Workshop: Meet Your Nostradamus

What Will You Do Differently When You Can See Your Future Today?

Fifteen years ago (2009), I conducted a workshop for engineering students at one of India’s top 10 engineering colleges. The workshop included a short meditation session, playing the “Maathi Yoshi” (“Don’t Tell the Truth”) game, sharing my corporate life experiences, discussing life priorities, Basic fears of our life, and watching Steve Jobs’ “Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish” video.

I bravely asked all the students to repeat an affirmation while placing their hands on their chests. Everyone repeated it! The sound from the auditorium still resonates in my ears.

Here is the slide share link: https://www.slideshare.net/slideshow/goguroo-meet-your-nostradamus/36002132

For a typical middle-class family, parents used to say: Study well, score high, get placed, work hard, get married, have children, buy a bike, a car, build a house, But they won’t say “Get trapped in loans, and pay EMIs until retirement“. I went into the workshop with a vision that students should not rush to join a company.

Instead, they should consider an alternative path

—creating a business or

becoming a tech entrepreneur.

After 90 minutes of the workshop, many students visited my small booth at the college, and do you know what they asked?

They asked, “How do we get a job? Are there any tips you can share?”

I was like, “Really?” 😄

Before I went to Coimbatore for the workshop, my friends at “Emertxe”—an embedded education company in Bangalore —told me (rather warned me!) that students want jobs, not gyaan or inspiration. I wished to prove them wrong!

One of the great takeaways from the workshop was a student who joined my company, ActOnMagic, four years later. He reached out to me on his own and contributed significantly to the AWS billing components in ActOnCloud.

Fast forward to 2024, it’s heartening to see many students starting their own ventures during college and many in Gen Z (who are tech natives) pursuing multiple side projects. You might also enjoy reading my other post: “Work Life vs. Work Blend.”