The article given below has been contributed by Varun Sah.

Before I start writing about anything here, let’s revisit some moments of my life.

This one goes back to when I was 3-4 years old & had gone with my parents to a marriage ceremony.

“Papa mein bada hokae Band wala banunga” … I was too small to know how my parents reacted to it but they anyways asked me "Why?” I said “Band waalon ko ache-ache kapde pehan nae ko milte hain aur free khana bhi milta hai” … My dad laughed at this. This is all I remember.

Next, I am 8 yrs old. “Papa I want to become a pilot” … watching an airplane going above us. Dad said “beta uske liyae bahut mehnat karne padti hai” … I again said “How about buying those planes & flying ourselves”. Dad laughs again.

Now I am 16. “Hum log chacha ji ki tarah 3-4 gaadiyan khareed lete hain aur transport ka business chalu karte hain”. Dad saying “Beta you are entering +2, start preparing for IIT now, its very difficult to get through. You’ll have to prepare very hard.”

B.Tech 3^rd year. I used to give private tuitions to +2 students & somehow I became a little famous & by 3^rd yr end I was teaching 4 batches of 10 students each. “Arae yaar (by d way I call my parents ‘yaar’ sometimes) mein to kehta hun ek coaching khol lete hain. Bhayanak paisa hai is business mein” I said. My mom saying “bekar ki baatein mat karo!! Next semester mein tumahra placement hai, CAT hai … jaake prepare karo … ye coaching woaching mein kuch nahi rakha hai!”

So as you could see, you can’t blame me for not having entrepreneurial spirit. I was born with a lot of ideas but somehow my financers (my parents) didn’t like them. And slowly but surely the entrepreneur in me started giving up (at least for the time being). The ideas of job security & stability were fed so deep in my systems that it’s virtually impossible to format myselfL, even now. So you guys think I am blaming my parents for me not opening my business? Naa, I am thanking them for me becoming a manager in a good MNCJ. By the way, did you guys ever thought why we feel so insecure & unstable till we get a job in our lives? Or to say it bluntly why getting a job has become the VISION & MISSION of our whole academic learning (which is minimum 22 years these days).

Probably because all we learn is only “academics”.

Someday I was reading an interview of some big globally known industrialist or something. I don’t remember most of the “Gyan” he gave but he struck one cord in me and that I still remember. He said two things required to become an entrepreneur are

(i) Risk Appetite

(ii) Know the World.

I don’t know to what extent are you guys able to appreciate this but I think this covers everything you should now about starting your own business. Internal (i) & External (ii).

So why are we not good entrepreneurs – Because we don’t have appetite for risk & we don’t know the world. Simple!!

If you dig a little deeper into things (I have to do thisL, “pages bhi to bharne hain”) you’ll realize that we were not born risk averse. It’s only that our upbringing happened in an environment which never encouraged our risk taking ability. Actually, risk itself is considered a bad thing in our typical Indian society (God!! If I tell my dad I have put money in stock market, he’ll kill me!! Especially when market is doing badlyJ). I understand the argument of people that every job has its importance in the system to run smoothly & I also understand the argument that middle class people have to be more concerned about meeting their ends rather than venturing into something new. But all I am trying to focus on here is the attitude of ours.

So where were we? Ya, taking risks. Every Uncle Ji that comes to my place keep telling me about my responsibilities towards my parents, my kins, & even my pet. Very proudly they tell me about how different we are from the West because we think about everyone connected to us before making any decision. I can imagine myself as a poll both in a democracy & the option with the highest number of votes makes way for the final decision.

I believe guys, in the process of learning to think about all those we care, we somewhere forget to think about ourselves. I believe the first and foremost responsibility of an individual is towards “he” himself. I believe one should know “as an individual” what he wants out of life & how is he supposed to get it. Now how a guy wants to manage his “individual priorities” & “social priorities” is altogether his concern & decision. I know a lot of guys will differ from me on this, that’s why I’ve put a “I believe” in the beginning of every line, because this is what only I believeJ.

Now coming to knowing the world, the other day an Uncle Ji at my home was telling me “beta humane duniya dekhi hai” … just then I was trying to figure out where all that Uncle has worked in his life & to my surprise I figured out he had all his postings within UP only. Holy Shit man!! Is this the definition of “duniya” to him? Now have a diametrically opposite fact about the so called “west”. Most of the guys in US after doing their High School take a break from studies (break from studies!! Fail hua hoga jaroor!!) to know about the world. So they travel, they travel for an year or two to different countries or may be their own country to meet people, talk to them, understand different cultures, needs, thinking of people all of which is extremely important before you start off anything as a business. This is called knowing the world.

There are other things apart from travelling which may help you knowing the world. But my concern here is do we have the urge to know about things you don’t know? I don’t think so. Another observation of mine, we are pretty close minded people. We think the best way to do something is the way we do it, and that’s why we don’t need to know any other way. Most of us are like “kooauen ka maidhak”, as my mom calls it, who is illusioned that the world is all he knows, but I suppose we are not “maidhaks” or are we?

Anyways guys, enough of bakar from my side. My idea was not to give any Gyan to you people, just to put forth some observations of mine. These are just perspectives which I thought should be highlighted so that people start thinking (which is important). Moreover, don’t ever conclude on anything without knowing the other side of the story. So I strongly suggest you to go & explore the other sideJ. There might be many people who think like me, my suggestion to them … keep thinkingJ. To those who differ, I love you guys … please bless me with your comments.