When I was a kid my father had said that my last monthly salary would be equal to his entire life’s Provident Fund (CPP equivalent in India). He said generally that is the case from one generation to another generation. I didn’t believe that and thought that it’s an unachievable dream/goal. The mechanisms he explained to me (back in 1970s) were currency depreciation, technological growths, economic explosions and global connectivity. We both felt that Success is not merely monetary gains or achievements but it has to be coupled with recognition, dream accomplishment, being responsible for multiple social causes etc.
To achieve my dream of chasing success, I realized that I have to be in technology related industry and I need to start earning in hard currency (GBP, USD) which does not depreciate much as compared to other currencies.
I started looking outward (from India) and found suitable opportunities. In the last 30 years, I have been working in different countries, managing various cultures, being a leader in multiple countries and achieved success in terms of Leadership, Status, Recognition in addition to monetary gains.
I was in Software Product & Implementation industry. Initially I worked in Kenya and travelled to many parts of Africa. It was a completely new world for me. I had great experience with African people and became an integral part of their lives. I was a product manager in that organization and my immediate responsibility was to train my teams in understanding software, sell software business solutions with my sales team and make them successful.
In short, make my teams understand what the real success is. In Africa, I was very close to nature and the wild life. I had great experiences of wild life and my team members took all the efforts to show me how truthful & honest the animal & botanical kingdom is. I had few life threatening episodes in my African stint too but with many blessings I escaped all. Travelling & exploring in Africa was a real experience.
After the African stint I moved to UAE, Middle East and setup a subsidiary for an Indian software organization. I travelled to many Middle Eastern countries and got a great chance to learn & understand their culture. I realized how easy it is to mingle and be successful with Arabs and Middle East communities.
From the African wild life experiences now I was enjoying sandy dunes, mega cities, super malls, magnificent constructions, efficient roadways and expressways. Both these assignments rewarded me handsomely and monetary gains were significant. The sizes & volumes of operation in some of the open markets in Dubai were unthinkable for me that time. The fruit market, the Gold souk, dry fruit markets were out of this world in 1990s.
After this stint I started thinking of East side of the Globe. The superfast economic growth had started in the East. There were many opportunities in Singapore, Korea, Malaysia, Indonesia and I was lucky to grab an opportunity in Jakarta. I moved there and spent 19 years working with Global software brands and I enjoyed leadership roles in that country for more than 15 years. Me and my family enjoyed physical quality of life.
The work life was great and success was coming from all the directions. I changed 5 jobs in Indonesia and every assignment was enjoyable in terms of my interaction with my employers, employees, customers & partners. During this time, my children were schooling & I had to plan for their undergrad and higher education. Me and my wife planned successfully and could manage to send our children to USA & Canada for higher education. We also realized that to settle after the age of 50 we need to have citizenship of another country if we have to work & live overseas and have a settled life.
After this Indonesian stint we migrated to Canada and now for the last 6 years have settled in Toronto.
What we achieved in this multi-country, multi-cultural, high stress corporate job existence;
We learnt African Kiswahili, Indonesia Bahasa and managed some fluency;
Travelled to many countries and cities and explored various cultures, met thousands of people, made friends from multiple cities and witnessed the nature at its best;
Tried & enjoyed multiple cuisines, visited some extraordinary monuments & locations;
We lived amidst many earthquakes in Jakarta, seen live & dormant volcanoes, lived in Indonesia when the first Tsunami hit that country, seen some great wild life actions from close quarters, witnessed nearly a coup situation in Kenya in 1992, lived in Jakarta during the worst ever riots & dethroning of Indonesian President, beauty & power of Niagara falls, Athabasca glaciers in Edmonton, frozen lakes in Canada, walking on top of a lake in Kenya, extreme temperatures in Middle east (48 degrees) and in Canada (minus 30 Degrees). The list is long. All these experiences have enriched my life and taught my family how to adapt and achieve your dreams, realize success.
I always thank Almighty and my parents, family members whose blessings allowed me to enjoy these experiences and reach my dream. I can always say if you set a goal and achieve that, you fill contented and satisfied. It requires enormous amount of dedication, planning and hard work. According to me, the real definition of Success is Being Happy, Satisfied and Enriched.
Uday is a seasoned IT executive with comprehensive management skills within IT Industry across the globe. International profile includes working for diversified IT leaders (SAP, SAS, Oracle, SYBASE/PB Distributor, Microsoft VAR) in Indonesia, India, Africa, Middle East and in South East Asia for the last 34 years. Currently residing in Canada and working in Canadian & US IT market in leadership capacity.