My grandfather grew up in Allahabad, India. He was born in Lahore right before the partition of India and Pakistan, so when he was a few months old he had to move to India. His family was getting on fine financially and emotionally, but when he was 13, his father died.
His father was the only person producing income, so when he died, having money was a huge struggle, a stark contrast to my childhood. Sadly, his mother had not even finished high school, so she was forced to open a small school for women which thankfully provided them with enough money to survive. She made enough money to send him to school, but instead of appreciating this privilege, he misused it. He was a very naughty student and he didn’t really care about his studies, playing pranks and often getting low grades as a result of it. It was partly because his education was lacking so he didn’t understand much, but also because of his lack of interest. His favourite subject – and the only one he really liked and paid attention in – was chemistry. However, when he grew up, he didn’t specialise in chemistry.
The turning point for him came when he grew much older and enrolled in a university. His brother had wanted him to do science – because it pays very well, and remember, they were not the most well off – but he chose arts instead. He wandered around, looking through all the departments until one caught his eye. Psychology. As he went inside, little did he know how lucky he was to have chosen it.
In the weeks and months that followed, he discovered that he had a gift for psychology. For once, he was getting not just good grades, but top grades. As a bonus, he also became very popular. When he graduated, he was even put fourth on the Dean’s list, an outstanding achievement for him. He grew up to work in Human Resources (HR) in different companies like Metal Box, Unilever, and Thapar. But his greatest achievement was in his job at Pepsi. He had a very prestigious position as he was appointed head of HR of Asia. He also reported to the head of HR worldwide.
Now he is happy and his dream has come true. He is very successful and now lives a privileged life in retirement, but I don’t think he will ever forget his past. If there were some lessons that I think he would want others to learn from his experience I think it would be to resist peer pressure and show resilience through every hardship, no matter how big or small.