Ira, a girl from a small town, was heading to Mumbai to start college. Her dream was to work as an investment banker at Goldman Sachs. This dream wasn’t born out of deep knowledge or experience, but from a book she had read. The book described the life of an investment banker as sexy, full of money, and surrounded by hot and intelligent men..after all, it’s a male-dominated field. That was enough to fuel Ira's thoughts about her future.
When Ira and her parents reached the airport, she sat outside the boarding area on one of those steel benches. Beside her sat two corporate-looking people who began discussing something. For a small-town girl like Ira, who had never stepped out of her house alone, it was new and fascinating to see two strangers initiating a conversation.
The topic of their conversation? Finance roles.
The girl, dressed confidently, mentioned working in a small firm, saying it was giving her opportunities to learn. Who knew if she was speaking the truth or just trying to make herself feel better? Meanwhile, the guy told her he was working at a Big Four company and "killing it." They even discussed parts of Mumbai..where they lived, how they traveled daily.
Ira was overwhelmed. Excited. Nervous. She could barely keep her chin up to look at the people talking right beside her. Everything was happening in front of her parents, but in Ira’s head, it was a different world. She was visualizing herself in their place four years later.
As she boarded the plane and looked out of the window at the flying airplane, the excitement didn’t fade. For Ira, this was a moment of clarity...her future was right there in front of her eyes. She couldn’t believe it. No Bollywood star had ever struck her as hard as these corporate professionals. For her, they were the real celebrities.
The blurry image of that girl sitting beside her stayed etched in Ira’s mind. She was confident, independent, and beautiful.. everything Ira wished to become someday.
But life doesn’t always go as planned.
Ira started college in Mumbai, but as life unfolded, distractions crept in. The journey wasn’t as linear as she had imagined. She worked hard, gave her best, but somehow, she couldn’t make it to her dream of becoming an investment banker, no matter how hard she tried.
Instead, life had different plans. Ira unexpectedly found herself in the world of modeling. It started small, as a college hobby, but soon grew into a career. Modeling became her new passion. She embraced it wholeheartedly, living happily and working hard.
Letting go of her dream of becoming an investment banker wasn’t easy, but Ira eventually made peace with it. She realized that life isn’t about sticking to a rigid plan; it’s about finding joy and purpose in the journey. Through it all, she learned the value of hard work, and that made her journey worthwhile.
Years later, on a flight back home, Ira spotted one of the corporate professionals she had overheard at the airport years ago. This time, she smiled at him. The man looked confused, unsure why she smiled, but Ira didn’t care.
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