Drive to XXL Dreams: Sanskriti Parihar, BAJMC, Jagran Lakecity University

The first thing that comes to my mind after being asked about my hobby is “when my hobby became my passion,” I am not aware. But certainly, I know I love to express myself through writing. The day I started writing was the day when I first experienced how it feels to be alive, in love with the people, and in love with the surroundings. I began expressing through poems and short stories. I experimented with my skills by writing in the guest columns of newspapers and writing letters to the editor. Non-fiction is my forte. I believe writing demands experience and I love exploring, travelling and socializing. I am of the extrovert kind.

I started reading with fairy tale books, romance novels, biographies, motivational books. As reading books became my favourite pass time I had a strong desire to write one of mine. I am eager to do things at the youngest age possible. The idea of 'Drive to XXL Dreams' is inspired by my real life events. I am studying in III Semester BA (Journalism and Mass Communication). Coming into the world of media was not as easy as it looks.  I sacrificed my two years studying for the JEE entrance test. But these two years turned into a sad walk for me. My destiny brought me to JLU School of Media and Communication fighting all those criticizing comments of friends and relatives. I used to wonder why my generation is behind the rat race of entering into engineering and medical colleges. People hardly appreciate students entering journalism, media, film making and photography.

I thought of meeting people who went against the norms like me and did something that was different and innovative.  I met Mr. Vishnu Manohar who runs a very famous restaurant chain in Nagpur “Vishnu ji ki rasoi”. He holds the Guinness book of world record for 53 hours of continuous cooking. I even met few people like Advocate Vinay Thakur (65 yrs) who quit his profession at the age of 35 and continued with his passion for photography in later years of his life. Today, he is a professional photographer and a Nikon School Mentor.

I found that these people have the ability to inspire people across all age groups and their stories are powerful enough to ignite the present generation. Thus, I thought to compile the experiences of 20 such achievers who ones doubted themselves, but with faith and believe they went on to become one of the greatest names in the industry.

Dreams are so amazing. The ones we see with closed eyes are the figments of our imagination, the ones we see in broad daylight are the ones that become our inspiration. Leaving cosy lives and moving to a bustling environment to fulfil their dreams and passion is not everyone’s cup of tea.

The book ‘Drive to XXL Dreams’ features 20 inspiring stories of people from Nagpur who dared to transform their XXL dreams and passion into a profession. These people believed that someday their intangible ideas would take a shape. After all dreaming big is a full-time job!

Everyone in the book has a relentless bank of energy that makes them stubborn enough to overcome every obstacle. Coming from various different fields in life, the one thing common for them was their passion and determination. This made them sacrifice their comforts and work hard for their plan of action to make their dream a reality. Having the courage to trust your heart and not being influenced by the conflicting notions of mind is challenging indeed. Through this book, I have tried to portray the heroes of Nagpur who dared to think beyond conventional career options. This book is written to encourage and motivate the new generation to motivate them to listen to their heart and chase what they love.

Have the courage to dream.

Have the courage to fight.

Have the courage to win.

Have the courage to follow your passion.

And see what follows!

This book became one of the mediums to express revolutionary ideas within myself. It is enough to create a spark within the readers who are willing to live for their passion. After every chapter, there is a section called ‘from the horse’s mouth’. This section would help in implementing the ideas in daily routine in order to be successful in the respective chosen fields.

I owe my achievement to Jagran School of Journalism and Communication for guiding me and Dr. Jayanta Panda, Associate professor, a friend, philosopher and guide for mentoring me at every stage and making me believe in myself “Do what your heart says and never get influenced by what others condemn”. Jagran Lakecity University gave me opportunity to develop and polish my skills by initiating various classroom activities and practical learning.