women. These provided a good platform, where women can get a safe and peaceful environment to study. Vedanta coaching institute: A platform guide & mentor for Commerce/Business students. Apart from running my own institute, I also taught students of Business.
Administration at the prestigious Goenka Degree College.”
Took a deep breath and added,“Again something happened. ‘Vedanta’ failed as a startup. The competition was tough. There were several other coaching institutions in the locality, all catering to the same market. What was really my competitive advantage and how would I market that?
Failure of my startup and introspection into the cause of failure, made me realize that I did not have enough knowledge in marketing strategy and promotion skills where I can deliver my service to the target segment. In my desperation to find the answers, I joined the Global Institute of Management, Udaipur as a Research Associate to delve deeper into the Marketing Area and found out the unique ways to solve the marketing problems. GIM, Udaipur was a whole new world, where I have developed an aptitude for problem-solving through research and analysis. I worked on data construction using both primary and secondary data. Meanwhile, the theoretical and empirical challenges, I faced while working, gave me an opportunity to learn new concepts and research methodologies. In the process of working on various research papers, I underwent an extensive reading of marketing journals like ‘Journal of Marketing’, ‘Journal of Consumer Research’, ‘Journal of consumer psychology’, ‘Journal of Marketing research’, for gaining
knowledge in statistical software such as SPSS, MEXL, and R and working on marketing databases such as Sales data. Here, I fixed my mind to go for higher studies and enroll in the doctoral program from any IIMs/IITs.
Preparing for doctoral programs was a new journey for me…To enroll in any full-time Ph.D. program; I had to polish my marketing concepts. So, I landed in the class of MBA and learn more about the research tools… Though it was not the end, I have to give the GRE exam and in addition, I must gather a Letter of recommendation from professors. Till today, I don’t find any correlation GRE with doctoral programs. In my entire doctoral entrance journey, I published a paper, attended conferences, reviewed papers in some good journals and also cleared my GRE exam. Though I did not get enrolled in any Ph.D. programs, in the name of Ph.D., I learned many things.”
Dharmik (Surprised): “OMG!!!”
Me: “(replied with the smile) you know Dharmik I am blessed … My almighty brought me on the right track for my life... I got to know the most relevant answers to life in the entire admission journey for my doctoral programs; the existence of my life is to serve good works for nature. I started a dog shelter; though I would not earn good money or I will lead a fanciful life neither people will know me regarding my research work. But I am contented with my work. When I see the wagging tails of my dogs, it gives me an inner satisfaction.”
Me: “So, I embraced my failure …My failure has given me a U-turn in my life. I’m cherishing every moment of life by keeping the good works ahead. If something good happens, it’s good. If it gets failed, keep working hard. It will never fade and will definitely shine at some specific time.”
Dharmik: “True… from today onwards, I’ll embrace and celebrate every failure.”
Me: “Listen Dharmik, it is dinner time, please join for dinner.”
Dharmik: “Cool, but please prepare simple food i.e dal and rice.”
I went to the kitchen and started preparing Dharmik’s favourite dish Dal and rice, and suddenly my phone rang, it was ‘Sanya’…
Me: “Hey Sanya, How are you and where are you?”
Sanya: “On my way to Mohali, feeling hungry”
Me: “Great, Dharmik is here in my room and would you like to join us for dinner.”
Sanya: “Sounds cool.”
While disconnecting the call, I moved to Dharmik and said, “Sanya is on her way to Mohali and will join us soon for dinner.”
Suddenly the doorbell rang... Sanya was there…
Wow, it was a beautiful evening with three of us. Though we had simple food “rice and dal”, we celebrated the togetherness.
I am blessed to have such wonderful friends in my life.
Sanya and Dharmik. Love you!
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Thought Writing

The Positive Side of Boredom

The most frequent statement that is taken in 24 hours a day by  individuals is “feeling/ getting bored”. According to science it is proved that it is good to get bored. According to the study, it is found that when  the body  is goes in autopilot (unconsciousness mood), our brain get busy in forming neural connections which helps to create new ideas and also  to assist in solving  complex  problems. Boredom makes person more effective and creative.  
Manoush Zomorodi the famous author in her  book Bored and Brilliant emphasized that boredom leads to  brilliant ideas.  The boredom is not a curse; it is a blessings.
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Dilli Chalo

A famous slogan,  “Dilli Chalo”,  by Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose comes to my mind today. I read this slogan in my early childhood schooldays. But never  thought that In the year 2020  farmers will have to  follow the path of Netaji to fight for  their rights.  India has  always been  known as an agricultural economy.  Farmers are the  backbone of our nation. “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan“ is not only a  slogan, but it is an integral part of our nation. In  the election season “farmers’ benefits” always become the integral part of political campaigns, but once elections are  over, these become irrelevant. Recently the  Central Government passed a bizarre law for farmers with the avowed object to benefit them, but  unfortunately the enacted law is  for their detriment.  Farmers are against this law. They want its rollback. So in the current days “Jai Jawan, Jai Kisan” slogan has become  meaningless. The farmers have no choice except to follow the words of Neta Subhas Chandra Bose.  “Dilli Chalo”  (March to Delhi.)
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