Follow your passion.

It’s easier said than done, for two reasons. One, you need to have the courage to follow your passion and second, you need to know what you are passionate about. I think most people fail at finding their passion in the first place. I am lucky to have found mine. Teaching!

I was blessed as a student with most incredible math teachers. They made math look so easy. This eventually made me select Mathematics in class 11th and appear for JEE.

I cleared JEE in 2007 and joined IIT Roorkee. I did my Integrated M.Tech. course in Polymer Science and Technology here. Now the best thing about IITs is that it provides you with the work experience through internships and projects even before you graduate. I did my internship at University of Calabria, Italy and my M.Tech project at National Chemical Laboratory, Pune. Both were amazing opportunities and I was able to produce good results but both of these could not push me enough to consider research as a career option. Also, the experiences of friends who did their internships at MNCs made me realise that even that did not excite me enough to consider it to be my career option.

This realization that I will not be taking up the usual career options after completing my post graduation gave me the opportunity to think about what I really want to pursue. Most people don’t get time to sit back and think about the career options they have or can create. I was lucky that my experiences at IIT helped me do that.

Becoming‌ ‌a‌ ‌teacher‌ ‌and‌ ‌teaching‌ ‌online.

Teaching as a career option then came naturally to me. All my teachers were my mentors. I was always thrilled by the positive impact that they had on students. I wanted to be like them. That's when I joined Resonance Kota as JEE Math Faculty and after some initial training started teaching at Mumbai Center. It felt amazing to be on the other side of the table. Students were loving my teaching style and were looking for regular guidance. It always feels good to give back to the society that has made you the person you are today. But I realised that times are changing and Online Education will be disrupting education space very soon. I wanted to be a part of it and that’s when I moved to Bangalore and joined Vedantu as online educator. But online education in India was just picking up and I was impacting lesser students than usual classroom teaching so I came back to Mumbai and started teaching at RaoIIT academy.I guess it’s all about looking for the most impactful work that you can do at any given time.

I joined Unacademy a few months back as Math Educator. It has been a dream run since. Through Unacademy JEE youtube channel we are connected with more than 4 lakh students and delivering quality education for free. On Unacademy PLUS, which is a subscription based platform, we are again connected with more students than we had in the last 10 years combined. Live Online classes have given us the means to connect with students in the remote areas of the country. It feels amazing to be in a place where you can create great impact.

Teaching‌ ‌gives‌ ‌something‌ ‌back‌ ‌to‌ ‌society.

So what can you take away from my story? First, not everyone is as lucky as Sachin Tendulkar, who find their passion at a young age and then have the skills and courage to pursue it. For most of us, exploring various career options is important. And when you finally get a job where you don’t hate Mondays and you don’t have to wait for weekends to be happy, you are there. Second, teaching is a great career option. You get a chance to give back to the society and create an immediate impact. Also, it is very rewarding emotionally as well as financially. But you do need to work on your skills regularly and you can do it only if you are passionate about it. So don’t take up teaching because there is no other option. Do what you are passionate about. And if you have not found your passion yet. Explore!