What goes around comes back around

As a toddler, I was mesmerized by the film Jurassic Park. Thus my passionate dream of exploring the world behind the camera and joining the animation company which created my favourite dinosaurs, thousands of aliens and spaceships in a galaxy far far away, liquid-metal robots, an archeologist chasing after the ark of the covenant in the middle of the desert, a time-traveling DeLorean, a slick villain with octopus tentacles on his face was born. Little did I know then that after slogging for a year at animation school many years later, none of my teachers or classmates would have access to the avenues which could take me to the animation studios that I aspired for. I fell into deep despair as my best-laid plans fell apart in front of my eyes.

My saviour came in the form of a senior whom I chanced to speak to thanks to a rental DVD of one of my favourite films, Saving Private Ryan that he was carrying. This conversation turned out to be immensely valuable in changing my trajectory. He told me about a foreign program he had enrolled for from the animators at Lucasfilms and Disney. We became friends and he started mentoring me and helping me in preparing my portfolio. This portfolio helped me stand out among a batch of 40 students and bag my first role as an animator at a studio in Bangalore.

From there my journey has meandered and has taken me in various directions like teaching art, designing film posters and has currently placed me in the realm of graphic and brand design. Throughout my career, one common thread is that I have been fortunate enough to meet wonderful people like my senior who have helped me and shown me a way forward during my darkest moments.

I believe that help comes in unexpected ways whenever you need it. Even when you don’t feel confident or sure about your abilities and path, there is always a ray of hope in the horizon. Good deeds always land you in good stead and kindness sent into the world has a way of coming back to you.

(This blog was penned by Chetan Ramesh from our design team at ClearTax.)