I come from a family of learners, and I believe in lifelong learning.

When my Dad moved to Bangalore in 1990, he knew the importance of education & learning. His education had single-handedly helped him move away from his family job of farming in a quiet town in north Karnataka to live the Bangalore dream – a desi version of the American dream.

When my sister and I were born, we became top priority for my Mom. But once we started going to school, my Dad suggested something to my Mom. “Why don’t you do a Master’s degree?”  This was very unexpected, to say the least. The 90’s were still a time when women were just asked to take care of children, stay at home and not be worried too much about education.

My mom, thrilled by this opportunity, gladly agreed. While taking care of me and my sister, she squeezed out every bit of time she could get and studied hard. A couple of years later, she was a proud graduate degree holder in Hindi literature. Here was a person who studied in Marathi medium, learnt Kannada after moving to Karnataka, majoring in Hindi.

My mother went on to become a part-time Hindi professor a few years later. Her aunts and her friends were so proud of her. But were also sad that they themselves didn’t get such an opportunity. While the environment we have around us plays an important role, willingness to learn is a conscious choice. Learning is a function of environment & willingness.

But this is not all about formal education. My mom started learning English by herself in her late 40s. She asked me to install a few apps on her smartphone to learn English and takes out some time every day to read an English newspaper. As you can see, she’s a big proponent of lifelong learning.

The advent of YouTube has completely changed my life and learning. Of the many channels I follow, I’ve recently come across something called “learning seasons” – a concept where you learn a particular skill and make a season out of it. For me right now, it’s the season of badminton – the winter of badminton. My previous season was cartooning, and these are a few I’ve drawn. I’ve realized that these skills, over a period of time, gradually become a part of my personality – and that has helped me keep myself happy and developed a sense of accomplishment.

ISB might be the last piece of formal education most of us would go through. In the jobs we all would go to post-ISB, we would all be considered “experts” – somebody who is extremely smart, knows everything and can solve anything. When we are in such a state of mind, it’s very easy to fall into this trap of not learning enough, not improving, and not being better. It is exactly at this point in time that we all should not slack off, but double down on our learning and make it a lot of fun. In the summer post ISB, choose your own season! A summer of guitar, a summer of poetry, a summer of ballroom dancing, a summer of swimming, a summer of anything. A summer of learning. Thank you.

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[Indian School of Business, Winter 2020 (Section A)]