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There are moments in life when it seems as if all hope is lost. All you see is darkness; haunting every step of the way. All the doors look like bands. I’ve been through a similar situation while I was struggling to find a place in the industry. My career seemed at stake and my professional life was facing a massive downfall. None of the companies in India were ready to deal with someone who had acquired a professional degree from Ukraine.

With my knowledge that I had acquired from Ukraine, I tried to promote the Ukrainian seafarer community in India with a hope of collaboration between the two. However, I found the interviewers’ attitude to be not welcoming at all. My gesture of companionship was harshly rejected and I even faced situations when the companies turned me back from the door and didn’t even allow me to explain myself in the first place. I wasn’t hoping this. After visiting more than 30 companies and facing rejections, I should have been heartbroken and disappointed but I didn’t.

I knew I had to move on and make my place in this industry and this world. Nevertheless, that time was the pinnacle of my struggle in my professional life.

Another huge challenge I faced was when a company, where I was working back in 2000, suddenly told me that I had to leave the country within 24 hours. I also recall the time when I used to work in an internet café whole night just to meet my expenses. I also had no support at that time. I wasn’t married. Life was tough and sometimes I didn’t even have enough to pay the bills.

However, I am happy today that God had been so kind to me and he blessed me with enormous opportunities to make my life better. I can finally see that light that was always there at the end of the tunnel. I find myself bursting with positivity; a positivity that acts like a beam of light after rain that creates a rainbow. I see colors all around me.