During our engineering days in the late 1980s, my friends—Umesh, Sanjay, Vinay, Kaustubh, Ajit, Abhijeet—and I made it a tradition to take a trip every year during the monsoon season, usually around the August 15th holidays. These trips were always budget-friendly, as we were students and expected to manage with limited resources. But our focus was on the experience, not the expenses.
One year, we set out to explore Amboli Ghat. The journey was unforgettable, for more reasons than one.
We traveled by public transportation—first via the Mahalaxmi Express from Mumbai to Kolhapur, then by a state transport bus to our destination. On our return, we planned to take the bus back to Kolhapur and catch the train home.
While on the bus, full of energy and sharing stories, the vehicle suddenly came to a halt with strange noises of engine misfiring. The driver informed us that the air intake pipe had broken and we would have to wait 5–6 hours for the next bus—causing us to miss our train.
Faced with this challenge, I looked at the situation differently. I asked fellow passengers to help find plastic bags, which we used to wrap the broken pipe. We then needed rope to secure it, but no one had any. I suggested using the bell rope, and despite initial hesitation from the conductor, we went ahead with the solution.
To everyone’s relief, the bus started again, and we continued our journey.
That moment was a turning point for me. As someone who identified as introverted, I had never seen myself taking the lead. But in that unexpected crisis, I stepped up, communicated clearly, involved others, and led the way forward.
That day, I discovered my inner strength and leadership qualities—communication, problem-solving, accountability, adaptability, influence, and self-awareness.
Sometimes, true learning doesn’t happen in classrooms—it happens on the road, in real-life challenges.