As young girl of 16 or 17 who was academically sound, a good sportsperson and coming from a well-educated family I had lot of aspirations. As per the norms of “60s”, I went to a Marathi medium school where I was a topper. I passed my 11th, Matric, as it was called in those days, with flying colors. And against my father’s wishes, who had wanted me to be a doctor, joined Home Science.

A few weeks into the new academic year I realized that although I was a ranker, I was being looked down upon by certain students who were from Convent and other English medium schools. The reason ?......I could not speak English !! It hurt me deeply. I resolved to work on this.

Learning‌ ‌English‌ ‌from‌ ‌very‌ ‌limited‌ ‌resources.

Now, put yourselves in 1967. There was no T.V., no internet, no “Spoken English” classes—NOTHING!! Except some English newspapers and periodicals and News on All India Radio at 9pm, there was no exposure to English language. Armed with these meager resources, I started my journey. Reading aloud Times Of India every day to my grandfather helped me immensely. More help came in the form of a friend who was fluent in English. The next step was to “think in English” which was very tough. 2-3 months of hard work like this, and I was ready to face the college life. Not only did I participate in various events and activities, I also fought an election and was elected General Secretary of Home Science in the last year of college.

Eventually the usual story began. “Time to get married and settle down”, said my parents and they found a good boy from a respectable family and I was married off. However, unlike my friends, household chores did not interest me much. Banking sector was expanding fast and whosoever was good at numbers got a job in a bank. But by now I was not only good at numbers, but well versed with English too. So I easily landed a job in a nationalized bank. I enjoyed 25 years of my career working in a bank. However, I could not go for promotions due to increasing family responsibilities. In 2001 I had to quit my job due to acute Spondylitis.

Now what? My career in the bank was cut short, desk work was out of bounds but I could still speak English….that means … start Teaching! Before I could teach I had to study. So I did a course in Spoken English and Public Speaking and also appeared for NELTS (National English Testing Service) exam. Armed with these two pieces of papers I started teaching spoken English. The challenge was..... There was a syllabus, but there was no text books. I had to search for appropriate materials which would enhance the students ' knowledge.Somehow or the other, one private coaching class approached me and asked me to join their team to coach the students who take IELTS exam. Well, that was a challenge! Practice leads to perfection, so I excelled in that also.

Teaching‌ ‌English‌ ‌while‌ ‌fighting‌ ‌cancer.

Life is full of surprises. Come 2004, and during a routine medical checkup, the doctor found a malignant lump in my breast. A new ordeal started. I had to undergo a surgery, chemotherapy, radiation…..the works !! But I never gave up on my passion… Coaching young minds about English language. I continued to teach with a wig to cover my total hair loss. It was a very challenging time for me and my family. Apart from my usual medication, stepping out to take classes worked like therapy. By 2009, I received an offer from a local hospitality school to teach their students Business English and Communications as a visiting faculty. It was a delight interacting with these students. . Finally after teaching for five years, I decided to hang my boots.

Well, this was my story. I was a student of science stream, who went on to be a banker and then a teacher who taught English. Though I had a diverse career I thoroughly enjoyed every phase of my life. I always believed “You are never too old to set another goal or to dream a new dream.”