Why I chucked my corporate job to join the BJP

My foray into BJP from the corporate world, was to lead a life with a purpose. I wanted to contribute my best for the service of the country and stand as an example for others. After having been associated with Bharatiya Janata Party for the last 11 years, when I look back at the journey I feel fully satisfied that I am part of the family which dreams of making a better India. The entry into BJP is not based on birth but it is purely based on merit.

I believe it was my upbringing and what I learnt at various stages of life that enabled me to grow within BJP and contribute to this family.

First steps

For me, the process of acquiring leadership qualities began in RSS training camp. RSS believes in the philosophy "One India, One culture". Without any discrimination, it trained children from all sections of society to acquire leadership skills and contribute to the development of the nation.

The anthem "Nirmanoke Pawan yugmein" is recited in RSS camps to ensure that children imbibe a nationalist sentiment from a very young age.

The values taught by vedas and ancient scriptures are taught to the children so that they develop a strong character. Swami Vivekananda said "What the world wants is character. The world is in need of those whose life is one burning love, selfless. That love will make every word tell like a thunderbolt". Character building is given utmost importance as part of the training.

This is the place I picked up my initial values which have become part of every cell in my body.

Education

After completing class 12, I began my graduation in the commerce stream in the Mumbai University. It was during this time that I got an opportunity to work for ABVP. It was here I understood the true importance of democracy. Exposure to politics within the student community built my confidence to lead from the front. But due to financial constraints, I couldn't pursue my desire of directly entering politics. I had to work towards what was my first duty. I completed my B Com. and then my MBA from Mumbai University.

Corporate career

My first job began in the Aditya Birla Group. This organisation taught me the importance of longevity in every decision taken and firmness in one's value system. The employees took long time to take a decision but they firmly believed that every decision taken should be impactful and that it's impact must survive for a very long time. At my second workplace, Techspan, I learnt the importance of agility, quick decision making as well as how to put in endless hours of work. By working in IBM, I realised the importance of rewarding innovation, taking responsibility for even the smallest bit of work. It also taught me the significance of laying down standard processes across the organisation and furthermore, communicating these processes to everyone in the organisation to prevent any misinterpretation.

Taking the road less travelled

While I was climbing the corporate ladder and learning new things every day, there was something that was making me feel unsatisfied. It was to work for a purpose. I didn't feel I was contributing to society in any way. It was 2002 and it was during this time I started following Indian politics keenly. At that time Nitin Gadkari the then transport minister in Maharashtra inaugurated Mumbai-Pune expressway. He was the pioneer of the Public Private Partnership in government projects. During my interaction, he communicated his vision in very simple language. "I want the roads to be wide enough to ensure that vehicles don't waste time commuting. If I can reduce the commuting time from nine hours to four and a half hours, then I can move the economy of one person at 2 times the pace and when this is applied to all the vehicles which pass through this road, it is a great contribution to the economy," he said. These simple words inspired me to take a plunge into politics.

Convincing my family and taking their blessings before plunging into politics

It is often said that "behind every man's success, there is a woman". It is true in my case too. My wife Sumitra Goenka stood by my side even though she knew I was taking an extremely tough path that would affect the lives of everyone in the family. There were even strange incidents when a few women approached my wife and said "some ghost is on your husband" and even applied Sai Baba's urn. There were many women who laughed at the thought that I would be depending on my wife for survival as she would be the sole bread-winner for the family. Inspite of all the this, I had an unshakeable faith in myself. I knew I could make a difference if I had a vision. And that any problem in the country can be solved with the help of technology. All that was required was to take technology to the common man.

Early steps in BJP

I didn't want to lose the opportunity to try something different in life. I knew my heart was telling me to get into politics. I had to show quick results and so it was Nitin Gadkari who conceived the idea of having an IT cell in the BJP. He envisoned that IT would play a vital role in electoral politics in future. I embraced technology and used it for two purposes. One was to understand the expectations of the people and the second was to ensure that the promises of the BJP were properly communicated to the people. All that I learned during my long corporate career was put to test and used. 

Narendra Modi an inspiration

It is  matter of great pride that our Prime Minister was a son of a tea-seller and accompanied his father to sell tea. He started his career as an RSS swayamsevak. He firmly believed that "A person is not rich when he has huge amount of wealth at his disposal, but when he needs very little for survival". He believes in a very simple way of living and was ever ready to meet the poorest of the poor. He is a keen observer of people and is always looking for solutions rather than just finding faults. He has played the role of an administrator and also as a politician and he knows full well when not to mix the two. As a politician he always ensured that his council of ministers were always performing their duties and spending more time with the people and understanding their problems. As an administrator he always ensured that politics never got into administration. He is a visionary and always wielded his power in decision making to ensure that problems were addressed at the earliest. The values and discipline he learnt as an RSS member, the simplicity he has absorbed from common people he has interacted with and his curiosity to learn new technologies, have made Modi what he is today.

For years, it mattered which school or college you went to and not what you learnt there. 20 years ago there was a very popular image of children sitting under street-lamps and studying. Well, those studies helped create some of the brightest IT professionals, business leaders and sportsmen. For the past two decades we have heard of success stories of struggle. I myself being in a lucrative career quit my job 10 years ago to join BJP. This has been my journey.