We lived in a tiny house with a lot of members in the house. Due to this, nothing was ever a secret. Even a small disagreement or an argument was known to all in the house.

When I was still a child, we were going through some financial crisis, and my parents struggled to keep up as it comes almost daily. Even amid such a financial crisis, my mom never compromised on our education. She strived hard to educate us. My parents had heated arguments over our financial crisis, but they never lost hope. They were very determined that they would get over it.

My dad’s income was not enough to support everyone’s dream, but we were always encouraged to move on, no matter what. We were motivated to strive towards the goal without losing hope at the obstacles we confronted. The assurance that everything will end well always kept us going. There was hope that tomorrow will be better than today.

‘Do not quit despite challenges, hardships and limitations,’ was my parents’ favourite tagline. For example, Even having one dress to wear for a week should not be considered a problem, but only as a challenge that one has to deal with. The tricky part would be to wash and iron it every day to make it look presentable. I did this, which roots out the problem itself.

My parents also taught us to survive and thrive in all situations. They said, ‘be a cockroach and adapt to the situation respectfully.’ Their lessons on self-discipline, hard work and persistence have always motivated us to go up any hill rather than the other way round.

Being poor didn’t mean that we should compromise our morals and ethics. My parents’ other mantras, which I consider so dear to me, are: ‘maintain a respectable position in the society and money will follow.’ Above all, ‘don’t become just knowledgeable, become learned in your field.’ Their message was loud and clear to us: that as long as we will not quit, we will achieve whatever we want to achieve. Their dream was simple—make us self-sufficient.

I got my guru mantra: ‘maintain consistency and hit on one stone and one place with increased strength and that will create a mark.’

I still believe in my parents’ ideology that ‘anyone can quit when faced with a tough situation, but very few will stay and keep trying unless they perfect it.’