Happy Birthday to Me: Reborn to EMBIBE

“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

For me, it was 10th May 2017, the day it all started and I eventually found the purpose of my life. It’s like I was reborn…

Today I have completed 5 years of being at Embibe and this has been the most productive phase of my life. Productive in a meaningful way.

I remember a certain lazy afternoon during my last semester in college. We were all chilling in the college canteen over samosas and coffee, wondering out loud how life would be after a few months. Some were sad that we won’t see each other every day. Others were worried about the uncertainty of the future. None of us was placed anywhere yet.

One of the guys started making funny predictions about what we would be doing five years down the line.

“Pritam would be found in front of the Town Hall,” he said when it was my turn. “Placard in his hand, yelling at the top of his voice. He would become a full-time activist.”

Everyone, including myself, laughed. But deep inside, even I thought that this would probably be the case. After all, that’s why I quit my secured engineering career, left home, didn’t talk to my dad for almost one and half years, and didn’t go home for almost three years.

Two months later, I joined Embibe. It took me almost a year to understand what exactly we are trying to achieve here at Embibe. And once I did, there was no turning back.

I realised that in all likelihood I won’t achieve anything great if I had become a journalist or an activist. My energy and efforts wouldn’t be focused. Someday, I would be sloganeering against casteism, another day against religious fundamentalism, and some other day against a certain government policy. That’s the problem with people like us. We want everything to be alright at the same time. But that’s not how the world works. 

I too have Utopian dreams but I guess I am practical enough to realise that we need to focus on one thing at a time.

Among many other things, I have always dreamt of living in a world where quality education is truly accessible to everyone. And I see that dream being realised through Embibe. Embibe’s vision to democratise and personalise education for the entire world is something very close to my heart. And probably that’s why everything I do here is personal. I am not doing anybody any favour. I am not good at everything I do. But I am definitely passionate about what I do here – writing for and about the only education platform in the world that truly understands the purpose of education. (I won’t lie, money is a big factor too. But then again, making money is easy. It’s difficult to do something you are passionate about and make money in the process.)

There is work and then there is life’s work. No matter what I do in the future, I know right now I am doing my life’s work. I feel so proud that I am part of this revolutionary journey that Embibe has embarked upon. I wanted to make a difference and Embibe has made it easy for me.

The last year in particular has been extremely meaningful to me. Last April, after four years with the Content Marketing Team, I was moved to the Brand Marketing team. And eventually, I ended up working very closely with four-five other teams, including Media Team, Customer Support, Product Marketing and UI/UX. 

Although it’s writing that I am most passionate about and in the last year I have written extensively about two things very close to me at Embibe, the product and our values, I picked up a lot of other tasks, including planning, reviewing, and training, product training to be specific (and I love this last one). 

This April, when I created a report on everything that I did in the past year, I realised how this experience has given me a deeper understanding of how marketing works. 

Another thing that I have grown to like is Product Thinking. I think with my experience in the edtech, understanding of technology, knowledge of students’ journeys and pain points, and passion for solving related problems, this is the obvious next step. And that’s why I have started working with the UI/UX Team recently. 

Overall, this year has been great for learning and upskilling. Did I exceed my expectations in everything? No. Not all of them. I failed miserably in some projects that I took up. I did well in some others. But I got the opportunity to work closely with and learn from some of my favourite people at Embibe, including Aditi, Karan and the otherwise annoying person, Chirag Narendra Shah (CNS). They personify the two Embibe values that mean the world to me – Intellectually Fierce and Empathically Strong. I think without these two, we are all nothing but robots… Not just at Embibe but in other aspects of our life too. 

There’s one more thing, and this is very personal, why I love working at Embibe. I am a difficult person to deal with – I am argumentative, annoyingly ethical, and extremely arrogant at times. At one or the other point, my family, the few friends that I have and my wife, all have complained about it. But I have realised that Embibe has accepted me the way I am. Just yesterday, someone here, who at one point had mentored me, told me that he understands that my intentions are never wrong. This is something…

Anyway, I can go on and on when it comes to writing about Embibe. And I will. But this article ends here. There’s been no water in my house for the past three days. So, I just moved to a hotel this evening. Now, I need to wash my clothes. Then I need to get some sleep. And then, another exciting day at Embibe… Ok. Bye.

(This article was first published on LinkedIn)