My Journey
If you are interested in my professional profile – Linkedin is the best place – Vijay Magdum
“Change is the constant. What are you were yesterday, you are not today & what you are today – you won’t be tomorrow. What defines and decides this journey are – Your vision, your values & your efforts you put in.”
This is my fundamental belief.
I (Vijay) was born and brought up in a small village named “Ekondi” Kolhapur district of Maharashtra state in India.
I spent almost my 17 years in this village. I consider myself lucky and fortunate to witness the deep-rooted Indian rich rural culture, beliefs and values and myself becoming an integral part of it. Most of the people are working on farms, having minimum needs. I could see the amount of lack of awareness we had in terms of education, its strength and how it could change someone’s life. The entire purpose of education at that time was to be able to read and write and work on farms. Or go to ITI – Industrial Training Institute which makes skilled labour such as welders, plumbers etc.
When I went to high school, I had a friend senior to me. His father was a teacher and he always wanted to go into IIT – Indian Institute of Technology – a prestigious engineering college. My parents were always supportive but never went to school or higher education – I just followed what my friend was doing.
I could clear AIEEE – All India Engineering Entrance Examination and could get into Visvesvaraya National Institute of Technology Nagpur and did my B.Tech. I was moving towards a new direction from Rural India – to more advanced and modern India. I completed my B. Tech. in Electrical and Electronics Engineering.
I love studying. Being curious is inherited in my DNA. I prepared and cleared Common Aptitude Test (CAT) and could get into the Indian Institute of Management Indore – a Tier 1 B. The school which I never dreamed of. My hands were shivering when I was signing an Education Loan document for 2 years of education whose total cost was more than twice of my entire family’s property at that time – Including the house. But still, my parents were supportive and they stood behind me like a wall.
Today I work in London as a Product Manager for a prestigious multinational organization. I look back today and I could see the different stages that the world is in – Small villages where people struggle to live way below minimum survival income to People living in the granite and marble buildings being in the richest area of London or even the world.
What made this journey is possible is three key things:
- Being curious and comtinuous in efforts
- Setting up vision to success and giving the best possible efforts towards it
- Being loyal to own values and understanding the ‘Value’ of money in early stages of life
Today, my background is what makes me strong and polite. Every time I go to visit my family, my mother takes me to farms and make me work like I was doing before. All the degrees, designations become just pieces of paper and I become part of the real and basic India. It gives the best learning that – “Everyone is just equal at the basic human level. All others are just layers that you have worn, else every one of us is the same and equal.”
My mother is the most motivational person for me. She never went to school but she has immense capability to advise me whenever I get stuck or feel depressed in my personal life. my grandfather was a great man. He developed an interest in learning and education. He never liked me seeing wasting time and he always encouraged me to see what is best in me. He motivated me to participate in different competitions and win over other. Indirectly it developed competitive nature in me at the same time being respectful and keeping the core values at the forefront.
My entire journey gives me the capability to understand the rural market, people’s behaviour, culture and different beliefs which none of the B.School could teach. My background became my strength rather than weakness.
I love coaching and motivating students from Rural India.
Please feel free to connect with me – vijay@vijaymagdum.com
Connect with Vijay On:
