A Journey from Nothing to Everything: Mr. Laukik Inamdar

Deciding your name and your school is not in your hands. Parents are the one who decide it for you. The Bishop’s School Pune was where my destiny began, a school full of rich kids and me a son of  parents with rich hearts. School was often boring, but I never knew it was making me the me I am today. Science was what I loved since my childhood, chemistry to be specific.

Sinhgad college is far away from our house Maharashtra Vidyalay will be perfect, were the words that admitted me to 11th and 12th. Computer programming was the one thing I hated the most in my school days and the only other option was Electronics as a bifocal subject. And I said to myself, let’s give it a try, but during this time there was something else cooking inside me. Grades were always decent, and after 12th there is only one field called “engineering” and I was ready for the loop.

Either I lacked research or there was no one to guide. With my marks Electronics and Telecommunication was the only branch I could get without any donation, and that had to be my choice. These were the best four years of my life, and I will never regret my decision. Friends, family, and grades everything was perfect but the cook inside me was not perfect at all. Studying on a foreign land was always a dream, and my target was the land of opportunities, The United States.

But before flying I decided to have some work experience in hand, securing a job was not easy but the 9^th interview was the lucky one of all, after a long wait I secured a position as Business Associate with Reliance Jio a telecom firm. I was assigned for the rural market, I got a great team me being the youngest of all. Comfort zone cloud started to form, but I knew I wanted something different and master’s was the plan. Once again there was a confusion what to choose a business or technical degree for my master’s. After a long thought and good research, I applied for the technical one. But this time God had some different plans. A reject made me choose the business side. A Master’s in Business and Hospitality was the degree I was destined for. But this was not on the land of opportunities but on the friendliest land, Ireland.

A dream to open my food business was always on my mind, and I knew I could achieve with this degree behind. First day in Shannon Ireland there was nowhere to go a WhatsApp contact gave me a house to live. Within a month I realised I had sacrificed a lot, home cooked food and my parents scold I still miss it a lot. Now I had a second family, but this one belonged to the world Ireland, China, Switzerland, Moldova were the countries to name a few. Master’s was one hell of a ride, assignments, presentations and lovely professors. To bear my expenses I decided to work part-time, and I took this opportunity to explore my hobby, work and studies was tedious task. I worked as a chef, first in a 4 star hotel The Limerick Strand, then in an airport hotel Park Inn by Radisson, later in a takeaway chain Bombay Pantry when in Dublin. I noticed working under someone was way more difficult than actually cooking food. Then I decided, why not explore the business side as business had always kept me amused, but this was difficult a foreign boy on a foreign land. 6 months wait and after a lot of rejects, I secured a job as a Business Development Associate, Bizimply a software company working for hospitality businesses.

Then came the coronavirus, and the lockdown was announced. One day my professor messaged me and asked me whether I was up for a nomination to raise money for frontline and health care workers. She always knew cooking was my thing, all I had to do was to cook a dish and post a video and this time I did not had to work under anyone it was just me and a few. I was excited about this opportunity, and I enjoyed every second of the video where I made kheer for a good cause and donations were taken through a link I shared. An Indian dish to help the Irish force. I think social work is in my genes, and yes social work does not need money it needs a big heart. My dream still remains the same and the journey has not come to an end. But as you achieve your goals it is very important to give back to society, because things grow only when you give. Last but not least, dream big and live the journey, decisions will go wrong, dreams will change as you grow, but the memories and journey will be the one you will always cherish.

laukik95@gmail.com

for more such articles visit www.mahaedunews.com