“When I visited home last week, I organized an event called ‘bake and share’. I stood on the other side of the table, while around 20 people sat across to see how I bake. This was the first time ever that I was the one leading an event.

I took an advanced course in baking just a few months ago. I didn’t know that my skill would lead me into the spotlight so soon. For the first time in my life, I was the center of the crowd. I was not the helper and I was not there to boost someone. Instead, people were there for me. I experienced an inexplicable joy.

The cupcakes baked by the participants in the event were shared with children from underprivileged families. When these kids asked for more, I knew my life was finally on the right track, after twelve years of losing myself. I had found myself once again.

I lost my father when I was in the 6th standard. For a 12 year-old girl, seeing her father coming home wrapped in a white bed sheet was a little too much to take. I changed tremendously. I learnt to accept things, to adjust, to be content with little, to be satisfied with mediocrity and to be happy with what was left. I became an average student, an ordinary singer and a swimmer who just knew how not to drown. I was always good, but never the best.

In this journey of being just another girl living a simple life, I was often referred to as ‘the woman who cared’ by my friends. I became the ‘mother’ of every friend of mine who was away from home. From a timely bowl of soup for a sick friend to the molten chocolate cake for a friend’s birthday, everything was my department. When my friends studied late in the night for their exams, I made sure their stomachs were filled with garam garam stuffed parathas along with freshly brewed coffee. In the meantime, my exam nights were spent with instant noodles.

I had learnt to smile when others were happy, feel proud when others were successful and would have never known the taste of being a leader. On the day of the event, even though my frostings did not come out very well, I had reached a level of confidence from where I see no coming back. The entrepreneur in me has been charged and I am happy to find and live with the new me."