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