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Why do most of the people have tears in their eyes, feel as if time stopped at the moment when they have achieved something that they have worked really hard for, for a long time? Those of you who have experienced it at least once in your life will know what I mean. If you have not, then, you surely need to want something badly in your life, what’s life without the experience of bursting emotions as you stand to achieve a goal. 

I asked myself when was it that I felt this way? It was not the best day of my life but it was the most important day of my life, because that day changed me forever. The Salma people new before DemoDay 2018 was dead that day. 

Frankly, I am a very emotional person, so I can recall many small achievements that have got me to tears, but one such moment I remember of being there, when I cried like a baby, laughed with tears rolling down my cheeks and felt my knees go weak is when I had completed the 2018 Demo Day, our annual event that was taken up as a mammoth of the task. Post the completion of the event with 5000 attendees, when the curtains closed, I went through the whole emotional roller coaster ride. But why not, that was the final moment of something that had me going through the worst phase of my life. 

It was around this time in 2018, it was decided to go for an annual event this big and I made it my life’s mission to achieve it. That is where the journey began, as time kept moving ahead, plans became useless, bills kept piling, monies did not show up, expectations started rising, anger & disappointment was all I got, loneliness and desperation was all that I had left, every day added a few lakhs of liabilities on the company & myself, I lost my own shareholding of the company to someone who came in showing that they care, one week ahead of the event & I was still going on, still running helter-skelter with no care what so ever for my well being, life or any sensibility to my actions, all I wanted was to wrap this event, end what was started 6 months back and once done so, if that would go to become the last day I am alive, I was okay to take it with open arms. 

So when finally the moment arrived, I had done the impossible, I stood there at KTPO and looked around, I saw that I had done it, “India’s largest Startup Event” but from where I stood, I saw lost friendships, broken relationships, pending liabilities, disrespectful employees and a scary life ahead. I forgot how to breathe after that, I could not stand, I collapsed on the back door staircase and I needed a hug, a hand but I got an associate, standing guard at a distance looking out to see if no one comes that way. 

But I wanted to scream & cry, I wanted my breath back, I wanted to live and I wanted my life back from the clutches of DemoDay2018. It took me 700 days after that to get a grip on myself, on my life, on my professional & personal journey. But it was totally worth the effort. What I found within me in these past 2 years, has empowered me to a level that it is rare to find, it has made me strong in ways I never thought I could ever be. So, I can say with pride that I survived through these last 2 years and found the best version of myself as I touch my 50th Birthday in the next 35 days. 

So, today I tell you, go for the big one, reach your rock bottom to find your best version and fall in love with yourself all over again.. Diamonds do get formed deep within the earth. ❤️