Closures and Beginnings

It's today that exactly 6 months ago I had set my foot first time in the United States of America!

But what makes me write a post about it? Well, my heart is holding a baggage of emotions that may start affecting my cerebral cortex and before it does so, I decided to share these thoughts by scribbling on my keyboard. 

PART-1:

I am a person who believes in the power of dreams. Dreams give me the courage to give my best for any challenge that life throws at me. May be that's how many people hailing from small towns and cities in India feed on- their powerful, magical and even cynical dreams!! During our initial conversations,  Ankit and I were bounded by the mystical halo of our dreams that we were able to see with each other. It was serendipity that I found my soulmate in Ankit! One of the dreams that we saw together was Nature Buddy- a dream that gave wings to my passion for having something of my own. 

To me, Nature Buddy was like my first child. I was super enthusiastic, energetic, possessive or I would say obsessive about it! I felt that tremendous energy to face all the challenges that each day would throw up. From managing labour, balancing finances, establishing customer relationships or brainstorming marketing strategies, the journey of Nature Buddy lasted for more than 1.5 years. It was unexpectedly short but a phenomenal journey for me. I think I will not be able to put into words the happiness and excitement of building something from scratch gives. A token of appreciation from a customer used to infuse tons of energy while there were many days where the question of survival was at the forefront. The journey had some feats of accomplishments but it wasn't without its share of mistakes committed, uncertainty faced, financial instability experienced. We tried each bit of ourselves to live it through but we were thrown into the big question of survival! We were pressed for some very hard decisions and couldn't continue Nature Buddy. 

As much as I learned through this entrepreneurial journey, the guilt of not being successful and more so, abandoning it made me question myself. A part of me felt incomplete and diffident. Instead of giving myself some credence for having the courage to fulfill my dream, I started wiping out the prints of this valuable journey. I decided to turn my focus on the other unfinished tasks- the biggest was completing PhD in this very life (thankfully its done and dusted...)!

But somehow I never got a closure that I needed for Nature Buddy.....

PART-2:

America is a land of opportunities- especially for people like me coming from developing countries. Since childhood, I have heard stories about the prosperity of some distant relative's extended family after they moved to US. To be honest, since my world view increased and I came to know about the names of Harvard, Stanford, Yale or MIT,  I have been enamored by the best universities that this country has. I have been curious, amazed and awed by the opportunities offered by these centers of knowledge. 

For the dreamers that Ankit & I are, we have no dearth of dreams! Another one that we harbored since our childhood and shared during our initial conversations was the fascination of 'Ivy League'. We again took insane amount of risk in uprooting a somehow seemingly stable life after going through a period of struggles & efforts. Parents and well wishers tried to talk us through reason but after Ankit was admitted to Harvard, we came to Cambridge in mid of August 2018. 

PART-3:

Fast Forward 6 months to this day.... 

Selected from a competitive pool of more than 400 start-ups, Nature Buddy has been shortlisted as one of the semi-finalists at the prestigious Harvard President's Innovation Challenge and accepted to 12 week long Spring Venture Incubation Program (VIP). 

I am unsure of what lies ahead or how far we will make it. But I feel some beginnings give closures that are much needed!!