Young achiever

As part of the Lead India initiative, actor Akshaye Khanna, a young achiever with bright future, looks back at some defining moments in his life. I believe failure sometimes teaches you more than success. And a leader is one who can learn from his mistakes and move on to bigger, better things. I was 16 and in class X at Bombay International School when I contested the elections for our house captain, which was a prestigious occasion for all students. Being elected a house captain was considered a huge success, a stamp that you had made it big. Everybody at home knew what it meant to me and went all out to ensure I was in high spirits on my big day. As a part of the "campaign," all "candidates" made their own badges and posters. It was a basic process, with everybody in the house voting for the candidate they liked. I was an average student, who took active interest in athletics. I was quite the Mr Popular both among the students and teachers in school. Which is why it came as a shock when I got to know I had lost the election by less than 10 votes. That incident was my first brush with leadership — just that my moment of glory brushed past me. Though I did not dwell on that ‘defeat' (if you may call it so) for long, I did realise that both success and failure are part of the game. Today, I know it's not wise to dwell on failures or mistakes. Being an actor, in my case, any failure or success is extremely visible to a whole nation of movie-watchers. The only way to deal with such situations is to get the best out of them and leave the rest. In my profession, brooding over mistakes can only affect your creativity and productivity. Even when things don't go my way, I have learnt to move on. I don't do things because people are watching me. I believe today's youth does not like to emulate somebody. They are smart and sharp and like to take their own decisions, based on their personal experience.

I know this was published days ago but I missed it somehow. It's interesting to think our favorite star was once a school kid with stories just like ours. He's one of us, I guess.