Hi everyone,

I’m Shivani Pathak

I have born and bought in Kanpur, a city in Uttar Pradesh.

Kanpur was famous for its industries during British era, though Kanpur doesn’t have that many
industries now still the city is famous for its leather industry, from where the leather is exported in bulk.

Since my childhood I was a playful child, who used to go easily from one lap to other. As I grew up, I saw
my elder brother go to school nicely dressed in a rickshaw, when I was 3 years old, one day I start crying
and demanding to go to school in that rickshaw.

Because my father was well known in the school so my mother dressed me and I had been sent to
school without books. That day I just played with my brother’s class teacher and other students
(because they were also kids that time) and in afternoon my father came and took me home.

So this my zeal of going to school made me admitted into school before the plan of my parents.

I had studied till class 7th in one school and I used to top the class, I don’t know how. I was also active in
music and mainly in drawing and arts. Being topper every time was something my father didn’t like. He
wanted to expose me to some more competitive environment. So he abruptly took me out in class 8 th
and put me into one of the most renowned school of the town. There the competition was really good
but still I managed to grab top positions most often.

My mother didn’t like my engagement in arts so she seized all my music classes and participation in arts.

I also felt no remorse in giving up any of them, but now I realize that a holistic development of a child is
possible only when you let him or her do whatever he/she wish to.

Simultaneously I believe that no one can extinguish a fire which burns within you. So don’t consider that
I want to blame my mother, because the story has not ended yet.

Then in 10th and 12th, I was just inclined towards my studies and was getting buckets full of love from my
teachers and parents also.

Now comes the second phase of my life.

I skipped a year after 12th to dedicate it towards preparation for IIT JEE. I had given my best as far as I
thought that time, but I couldn’t make. Though now I accept that the direction was not right. So now if I
do something I make sure over and over again that direction should be right.

After this year I landed into PSIT. Pranveer Singh Institute of technology. This college was in Kanpur itself

Before going to college I promised myself that I won’t be socializing, I will keep kaam se kaam etc. just
because I got a good shock of losing full year and getting nowhere. I also had thought of finishing
Bhagwat geeta and assimilating it for life.

But when I entered after 3 months in the college the first task was to be able to interact people. Though
I was good in chit chatting but the task was to interact in English. I was from a hindi medium background
so only English I knew was translation and the word that we used to use in out syllabus. I feel like I
should mention that my grammar was good enough. So I forgot everything, whatever promises I had
made to myself and my only focus was to be able to interact to my teachers in English and get my
doubts solved. Because they were speaking in English only.

Now I had to work over my spoken English. So I stared reading novel and chose ‘How win friends and
people by Dale Carnegie that time I was not able to pronounce Carnegie properly. It took me 1 month
to complete that book, this book was gifted by one of my friend to start my journey towards improving
English. I marked all the words that were difficult to me and what I couldn’t understand hence whole
book was marked.

After which I decided to be somewhat soft upon me and started reading durjoy dutta and chetan
bhagat.

This time I wrote all the meanings that were new to me and after two or three books it was somewhat
easy for me, I no longer needed to write every next word that I faced.

The lesson I learnt from this phase was, “ if we have decided something we should not lose hope upon
because initially you might not see the results but over time you will feel the change for sure.

Now talking about college, so there time was very good. I pursued btech in mechanical engineering
there. Literally I enjoyed being in minority there in the class. In 4 th year of my engineering I got recruited
by Infosys as well as by VA Tech Wabag ltd. I chose to walk with Wabag.

One more interesting fact I want to add is when I started my job, you know I started even it in Kanpur.
There is 20 MLD CETP building in process, I was there for around 1.5 years. Then I decided to switch into
office and here I am in Pune since last 3 months.

This was all about me

Thank you

Over to toast master……………….