My Story Before Japan

Before Instagram, before Japan, and before this book, I was, by all objective measures, an average student in a boys’ high school in Indore. I distinctly recall an instance in 11th grade where, attempting to bunk school, my chemistry teacher, noticing me on the road, offered me a ride on his Activa to school. After he dropped me off, I promptly exited the school again, confident in my anonymity, a testament to my unremarkable presence at the time.

My initial career aspirations, I confess, were rather shallow, shaped by a casual remark in 8th grade from a peer, Raj Shukla, about the “crazy jobs” available after attending an IIT. Despite a lack of genuine passion for science, the prevailing sentiment of “Sab kar rhe hai to mujhe bhi karna chahiye (If everyone is doing it, I should also do it)” steered my academic choices.

By 10th grade, facing the critical decision of 11th- and 12th-grade subjects, I attempted to broach the idea of commerce with my father, only to be met with the definitive “Bapu ne bola to science karne ka (If your father said study science, you study science).” Thus, I embarked on physics, chemistry, and mathematics. My struggles with mathematics became evident early in 11th grade, culminating in a supplementary exam, ironically in the same year my father invested a significant 1 lakh rupees in my IIT coaching—a substantial sum for our “middle of the middle class” household.

The narrative that IIT was everything consumed me. I adopted an intense study regimen, from 9 AM to 9 PM, dividing my time between the library and classes. Despite this effort, my 12th-grade results (76% aggregate, 90/300 in entrance exams) pointed towards a “super mediocre” engineering future in a local Indore college.

However, a pivotal encounter with my uncle, whose lifestyle of luxury cars, properties, and foreign trips starkly contrasted our own, shifted my perspective. Discovering his success stemmed from a Bachelor’s in Arts with Japanese, rather than engineering, was a revelation. He revealed how his Japanese language skills secured him a well-paying job at Adobe. His advice to apply to Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) marked a significant turning point.

My initial hubris regarding the ease of learning Japanese (“Ehh, language mera kya ukhad lega (Japanese can do me no harm)”) quickly led to a harsh reality check: a 3.02 GPA out of 9 in my first year at JNU, narrowly avoiding expulsion. This near-failure ignited a serious commitment to my studies. “Mujhe padhna hai yaar (I need to study, man),” became my resolve.

My “study arc” was rigorous. My goal was to clear N1 in three years, despite having already squandered one. I adopted a disciplined routine of waking at 5 AM, attending classes from 9 AM to 1 PM, studying from 2 PM to 6 PM, and returning to my desk after dinner and a brief walk until 10 PM. By my third year, my grades improved, and I gained faculty favor, though I had missed earlier opportunities for study in Japan. My last chance came by topping the first year of my M.A. in Japanese, propelling me from the bottom to the top. This demanding period even strained my relationship with my then-girlfriend (now wife), highlighting the intense dedication required.

During the third year of my B.A., I received a job offer from American Express for INR 80,000 monthly. Having only cleared N3 at that point, I judiciously decided to forgo this offer, confident that N1 proficiency would yield superior opportunities. Indeed, two months after completing my third year, I achieved N1.

My opportunity to go to Japan arrived in my M.A. first year as an exchange student at Osaka University, Japan’s third-best university, where I specialized in translation and interpretation. Upon returning in 2020 and during my final M.A. year, I strategically built my LinkedIn profile. Six months later, I began receiving recruitment calls and messages, ultimately securing a job as a translator via LinkedIn.

My journey to Japan culminated when, after six months as a translator, my company, recognizing the value of in-house training, transitioned me into marketing and business development, despite my lack of prior experience in those fields.

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