7 principles of Virat Kohli that have been the biggest influence on my adult life

PLAYING FIRE WITH FIRE

I had taped the following two pictures to my computer monitors at work. Right adjacent to the monitors stood my father's photo frame. Thus, by having them in the same league as my father in terms of sources of inspiration, you can hopefully imagine how instrumental their role was.

Kohli describes his intensity as being organic

Whenever down and out at work, the above image had the contagious effect of lifting my spirits. It reminded me to compete fiercely and arm myself with a healthy level of arrogance and aggression in the high-octane Banking environment.

Kohli confronting an Australian batsman

I was initially on the fence with regard to whether I wanted to detail what the above picture is symbolic of to me. Although it conveys a very personal message, I felt that I wouldn't be honest to myself or to the readers of this post if I kept the raw symbology unmasked.

During the 7 years I spent in the United States, I never felt a permanent sense of belonging to the country. I always felt like an outsider to some extent and believed that it was only a matter of time before I would sail East again.

I do not attribute even an iota of this feeling to the country and its citizens, who were always very welcoming and respectful to me. Instead, these sentiments stem from my own insecurities and concoctions.

Indians [ 2 ] in America constitute a minority, at least in number. Moreover, I personally felt that, in general, the demeanour of Indians, at least at Georgia Tech, was more meek and docile compared to that of their American counterparts. This irked me given that, while in America, I considered myself a proud Ambassador of India.

Thus, instead of being even remotely submissive, I used to bend over backwards to make my Indian identity and my presence felt. It was almost as if I had a chip on my shoulder in a bid to showcase what my countrymen were made of. This was especially true during my time in Banking where Indians were a very rare breed.

Having said that, there was never any malice or bitterness in my actions or words. The image simply served as motivation that, despite not feeling an organic sense of belonging, I, too, could rise to the occasion.

[ 2 ] By "Indians" here, I am referring to non-US citizens who have lived a majority of their living years outside of the United States.