Seasoned analyst with 10 years of experience leading cross-functional initiatives
My friend, Jenny, pointed me towards this wonderful podcast episode with Ewan Nicolson from Skyscanner where he talks about how Skyscanner uses great technologies and exciting data sets to understand trends in the travel industry! Have a listen:
Source: Datacast by James Le
Love Actually has always been my favorite movie to watch during Christmas time. Every time I watch that movie, I feel festive and hopeful that love actually is everywhere. But this hope turned into belief this Christmas eve when I was welcomed into a marvelous American family to be part of their festivities.
It all started around 3.30 pm when my friends, Alli and Dylan, took me to my first Christmas service ever. The moment I stepped into Woodcreek Church , I was blown away by the lovely ambiance of the place. The sight of the softly-lit stage, colorful church decor, and a talented dancer performing to the soothing sound of violin music got me engrossed right way. Then, everybody stood up and sang songs of joy and prayer, praising the Lord. I did not know any of the songs but thanks to the words put up on the big screen, I was able to follow. With every passing minute, I could feel the gratitude, joy and faith of people in the room. The energy was unbelievable! The service ended with a majestic scene where everybody lit candles and held them up singing a couple of Christmas songs. When I left the church, I thought my heart couldn’t be any fuller. I was wrong, of course, as a magical evening awaited me at the Johnson’s.
For Christmas Eve dinner, Alli and Dylan invited me to their grandparents’ house. I instantly felt the warmth of Omi and Opa (“Grandmother” and “Grandfather” in German as Omi is from Germany) when I met them briefly at the church. I had already seen the neighborhood where Omi and Opa lived when Dylan drove me there to check out the Christmas lights. That was another great evening as Binny, Alli, Dylan and I witnessed some really cool and creative Christmas lighting and decorations. It gave me a sense of how excited people are for the festival and how they gear up for it.
When I entered Omi and Opa’s place, I was impressed by the elegant and thoughtful Christmas lights and decorations inside. I was inside one of the most beautiful houses I had ever seen. The Christmas tree by the fireplace looked amazing with all the presents and the lights. It was just like I had seen in the movies! I complemented them both but as Opa said, it was all Omi’s efforts that made the house look the way it did.
Then, the other family members started coming in and as the evening progressed, I had the pleasure of indulging into some wonderful conversations with all of them. Our conversations ranged from Mumbai and Texas to raccoons and hamsters, from cricket and football to Bollywood and Hollywood, from wine and spices to call centres and desalination. It was great to hear from Opa about some interesting people and times of his life. I was glad that I could narrate some of my own experiences from back home. It was particularly funny when Opa was trying to figure out which sauce I find the most spicy while we were snacking on the chips. During all this, Omi was busy with the cooking, while still listening to our stories and weighing in every once in a while. Her radiant smile, hearty laughter, gorgeous hair, soothing voice (and may I add – stylish jeans) will always stay with me.
The dinner table was set in no time and we continued our discussions as we treated ourselves to a delicious Christmas meal. As I sat there between these wonderful people, eating my salmon amidst the laughter and engaging discussions, I felt grateful to be part of this family’s Christmas eve celebration. The meal was followed by another lovely tradition of sitting by the Christmas tree and opening all the presents. Young Liam played the elf who dug into the pile of presents and distributed them one by one to everyone.
I was delighted to receive so many presents when I had not expected any. Alli and Dylan really went out of their way to make me feel like one of them. DJ’s humor and Heidi’s warmth too made me feel like I was not an outsider and was truly welcome in their house. But my heart melted down when after clicking some pictures, Omi told me – “Send these to your parents and tell them that this is your American family”. She gifted me The Holy Bible and said that she thought that God sent me there at that point. That was quite a touching moment for me. I felt like it would be nice to start reading the text right there in the presence of the family. Alli pointed me to a section on the birth of Jesus Christ that I read out loud before we moved on to the rest of the presents.
As my heart filled up with all that was happening around me, I had an interesting thought which I shared with the family. I have struggled with my own faith in a creator or God for quite a few years now. But during this remarkable Christmas eve night filled with the warmth, love and affection that everyone showed towards me, I couldn’t help but wonder – if people who have faith are like this, perhaps it is something worth pursuing.
Merry Christmas, y’all!
The first semester of Graduate school totally lived up to the hype. Fall 2018 at The University of Texas at Dallas brought with it all the excitement, joy, fun and learning that I had hoped for. I am extremely thankful for the amazing, brilliant, friendly, talented, warm, weird, crazy people who became part of my world in Texas. Here’s a little video (well, pictures with background music actually) of the lovely F.R.I.E.N.D.S I have made so far!
Use of Data Science in Solar Desalination – that’s what I had in mind when I landed in the United States of America on July 27, 2018 to study Business Analytics. About 4 months into it, I have had the opportunity to meet some amazing people, take a weekend trip to Austin, perform in a brilliant theatre production of Julius Caesar with a supremely talented cast and crew, and found a new organization, Travelytics, at the University of Texas at Dallas. These have been heartwarming experiences and I will write more about them in separate, dedicated blog posts.
My data science journey so far has involved learning Statistics, the R programming language, and SQL as part of Database foundations. I have also been doing online courses on Python and Machine Learning to get well-versed with the basics of data science. It has all been a bit overwhelming but I think I am slowly finding my bearings here.
For entertainment, I have been binge-watching Aaraon Sorkin’s political drama, The West Wing. One of its episodes titled 365 days has made me think that it would be helpful if I keep count of the number of days I have left in my Masters program. It may be a good way of keeping myself focused and reminding myself of the goals I wish to achieve in my time as a Grad student. So, here we are, at 616 days to go. For some inspiration and perspective, I started with this article on How Big Data is Changing the Future of Renewable Energy Sector:
How Big Data is Changing the Future of Renewable Energy Sector
There is still so much to do. A good strategy would be to first become an expert in data mining, visualization, Big Data Analytics, predictive analytics and Machine Learning techniques while keeping an eye on the business side of things in the solar sector. I should also follow major journals and websites related to both renewable energy and data science (something I should have started already but haven’t). In my second semester, I am taking courses in IT Audit and Risk Management and IT security in order to broaden my horizons. Over the next few weeks, I will be aiming at finishing the Fall semester with as much knowledge retention from my courses as possible, efficient application of techniques in my R and Database projects, and completion of my online courses on Python and Machine learning.
I also have ambitious plans for our new club Travelytics for which I have had the privilege of getting together an excellent team of bright and young students.
616 days to go. Time to turn up the heat!
When I decided to pursue my Masters in Business Analytics in the US, I bid goodbye to all of my Bollywood dreams. I feared it was the end of my creative side. However, I kept hoping that if I could find a theatre group wherever I went, I might just be able to keep the actor in me alive. So, one of the first things I did after coming to Dallas was that I wrote to the Arts and Humanities department at the University of Texas at Dallas. My joy knew no bounds when Prof. Shelby Hibbs wrote back to me and invited me to audition for their upcoming production of Julius Caesar.
I started preparing for the audition with a lot of anxiety and nervousness. I spoke with my friend Deshik Vansadia, who is the most passionate Shakespeare artist I knew. He suggested that I work with Hortensio’s speech from the Taming of the Shrew. My personal favourite though was Romeo’s balcony monologue from Romeo and Juliet. I prepared for both and started waiting for the day of the audition with bated breath.
The day of the audition came sooner than I thought. While in the same university, the rehearsal hall which was in the basement was a bit tricky to find. Fortunately, I made it on time and saw some actors waiting outside a closed door. A couple of them were sitting on the carpeted floor reading through their lines, while others were chatting with the assistant stage manager who greeted me with a smile. Auditions were held in groups of four actors. I didn’t talk much except mentioning something about our voices to a beautiful girl who was awaiting her turn to audition too.
I was part of the last four actors to audition. From the moment I stepped inside the rehearsal hall to the moment I stepped out, I was taken back to the countless number of times I had been to auditions in India. This is when I met Shelby Hibbs, a person I shall forever be grateful to. Her pleasant persona and sweet smile made me feel at ease right away and I took a seat, awaiting my turn.
Two actors performed their pieces before me. I was feeling elated just to be part of the process again. When it was my turn, I walked up with little nervousness and a lot of excitement. I decided to go with Hortensio’s piece. Despite rehearsing the lines several times, I made some goof-ups. Shelby gave me some feedback and asked me to try again, which I did. I was able to achieve around 50% of what I had in mind. My impression of the audition was that it didn’t go well but honestly, I didn’t care about the result much at that point. I was just glad that even this far away from Mumbai, I was able to give an audition. In a way, it made me feel more alive.
The beautiful girl was the next to audition and just killed it with a monologue from Romeo and Juliet. We then said our goodbyes and goodlucks. I had a wonderful conversation with one of the actors who auditioned in my group, as we shared a bus ride. I got home satisfied with the evening, hoping to make it to the cast. A few days later, I got an email from Shelby with the list of cast members. My name was on it as the actor playing Trebonius.
We have now started rehearsals and the play opens on November 8, 2018. Thus, begins a new phase of Dilip, the actor.
Stay updated with activities of the play through the UTD Theare Facebook Page
For over a decade now, I have chased the dream of becoming a Bollywood star. It has been an amazing ride full of ups and downs. There have been some minor breakthroughs but nothing significant enough for me to make a living out. So, while this journey as an aspiring Bollywood actor has taught me a lot and I have thoroughly enjoyed and loved every bit of it, I have come to realize that it is time to pull the plug.
It has taken a lot of effort for me to come to terms with the fact that my acting career is going nowhere. For over 15 years, all that I wanted was this. No matter what I did, no matter where I went, I always felt that it will connect back to my dream. But now, I feel like I do not want to invest any more of my youth in this “struggle”. I need to accept that I have failed. And it is now time to move on.
It makes me very sad. I feel like something is dying inside me. After all, it’s a dream I have chased since I was 16. However, I have found some solace in the knowledge that acting is now a part of who I am and I can always continue being an actor on the side. This is where acting becomes a hobby for me like playing the guitar or dancing or travel. May be I can get back to doing theatre and join the countless number of doctors, engineers, working professionals who use it as a way of expressing themselves! With that in mind, I have made my peace with my decision of giving up my Bollywood aspirations.
Once I made this call, I started looking at other things that excite me – other areas where I thought I could make a difference. I have worked as a Senior Travel Writer, Editor and Manager over the last few years. During this time, I have had time to travel, volunteer, teach, write, think and reconsider my career options. After a fair amount of self-discovery, I have concluded that the best combination of what I would like to do and what the world needs right now is data science in the solar energy sector.
The world of renewable energy, like every other field these days, generates huge amounts of data and there is a need for analysts and scientists who can make sense of this data. With skilled effort in the right direction, a lot can be done to bring down solar implementation costs. That to me is an exciting future to work towards. With my background in Electronics and Telecommunications engineering, and my interest in programming and statistics, it felt like the right thing to pursue next.
I started my data science journey last year with an introductory course on the R programming language on a website called Datacamp. I have followed it up with an MIT OCW course on Introduction to Computational Thinking Using Python. I have also applied to several universities for my Masters in Business Analytics/ Data Science/ Information Systems. If all goes well, I hope to begin higher studies in Fall 2018.
This is a new beginning and as one would expect, I am nervous and anxious just like I was at the beginning of my Bollywood struggle. I am 32 now and it scares the shit out of me to restart my whole career. Nevertheless, I am driven by the fact that I now have a new purpose – one that can add some value to the world and also help me meet my true potential. I realize that this may look like a clichéd choice, a silly one even. But what matters to me is – it feels like something worth doing no matter how people perceive it. It is what my heart is pointing me towards.
I do plan to continue theatre and acting in some form or another. But now, it would be just for me and not with the motive of “chasing a dream”. My dream has now been replaced by an ambition – Become a skilled Data Scientist and make a revolutionary impact in the Renewable Energy sector.
Love,
Dilip Merala
For a long time, I thought my only dream in life was to become a Bollywood star. I took a few years to pursue this dream with all my heart. I wrote down my story with some anecdotes of the most amazing moments of my life as a Bollywood aspirant in a blog. I have now migrated it to this website so you can find all the posts in the ‘Acting’ category of my blog on this website. I have enjoyed every bit of the “struggle” and hope you enjoy reading about it just as much!
It is one of the most hyped-up, celebrated, and even feared routes of India. Manali-Leh is on the wish list of every biker. Having done bike trips to Rajasthan, Karnataka, Goa, Assam, Meghalaya and the interiors of my resident state Maharashtra, my friends kept asking me when I plan to do the mighty Ladakh trip. As tens of my friends posted their own Ladakh pictures on social media, I must confess, I was losing interest in doing it. Leh Ladakh felt more and more like one of the destinations that are on their way to becoming commercial tourist hot spots with huge crowds during the peak season. But then I thought that may be we still have a couple of years before it reaches that stage and a trip during the end of season (September it gets quite cold) could still be worth it. I am so glad that I took that call. Some of my close friends joined in and before we knew it, we were on our bikes riding from Chandigarh to Leh. It was one hell of an adventurous trip which I have described on my Instagram page. But what I would like to share here is a video that I made during the trip. While I was riding, my favorite song was playing in my head and I though why not make a little dance video with the people I meet featuring the stunning landscapes of Ladakh. I did not know how it will turn out but I thought “What the hell?!? Let’s try it.” I got back home, watched some Adobe Premier Pro tutorials and edited the video in a couple of hours. The end result is a message of love to my soulmate, wherever she is!
Hope this reaches you 🙂
When you really want to act, opportunity presents itself in one way or another. So when I was far away from Mumbai in the hills of Uttarakhand, some kids were putting together a skit for their annual Janmashtami celebrations. Upon learning about my theatre background, they were kind enough to offer me the role of Kans in their skit. I was stunned at the organized way in which they rehearsed weeks before the performance date, arranged their well-labelled costumes in trunks, got their make-up done… they could put professional theatre artists to shame! I will post my Uttarakhand story on my travel blog some other day but for now, I would like to share my Kans performance (just because I am missing the kids terribly today! ) While I rate the performance quite low, the experience of playing the villain before 200 villagers who got extremely emotional and engrossed in every scene is unforgettable! You won’t believe how much they cried when Krishna was bidding goodbye to Yashodha to go to Mathura for a duel with Kans. The day and the performance has stayed with me ever since.
Best. Audience. Ever.
When I named this blog ‘Chasing my only dream’, I was being honest. It really was my only dream. Yes, I am saying WAS. Things have changed in the past couple of years and in my journey so far, I have reached a point where I have picked up other interests, other skills, other DREAMS!
After my corporate life ended in 2012, I decided to focus only on acting. It primarily meant looking for acting work and rehearsing as much as I could at home. I started going to every studio I knew and checked if i was fit to audition. 9 out of 10 times, I wasn’t. This was not new to me but when you have nothing else to do, this gets depressing pretty soon. Yes, I got a small role in a major film. However, my total number of work days was less than 25. Add to that a few days of assisting on ad films, shooting for a short film, and some theatre rehearsals and shows. It still summed up to about 50. What does a guy do for the remaining 315 days of the year?
While I don’t think this is the case for all aspiring actors, I was not okay with this for myself. I was in my late 20s and did not want to spend most of my adult life just “looking for work”. This is when I remembered the words of a teacher in my life I have always looked up to.
I had worked with Neeraj Kabi as a production controller for his production of Hamlet which till date, is the finest play I have seen in my life. I was fortunate to be part of a team which included terrific actors like Shivani Tanksale, Neil Bhoopalam, Reshma Shetty, Mandar Gokhale and Ujjwal Chopra amongst others. Although I only did backstage, admin and production work for a whole year, the time I spent with Neeraj Sir gave me the light that still guides me through.
When I took his 10-day acting workshop, he used a phrase I can never forget – “shopping for life”. I can never be as articulate as he was but the gist of it is – you need to live your life, have all the experiences you possibly can, to become a better actor. He said acting is a craft and you need at least 10-15 years to be good at it, may be even more. But you keep living your life, and you keep doing your riyaz as an actor! He also said that there is no point taking pride doing a huge number of shows if you are not growing.
This is when I thought – can I really become a better actor if I spend all my time looking for acting work, doing these little roles here and there which finally just come down to memorizing lines and reproducing them in front of the camera. Even if I do get an excellent role, what experiences do i have to be able to do justice to it? While I was lost in this thought not knowing where to head, I saw in the news that Uttarakhand was hit by floods and there was tremendous loss of lives and property. I spoke with my friend Nikhil Bangera, made some arrangements, and 10 days later, I was in Uttarakhand as a volunteer.
My trip was supposed to be a 10-day trip where I was just help as much as I can and get back. But the most wonderful thing happened then. I met a bunch of kids who lived in a school named SNC. We connected in our first meeting and they insisted I stay with them. I took an English session for them (these were all Hindi medium kids) one morning and continued doing my volunteer work the rest of the day. I met several families with old parents who had lost their sons – some very young, others who were themselves fathers to infants. Along with local volunteers, I traveled to villages for surveys, delivering food and solar lamps, and sent reports to organisations for more help (all under SNC which is also an NGO). No matter how bad things got and how low I felt, getting back to the kids was a delight. I ended up living in Uttarakhand for 2 months.
In this time, as a payback to these little sweethearts, I started teaching them English since they had enjoyed the session I had conducted. They were all extremely sharp kids but were not exposed to the English language. We started lessons at 7 am every morning and by the end of 2 months, we had completed an entire basic English module. I sat with each one of them and gave them feedback on their progress as some of my teachers used to give me. I was overwhelmed by their enthusiasm and quest to learn whatever they could. I also ended up doing two plays with them – one on the story of Snow White (a version they narrated to me in Hindi and then we translated together in English) and Krishnaleela on the day of Janmashtami where I played Kans! I was surprised at this opportunity to act arising out of the least expected place. Also, the dedication and zest with which these kids worked on their lines, costumes, song and dance sequences put all of my preparation as an actor to shame. On the day of the performance, the girl playing Yashoda burst into tears during the scene when Krishna leaves for Mathura. She went on and on even when she was backstage and stopped only after I consoled her for a few minutes (right till the time of my entry). I could see around 200 villagers in the audience, all getting emotional at each and every scene. I was only hoping that they do not hate me after I played Kans! But mercifully, nothing of that sort happened and the show was perhaps the most memorable performance and experience of my life! I said to myself that if I really wanted to act, life will present me with an opportunity one way or the other. But if I give up on these experiences, I will probably never grow.
After I came back to Mumbai, I tried to get a fresh perspective on things. I got another film project, a couple of stints with TVF and a wonderful short film. I started traveling more. I did a bike trip from Mumbai to Rajasthan where my friend and I covered Barmer, Jaisalmer, Jodhpur, Pokhran, Osian and Ranakpur. A couple of months later, I did another Delhi-Agra-Rajasthan trip with my actor friend Deshik Vansadia and two lovely ladies from the U.S. of A.
This was followed by some Goa trips and another snow trek in Uttarakhand and some adventures in Rishikesh. Recently, I backpacked solo across Himachal where I visited Kasol, Tosh, Kheerganga, Rewalsar and spent one crazy night in Delhi. I also did a solo bike trip across Assam and Meghalaya. India is absolutely stunning! All you guys reading this – please PLEASE go see as much of India as you can. You will be amazed at how much it has to offer! You can read about my travel experiences on my travel blog here.
The teaching experience in Uttarakhand was quite fulfilling so I thought I should take it forward. This has led to me teaching street kids in Mumbai as a volunteer. My friend Nikhil, who gave up his managerial job to pursue a career in Education, is my inspiration for this. I have always believed in the power of education to solve India’s problems and may be, as part of the youth of my nation, I can play a little role in it.
The auditions have dried up a bit recently but life goes alright. Every once in a while I do get called by some casting directors like Abhishek Banerjee and Anmol Ahuja for an ad audition. I have taken up a job as a Travel content writer so that I can save some money to be able to travel more. I have met many new people in my new office, made new friends, and had embarrassing and awkward experiences. I continue to look for theatre work and performance opportunities more than auditions.
So what I am trying to say is this – things have been changing and I have been trying to embrace the change. Call it loss of focus if you will but I am actually enjoying this – trying to juggle acting, travel and teaching. I can’t see where I am going from here. I am anxious. I am also excited to see what happens from here on. I know for sure that I am in no way going to give up acting. I still text casting directors to ask for work. I still look for theatre opportunities. But now, I don’t have the craving to be a “star”. I don’t like the cost benefit ratio. I want to live my life, see the world, and in the bargain, I believe I will become a much better actor than I am today. It’s time to “SHOP FOR LIFE”.
