When Success Became A Handicap
Life’s biggest wins come after taking the highest risks and encountering one's worst fears.
I was born in India in the 1980s. At the time, the country was inching at 35-something years post-independence, with several generations lacerated from its deep wounds and memories of paradise lost. My parents were among the educated middle class, a slowly burgeoning strata that kept its head down, worked hard, and dreamt of a better future.
As a child, I wasn’t really sure better than what. Our lives certainly did not feel lacking in amenities, unless one was thinking of imported chocolates, cameras, or other life expendables. As opposed to the impoverished millions that made up the dark underbelly of the subcontinent. We were not unhappy but nevertheless subsumed in a behemoth dream that craved for more—affluence, social standing, stability, and therefore happiness. As a society, we place a lot of importance on fitting into boxes and measuring up to standards.
I cannot put a finger on whether these were the reasons why but I was an uncharacteristically ambitious kid. I grew up checking off most, if not all, of the boxes typically laid out for high-achieving students and I was in the top 1% academically. I enjoyed reading and learning but the edge was an exceptional drive to surpass…
