At just 21, he is the youngest among all the IMPALSIANS, but he is the most sought after team member too! He joined us as an intern three months ago but since then has made such a powerful impact with his work that surprised one and all.
Today we are highlighting the journey of our bright Graphic
Design intern Aakarsh Raj.
He hails from Bokaro, in the state of Jharkhand, a 2 hours drive from Ranchi, home to one of India’s most successful captains Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
Akarsh was the youngest member of the Raj family too, pampered and loved by two elder sisters. He completed his SSC from DAV Kathara and HSC from DAV Swang in the Science stream. He was an average student in school, and his true interest and talent were in drawing and painting from a very tender age even without formal training.
He was only 9 years old when he lost mother who passed away after prolonged illness. Like talent, tragedy doesn’t spare tender aged either, and this loss left a vacuum in his life forever. His sisters never let him feel the absence of their mother though, pampering and showering him with love to the utmost. However, this experience made him self-caring and taught him the lesson in responsibility.
As both his sisters would be out in colleges and their father, who would be out on duty for long hours with his job in coal
industry in Jharkhand, he, at times, had to spend with himself taking recourse to his interest in drawing which gradually became finer.
After 12th, he cleared entrance exam for pursuing Engineering, but didn’t feel inclined towards the grinding of Engineering! He found a supportive family in this moment of career decision. He decided to pursue Economic Honours, landed up in the City of Joy – Kolkata, and got admission in Asutosh College, one of Calcutta’s reputed colleges.
He cleared the first year of Economics Honours, but unfortunately could not clear all the subjects in the first attempt and was not promoted to the second year. According to the college rule, he was to reappear for the whole first year again as he was from Science stream.
He followed the rigorous process but soon felt de-motivated, and decided to give up on his studies. His family supported him again and motivated him to pursue what likes the best.
He listened to his heart’s call.
He decided to pursue Graphic Designing and that decision brought him to the city of Pune, where he started staying with elder sister who was a working professional in Pune. Akarsh joined MAAC Institute for his Graphic Designing course.
Once the course was over, he was looking for some organizations where he could take up an internship stint to gather some hands-on experience.
He was all set to look out for opportunities, but then a strange thing took place. The guy who was happy go lucky suddenly was embraced by Anxiety disorder. And that too in such a way that he started getting anxiety and panic attacks. His first attack lasted for almost a few hours and which scared him to the core.
At first he was unaware as to what exactly was happening to him but then he started researching about it on his own. For almost four months, he never moved out of his house alone as he was just scared of anything and anyone that came his way. He realized that he was getting panic attacks but was adamant on the fact that he would not undergo any harsh medical treatment for it since the medication could have some different side effects of depression as well. This decision was the true elixir of his life. He reassured himself for a moment and decided that he could come out of that phase on his own. He read many articles on the internet and found out that Meditation is the key to calm down his anxiety.
He followed a strict regime to come out of this nightmare. Since he was suffering from sleep deprivation in this phase, firstly he started listening to sleep meditation videos due to which he could at least fall asleep. Mornings then started by his meditation by around 4am-5am, followed by pranayam, walking and yoga. Two hours of his day were strictly dedicated to this routine and he saw to it that nothing could obstruct it.
It was his sheer determination that helped him come out of the darkness as per one of his own favorite quotes from the movie Harry Potter: “Dark times lie ahead of us and there will be a time when we must choose between what is easy and what is right”. This truly inspired him and transformed him into a responsible and matured person. The idea of joining internship was still on his mind and he got a chance at IMPALS as a Graphic Design intern. He joined us in January’18 and from that time he was made a lasting impression on all of us by his dedication and hard work. Graphic Designing is his passion and he is well focused on it, come what may. Nothing can deter him from his focus and stop him from getting IMPALSIFIED. This quality of him has grabbed him an opportunity to become a full time IMPALSIAN after his internship period is over.
To throw light on some other aspect of him, he has almost 113k followers on Instagram, on his page “Petrifying Pen”. He posts shorts stories, quotes, designs etc on Instagram on a daily basis. He is a homely person so he spends most of his time in his house with his laptop exploring new trends in his field. His further plans are to complete his graduation through distance learning and get himself a degree.
From “Playing Alphabets” to “Petrifying Pen”, that the journey of our brilliant intern Aakarsh Raj. He is a true inspiration to today’s youngsters and shows us that with strong determination brings fruits of success along with it.
Team
IMPALS is proud of you. Keep up the good work & get IMPALSIFIED every day.
