This article is written by Ratul Rudra, Sales Head at LawSikho. 

It was April 1998.

It was almost midnight but the Howrah station area was busy and I had no place to spend the night. I was left with Rs.20-25 in my pocket so I could not afford a decent fish-and-rice dinner. I had no place to go for the night.

I settled for the Howrah station. That’s where I would have to sleep.

It was not that I had no friends or relatives in Kolkata but this was a stage when I was running away from all known entity in my world.

The reason: recently I had tasted failure in business. Every single well wisher or acquaintance, experienced or less experienced in life, had told me that it will be irresponsible and stupid of me to waste both time and money by starting a business. After all, no one in my family ever dared do such a thing in known history!

I was also advised that being from a lower-middle class family I should have done a job which would have made my parents happy.  I was reminded time and again that my father had retired just a year before. I should have been able to lift the burden of running the family from my father’s shoulders. Everyone was shocked at my decision to start a business when I already had a decent job with a secure salary at an MNC in Bhilai.

I was approaching thirty and I had a lost world with no money in my hand. I had settled some dues by selling almost all of my personal belongings but still I owed a few loans from my close schoolmates who liberally said I could return their money at a stage in life when I could earn.

That was magnanimous of them.

I didn’t know where to look for a job and how to earn. At least not in Bhilai anymore. I had a lost face within the community of computer trainers in Bhilai, and that was the only line of work I knew.

There was one more lady in my life who helped me at this stage and she was a silent spectator of all the incidents in my life. She shelved out all her savings from her piggy bank and handed over Rs.3,200/- to me saying that I go to Calcutta and to look for new opportunities by putting up at my maternal uncle’s house in Calcutta. She was my mother.

When I reached my uncle’s place in Kolkata, there was another surprise waiting for me. After having a bath and lunch, my uncles sat down for a chat with me. I was welcomed but for two weeks only. They were very clear in telling me since I was the son of their elder-sister perhaps they were unable to turn me down but that was all they could do. So, I had two weeks and the money given by my mother. I had no second option at this stage. I had to get a job and find out a place to stay in Calcutta – all in two weeks.

We were not having the kind of communication facilities like internet on the go or even a mobile phone was only a thing of imagination in my world. So, I stayed back at the uncle’s place for the rest of the day and started planning my next 15 days; with each of the day’s details like which are the places I will look for jobs, where will I visit on which day, whom are the friends and relatives I would meet to seek help, how will I search for a place to stay, how shall I prepare for the interviews and all such other activities. I had every movement planned with time and money.

The days and nights were passing and I was relentlessly pursuing my search for a job and a place to stay. The first half of the day was spent in job searching from the newspapers, visiting offices and asking if they had any vacancy, visiting placement consultants and submitting resumes, walk-in interviews and hoping that the next day might bring in some good news. Meanwhile, in the evenings, I used to meet my relatives and childhood friends in Kolkata trying to tell them about my situation and ask for help. No, I never asked for money from any of them. But the days were passing with nothing in hand. Then there was a day when almost all the money was spent and my mind was unable to think any further. I didn’t know what step to take next.

I didn’t return back to my uncle’s place that night. It was 12th April’ 98. I boarded a bus and it reached Howrah station. I loitered around the station area with almost all kinds of weird thoughts in my mind. I could no more draw the energy to walk around the station complex. It was around 4 am in the morning. I sat on the floor as the chairs were all occupied by the passengers. Though I was very tired out of the drudgery I never felt like sleeping.

I don’t know how much time had passed like this.

Finally, at the daybreak, I gathered myself and reached up to the tea vendor, bought some tea and moved outside the station compound.

I saw the newspapers being unloaded and the newspaper vendors swarming the outside area of the station.

I bought The Telegraph.

As I was reading through the pages, a thought suddenly came into my mind. The previous night I had forgotten to enquire at my uncle’s neighbour’s place whether there was any phone call for me.

Since my uncles didn’t have a telephone, I had sought permission from their neighbour to put their telephone number on my resume. So, I went up to the PCO and called them. The neighbour told me that there was a call from NIIT’s Howrah Centre and they had left a message for me that I should meet the Director of the Centre, the next day.

I was excited and a bit worried as to what lay ahead.

I went to meet the director as early as possible. It was not all that far from the Howrah station!

After waiting in the reception for some time, the director met me in his chamber. We exchanged a few formal talks and then came the big moment when he offered me the job.

He congratulated me and asked me from when I could join. This is the moment I was waiting for the past two weeks, suddenly I was dumbstruck. I gathered myself and replied – “From tomorrow, Sir”.

He was happy too and asked me to wait in the reception and collect the offer letter before I leave.

On April 14th 1998, I joined the NIIT Howrah Centre as the Head of Centre and the rest was history in the business records of the NIIT’s Suburban Network in Eastern India. Within the next six month’s NIIT Howrah recorded profits for the first time in their operation of 5 years. It ranked 3rd in Eastern India in terms of sales in the category of NIIT’s Suburban Network Centres.

I may humbly say I had a role to play in that. After I got the opportunity, I was relentless in pursuit of business.

That incident is a very distant memory today. I am now Head of Sales at LawSikho, having done many jobs in between during the intervening 20 years.

I still clearly remember that night at Howrah Station, and it gives me strength.

No matter how bleak your situation is, do not give up. You will find your way out of the darkness if you continue to strive. That is the rule of the universe.

Sometimes, the break comes a little late. Keep working for it.

And if you are having a good time, still, please keep working because just like bad times don’t last, neither do good times forever. Stay prepared, stay strong, do not lose your bearings when things are great.