“Tum Apni Job Chodd Rahe Ho Purdafash Ke Liye?”

Was it the question or tone or stare that made me re-consider the most significant decision of my life. Here I was, just off my flight from overseas, convinced that Purdafash was where my heart and future lay rather than the placement from IIM Calcutta. I had spent the past couple of months convincing complete strangers that Purdafash was a sound investment. And now my dad needed the second round of convincing.

Settling down with him to an uncomfortable silence, I wondered what provoked such an outraged question from the one person closest to me. I remembered seeing a lady telling her toddler, “Sadak pe mat bhago beta, gir jaoge.” (Don’t run on the road son, you will fall)… And I mentally added, “Don’t run even if you want to run, even if you believe that you can run; for what IF you fall?”

Isn’t that what we are teaching daily to our loved ones? Driving them to the right path, the tested path… for what if they fall and get hurt?

But do we stop and consider if the attempt is more important than the failure? Does failing make me a failure? Isn’t living different than existing? Would I be a winner if I worked in an MNC from 8 to 8? Would it make me socially more respectable if I was to wear a perfectly tailored suit and spent my day in an air-conditioned office doing something I have no heart in??

I was screaming inside.

Irrespective of what is going to happen, the child in me today wants to run. He wants to fly, he wants to play and play like there is no tomorrow!

And on this note started the Purdafash journey… a journey which has till date frustrated me, exhilarated me, disappointed me and yet has given me a sense of purpose in a way that nothing had till now. Most importantly it has taught me more in a couple of months than two years of MBA did.

The journey has had its high points- convincing the angel investor to put in his money, building a team that shared my dream, getting tremendous public support, getting unheard of traffic for an alpha release and finally the rush of doing something of my own.

And of course the low points- waiting for the damned bureaucracy to move its feet while getting the company incorporated, waiting for all the people who promised action but did not deliver to actually do something good, staying up till 6.30 in the morning trying to soothe frayed tempers. And I thought the real battles begin once the product is launched!!

As I sit down today looking back at an eventful year that has been and looking forward to a year that could be the most defining one of my life, the following words by Bob Moawad come to my mind:

“The best day of your life is the one on which you decide your life is your own. No apologies or excuses. No one to lean on, rely on, or blame. The gift is yours - it is an amazing journey - and you alone are responsible for the quality of it. This is the day your life really begins.”

So bring it on 2008, I am ready for my life to begin!!

- Areeb Khan

CEO, Purdafash Dot Com