It was just another day and just another business competition my friend and I had registered for. Knowing we were 10 minutes late, we entered a hall full of people. Then we were supposed to choose our “industry” by picking a chit randomly from a box containing some pieces of paper. As I unfolded the paper, my mind almost shut. Overall it had been bad day, a day that should have perhaps ended soon. Reluctantly, we moved to the table and placed our paraphernalia there. With almost half the time left, I started thinking, not about the product I was supposed to design, but about backing out. I didn’t want a room full of people to laugh at my ideas or rather the lack of them. In a flash of a second, an inexplicable thought struck my mind and somehow it made me abandon the idea of withdrawing my name. So, trying to suppress any more thoughts about the outcome, I decided to finally go for it.
We managed to design a shoddy product that I know didn’t exist and maybe could be a rage if it did. The marketing strategies were there in place and so was the pricing. The allotted time was nearing its end and with great reluctance we handed over our “piece of imagination” to the organizers and comfortably walked out of the room. Now, I was again dithering over the two options, should I go for it and let my ideas be denigrated or should I just head back home and let this inauspicious day end. Meanwhile, it was our turn to present the product in front of the jury and I quivered. The frequency of calls by the organizers had increased manifold. Finally I decided to go for it. We were the last participants on the list.
Eventually, we finished the presentation and came back to our table. Then it was the time for the judges to announce the result and with virtually no hope, I was packing my bag to move out of the room. Without paying much attention to the recipient of the third prize, I was moving towards the door. Then I heard something that is till now, one of the most cherished moments of my life.
Yes, we had won it. I exchanged glances with the judge twice and then she repeated the result, and that finally made me believe it was for real. What I termed as “shoddy” was referred by the jury as “innovative” and that is where we had managed to impress them. I was spellbound and a wave of intoxication swept through my mind. Although it was just a competition, but it is, till date one of the best experiences I have ever had. It was the harbinger of “entrepreneurship” for it made me realize my strength that I had overlooked for the past few years. It is not a milestone but, it indeed was the “inception” of the entrepreneur inside of me. A bunch of ideas and an unrelenting desire to make my imagination come alive is what I strive for now.
Paramjeet Kaur
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