The Beginning

"Success has many fathers, failure is an orphan". I first saw this quote, as a child, in my father's office, and this quote inspires me to push the limits of perseverance.

I'm Vikash Bajaj, a not so old, young man, of 46.

A fifth-generation resident of Assam, I was a pampered child. Being the firstborn son, and that too into a Marwari family of 1972, I was the cynosure of the family. I could do no wrong.

Bijni, a small town in Assam, had limited educational options, so at 3, I was parcelled off by my mother to a boarding school in Kalimpong. I spent the initial 3 years there. Constant badgering by my paternal grandparents forced my mother to withdraw me from my boarding school, and admit me to South Point School, Guwahati in 1979. However, being served rice, dal and salt, for breakfast, for lunch and for dinner, was just too "rich" for me to digest and I absconded from the school within 3 months of my admission. Post a thrashing at home, I was packed off to Kalimpong again, where I stayed till my matriculation. I completed my intermediate studies from Delhi and graduated from St. Xavier's College, Kolkata.

Tragedy struck my family while I was in college. My uncle was kidnapped by the NDFB in 1994. He spent 75 days in captivity. Soon after, the central government banned the timber trade in the North East, and our family business was history. Financially, a double whammy!!

Post-graduation, with limited financial resources in the family now, further studies were inconceivable. To circumvent that problem, I worked for 18-months with Nestle, picking up the intricacies of marketing and sales. Quitting Nestle in 1997, I took a diploma course in computer hardware and networking and started a computer business in Kolkata in 1999. My capital ₹3,000.00.

The year – 2000. The season – Kolkata'r Pujo. The event – my first interaction with Suman. I was floating in the air and my motorbike was flying when BAM!! Accident. 5 months, two operations, a piece of my femur removed, and grafting of part of my hip bone in its place, I was back in office.

Post my recovery, Suman and I, married in 2001 and, were blessed with two adorable daughters, Samixa in 2005 and Venya in 2006. By 2007, my business was floundering, and we relocated to Guwahati.

The initial years in Guwahati were arduous. Working out of a tiny room in my residence, I struggled in building up a business again, selling flexible packaging raw material.

2008, BAM again. Now a broken Tibia. Incapacitated once more. My accidents made me realise that I'd not forgotten my class VIII Biology. I remembered the names of all the bones in my body, at least the few broken ones.

The new business that I'd built during the past few months was on shaky grounds. In those troubled times, I had a benefactor in Rajeev Goenka, who was my anchor. Brick by brick, piece by piece we re-built from scratch. We disenthralled ourselves from time-honoured ways of doing business and prevailed.

Despite medical complications, Suman gave our family a huge gift in 2010. That year we welcomed our son Pranav into the world.

Life has not been easy, but I've no complaints. Our boxing coach in school used to say, "When the going gets tough, the tough get going". That's what I am – Tough.

Summing up I quote Robert Frost

"The wood are lovely, dark & deep, But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep, And miles to go before I sleep."