Burning My Boat .....

Now this is going to take a while to read, so you will have to forgive me for this long post but I can assure you, this was a long time coming ...

 I graduated from the Naval Academy in India in 1999 and exactly 22 years later I have graduated as an MBA from University of Sydney . This is my Journey in a snapshot (Relatively !!!). After 4 grueling years of training in the Naval Academy , getting up at 5 AM and sleeping at 12 midnight, too tired to even swap the mosquito that was feasting on your hand ,I graduated as a second Lieutenant at age 21 in Indian Navy .The year was 1999 and I thought I was on top of the world . I was awarded the Positive living Award in the Best All rounder Category . I played Tennis for the Navy with Panache , Sky dived with passion , did my basic Mountaineering course & Rappelling, was the lead vocalist of the Naval Band playing Guitar and was always the preferred Master of ceremony in all Navy events .You could say, I was having it pretty good , why wouldn't you , we were brought up on the heady cocktail of serving your country with duty, honour and courage , always doing the harder right instead of the easier wrong , always putting the welfare of your team first before yourself .

During my training as a cadet , I learnt my first lesson in Life -" you can be as happy as you want to be" .The simple joy of mixing Jam with butter on your toast which is a privilege we as cadets were accorded only in our third term( each term being six months) felt like being on top of the world . So we kept earning these simple privileges till our sixth term, by which time I felt I was the king. What it taught us was that you need to earn, respect and enjoy the simple things in life that we take for granted!! .

Thereafter we got accorded our Bachelors in Engineering and our Post graduation Masters after studying a further two years interspersed with our practical trainings onboard warships and submarines . I was selected for the elite Submarine Arm , where we underwent specialised training , living 200 M below water in a bunk bed in a submarine where equipment was given more importance than living comfort. My first dive and the customary sea water drinking at 200M was special and just getting a chance to see the outside sky and the sea through a Periscope was the ultimate joy.

By this time I was a veteran of Kargil war 99 and Ops Parakram 2002, the largest mobilisation exercise of the Armed forces where I did my first Submarine war patrol, staying 40 Days and nights under water in Ultra quite state often in temp exceeding 45 deg and humidity of 100 percent . It was like being in Sauna without an end timer. As I got senior, we got into the Rat race of getting better Submarines, Warships and appointments and distance between the harder rights and the easier wrongs started blurring much to my discomfort. I did small tenures in 04 countries and interacted with tens if not hundreds of Navies but I always had an inner calling which kept asking me the question when I stood in front of the mirror "-Is this what you signed up for ".

I was privileged to be mentored by some of the finest Officers in the Navy , "Officers & Gentlemen" and their guidance kept me grounded . The joy I felt leading men & women under my Command and earning their trust and pushing them to achieve what they never thought was possible was my lasting legacy and my most cherished experience.

Coming to experiences, they say" Experience is what you get when you don't get what you want”. I always wanted to experience the other side, as we called it then and so after 24 years in the Navy (cant exclude the 04 years as a cadet) , I took Pre mature retirement voluntarily. I was doing well as a Commander in Western Naval Command Mumbai , leading a life of relative luxury in the most expensive and sought after suburb in Mumbai (Courtesy the Navy) and my Wife was the Vice president of a leading MNC before we decided to migrate to Australia on a Skilled PR Visa with just suitcases, no jobs, a hundred thousand dollar bill for my upcoming MBA and two kids.

I knew that I would be burning the Boat once I came here Down under not knowing what fate & destiny had in store me. With all these inner demons and my wife's sometimes innocent and sometimes probing questions asking me if I knew what I was doing and then me lying and telling her not to worry as I had it all under control when in fact nothing could be further from the truth. I had even written my GMAT and got into the top MBA program in Sydney to buy time. My wife subsequently eased into a great Job in Macquarie Bank and I heaved a sigh of relief as I was now a full time MBA student and she was the sole bread winner .We had two kids who felt we were on another international holiday before they realised we were getting them into an Aussie school. 

Australia is wonderful place filled with wonderful people, never once did I feel not welcome in this amazing country. In fact this is a microcosm of how an ideal society and country should be but it was tough getting a job first . I was told I was either overqualified or that I needed to start at the bottom and work my way up but every single employer asked for Australian local experience. Now this was a case of chicken and egg - How do I get Aussie experience if none were willing to give me a break .

 I flexed over to the evening program MBA (which by the way was tougher as I had the company of upcoming and ambitious working Aussies and not international students as was the case with Full time) . I did this so that could start my job hunt in right earnest but then Covid struck and away went my best laid plans . I committed to completing my MBA nevertheless , in a record time of 15 Months (only because I was told by my MBA staff that this was Impossible) and anyways I had planned to do this faster than the full time cohort .I was only one of the two who finally cracked through Amazon Web services(AWS) as a Senior Program Manager in Business development & Strategy amongst hundreds of applicants all over Australia . Now, this meant 16 hour works days managing both my AWS workload and my MBA for a straight nine months. Covid became my best friend in this journey as I could save some time travelling whenever I could work from home .

 I was lucky to get into Amazon , an organisation where leadership principles mirrored the Navy and am ever grateful for Amazon taking a leap of faith and helping me transition from a senor Military leader to a corporate leader .

 So exactly after two years (I retired in Jun 2019 from the Navy) and coming to Australia in July 2019 , I have graduated from my MBA , bought a dream house for 2 Million dollars (of course the Banks are paying 90 percent and taking the risk) , my wife landed a great job and the kids feel they are in wonderland . An Immigrants success story....however, this wouldn't have been possible but for two incidents in my life . 

One - As a cadet in the Academy while doing a major survival camp, I was stuck in a Ravine in Sahyadri range of mountains for hours with a fall of thousands of feet imminent ( I was the scout) and I swore that If I ever got out of this one , I would always do the right thing and live my dream . Joining the submarine arm and doing the bidding of my heart over my mind was always going to be the way forward ever since.

Second - As a senior Commander, I had a freak accident in the Naval base for which I was in the ICU for 48 Hours. I once again thought, if I got out of this one alive, I would live my life and take all possible calculated risks and so the first thing I did after getting out of the hospital was opting for retirement and boarding the Boat Down under (the flight I mean).

The single biggest learning “To taste success and discover new lands, one needs to have the courage to lose sight of the shore”

Today, I say I have arrived thanks to all the people in my life who have helped shaped my thoughts and played a role in my getting here. By no means am I suggesting I have been successful but I shall take the position I currently find myself, in a heartbeat .

Thank you for your patience and time reading my journey and I think I finally have this load of my chest . Having burnt my boat to go back, I shall sign off my first article on this platform quoting Muhammad Ali -

“Impossible is just a big word thrown around by small men who find it easier to live in the world they've been given than to explore the power they have to change it. Impossible is not a fact. It's an opinion. Impossible is not a declaration. Its a dare. Impossible is temporary, Impossible is potential . Impossible is Nothing."