Lecture Transcription –

[Background Sound]

[Applause]

Mitali:

So, have you ever seen the horizon? You know where the sea and the sky meet? No matter how far you walk, it always seems to be ahead of you. Dreams also feel the same way sometimes, right? But what if I told you? That destiny isn’t at the horizon. It’s in the steps you’re taking right now to reach there.

Hello everyone, my name is Mitali. I’m 22 years old, a little bit nervous today. This is my first ever TEDX talk, and I’m born and brought up in Agra. With this first TEDX talk of mine, allow me to tell you three stories which have literally shaped my life and made me the person I am today. And meanwhile, you also might get to know me a little bit better.

Beginning with the first one, which says: “I’m a firm believer of dreaming big and dreaming the unthinkable”. Allow me to elaborate. So, I was 17 in my 12th grade, very demotivated, sitting in my small hostel room in the city of Kota and preparing for this humongous exam called NEET. For those of you who don’t know, NEET is a pre-medical entrance test.

Now, it was almost one year to go for my exam and here I am desperately looking for motivation. So, I pick up a chalk and I write on my Almira in my hostel room, NEET 2020, All India Rank 1. Wild and unthinkable, right? Even I knew it, which is why I wrote it in such a way that only I could see it. Nobody else entering my room would be able to see it.

But just for perspective, that year, more than 13 lakh students were appearing for this exam. But anyway, cut to 16th October 2020, result day. I’m sitting alone in my room, okay, at home, because I’m Covid positive. And my laptop in front of me. The site, as usual, is crashing again and again. I enter my registration number, my DOB, my heartbeat is racing, my breathing is shallow, my fingers are crossed.

The result finally loads. And the screen says, Mitali Sharma, All India, rank 68. Wild! This was something-

[Applause]

Thank you. I cannot tell you what happened at my home after this. All forms of social distancing were forgotten, okay? My dad came into my room after five or seven days and he literally gave me a tight hug. I had never seen my mom and dad this happy, at least in my life. Even I cried so many tears of joy because my hard work, my sacrifices. Living away from home for two long years in Kota, it was finally making sense, bearing me fruits.

 But my wild and unthinkable dream of all India Rang 1 wasn’t fulfilled, right? And that’s exactly the lesson of this first story. And it’s also a quote my mom often tells me, which is, aim for the moon. So even if you miss, you may hit a star. And Air68 was my star moment, you guys. It taught me a lot. Of course, to dream big. But more than that, to believe in my dreams. To believe in myself. That anything and everything that I want, I can achieve it.

That’s the confidence I gained. It also taught me that hard work is always rewarded. No matter a few weeks, days, months, years later, nobody else might be, but the universe is keeping an account of your hard work. For example: my extremely stressful days back in Kota, which I almost quite literally hated, made MBBS days later in my life seem like a cakewalk. And too easygoing.

 So, trust me and take my word on this. If you’re going through a rough patch right now in life, life is preparing you for something big. And now that you know me a little bit better, let’s get to story number two.

 Now, the title of this story is also a quote by Paulo Coelho, which says: “When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it”.

[Hindi]

Now, for this story, let me take you back to 2015. 2014 actually, 11 years back. I was in my 7th grade and, like any other 12-year-old, extremely excited to enter my teenage.

And in this era in my life, I was too obsessed with Bollywood, events, award functions, you know, articles, etc. To an extent that I one day told my mom that I want to grow up and become an actor, only to be featured in these articles, events, etc. To which my very Indian mom, of course, replied with two counters.

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