“Be who you are” – such a simple thing to say and yet so difficult to follow. My fourth article in this series is about just that. For those of you who are not familiar with me – I spent the last decade trying to make it in Bollywood. While I acted in a bunch of cool films and web videos (you can find them on my Projects page), I didn’t make the cut. So when I started my Master’s program in Business Analytics, I believed it was the end of the actor in me. I just took a chance in August 2018 by writing to the UTD Arts and Humanities department asking if there was any theatre activity I can be part of. And like an angel, Prof. Shelby-Allison Hibbs responded to my email saying I should audition for Julius Caesar. It’s been two years now and I have acted in four plays at UTD. That’s more than I had done in the last two years before I came to the United States.
My theatre mentor, Mr. Neeraj Kabi, always worked with people from various professions and maintained that EVERYONE should be involved in the theatre. It can teach you to come out of your shell, or it can teach you to connect with your inner self. It can help you communicate better, or it can show you the power of silence and listening. In the past two years, I have been able to relive everything that I love about the Arts. But besides that, it has honed some of the most valuable skills in my professional life. The way the cast and crew of Julius Caesar worked together for months was a lesson in teamwork. The writing and creation of A Mirror Right Through You was product innovation at its best. Rocky Horror‘s scale of production and unparalleled success taught me how an innovative marketing campaign can win the day. And Faust has been a lesson in adapting well to the most unprecedented changes and using your voice as a powerful instrument! Every play has been an epitome of brilliant concept-to-launch production of something most people across the globe want to buy.
Each one of these plays has been a unique experience in itself, teaching me something new. I have met, worked with, and learned from exceptional artists. I have made friends for life who have reinstated my faith in myself. I am much better now at trusting the process and staying calm in the eye of uncertainty and distress. My experience with UTD Theatre has reminded me that despite my failed Bollywood career, I will always continue to be an actor. A career in IT doesn’t have to mean that I stop acting. In fact, acting and theatre might very well be what keeps me focused and driven to achieve my goals in life. And this lesson is going to be key in my years looking forward.
Acting has played a huge role in forming my personality and contributed massively in building my confidence. Every time I speak in public with passion, every time I empathize with customers to solve a problem, every time I work with a cross-functional team to generate revenue, I will remember that I owe it to theatre. It was and will always be a part of my life.
You can check out UTD Theatre’s latest play Faust here.
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This is the fourth post of my #10DaysToGraduate series where I share 10 key lessons from my Master’s degree in the form of a countdown to May 8, my graduation date.