Talking Optimism with Meera Aashika
This story is a refined transcript of my conversation with one of my best friends Meera Aashika. As a part of the show, I have asked Meera 5 questions and listened to her perspective and thought process. And this transcript is for all the readers on here that would love to read the conversation, more like a Q&A.
Intro
For some of you’s who don’t know who Meera is, let me narrate to you all her origin story. Meera Aashika is an Indian origin living in Dublin, Ireland. She’s from Bangalore & she did her bachelor's degree there in computer science from Bishop Cottons before moving to Ireland to pursue her Master’s degree from the University of Limerick. She started her career as a promoter working in a cloakroom before getting into the software industry. Meera is a web developer, currently working with Square Spirit, a young and emerging company specialized in web design and web development and headquartered in Dublin, Ireland. Along with that, Meera is a blogger by passion. She runs an Instagram page, sharing her experiences of living in Ireland. The page has photos and videos of breathtaking scenery from Ireland. It’s called ‘’LETZEXPLOREIRELAND’’. And she also does marketing for restaurants in Dublin, Ireland.
Q&A
Aravind: After 16 months into the pandemic, could you share with us what do you really feel grateful for, and what did you learn from the last year and what is keeping you motivated every single day?
Meera: Well, I can’t be very specific about what I am grateful for, with just one instance. I would say that I am grateful for what I am today and during the pandemic, we all were really uncertain about our future. It’s like what is going to happen tomorrow? Are we going to be fine? So, there was always this uncertainty right. And initially, there was this hesitation like, oh are we going to be ok tomorrow.
If everything is going to be fine, then when is the lockdown going to get lifted, but as we start living in the lockdown, you get to start looking at the brighter side of it. What makes me get up in the morning is, doing the things I really love doing. I started making schedules for the upcoming days, like what I want to do the next day? What work am I going to do? And not just the productive things but also the things like, what am I going to eat for breakfast? and what would be my entertainment tomorrow?
So, I write these down every night before sleeping, and that drives me to wake up the next day with the same enthusiasm. I am looking forward to doing these activities because I really love them. As I live on my own, doing this gives me room to do the things that I aspire to do. For example, I started doing home workouts a few days ago and things like that. Once I write them down, they become my motivation.
Aravind: That’s awesome, thank you for sharing with us. And my second question to you would be, this is my personal question, I have come across your blog about studying in Ireland. SO, the question is, what is your advice for students thinking of studying abroad especially for the students from India planning to study in Ireland after the pandemic?
Meera: Ok actually, What I would say is studying abroad is a beautiful opportunity that people shouldn’t miss. And right now things are getting back to normal like all the places are opening and are operating normally. Colleges will be back, the schools are back and it’s a great opportunity that people shouldn’t miss because they will be leaving their friends the country they lived in and their comfort zone and coming to a new place broaden one’s horizons.
You get to see and understand the bigger picture, embrace a new culture, new traditions and that will give you new ideas for what you want to do in your life so I would say if you are someone who is looking for different things in life and if you come abroad, it’s only going to give you more room to do more things than being bound to doing only a few things.
And if someone’s coming to Ireland, I would suggest them to put upfront practical knowledge in their respective area of expertise or interest. Be it their career or in life, be able to apply their practical knowledge and problem-solving techniques to things ahead. Because there will always be new challenges every day, and there are always new things, new tools, and new techniques in the market. By doing these, one gets to be in a position to put in new ideas for all the new challenges and get ahead making your transition smooth making your path unique.
Aravind: Again, I am fascinated by the many things you do and one of them is blogging. Sometimes blogging is your career and sometimes it’s not and you keep doing it. And that’s awesome. And my question is, there are plenty of myths about blogging on the internet so, what is one myth that you think isn’t true?
Meera: First of all, I really enjoy writing as a person. But, I never really thought that I will be blogging someday. From my childhood, what I used to do is whether I am happy or sad or I am in a bad state, I have this habit of writing my expressions and feelings out on paper. I feel that it is more of a stress-buster activity.
When I was in university there was this challenge to write a blog. At that time, I was a student ambassador at the University of Limerick where we got this challenge to write one blog for the University about our experience in Ireland so far. And that got me started. I told myself the first time, Okay, I will have to do something and put it into words. It was more like an easy task for me because I am used to writing my expression. And that was the first thing that came to my mind.
I wrote my blog, I didn’t think much about what I have to write. It was more like, I just write my mind out, then I proofread to clear all the grammatical mistakes, making it perfect for the readers. And that’s how I started blogging. They published it. And it got a lot of attention. There were comments saying that ‘’It’s nice, you should write more’’ and that really motivated me to write more blogs and I write them whenever I feel like. I am not a blogger who plans what to write and I am more of a spontaneous writer. And for me, there’s no timeline, you may see me sitting on a bus and writing. I am that kind of a writer may be that’s within me and I enjoy doing that.
The one myth about bloggers or blogging is that people think that your dictionary in writing must be ‘A’ class or very good. But what I would say is that every writer or blogger has a unique style and you need to keep that unique style and that’s what is going to let people know who you are and connect with you and with all your writings so it is better not to change your style and better to maintain something that showcases what you are in your writings.
So, instead of having a dictionary beside and looking for a better word, start with writing what you feel like. You can’t write randomly. You need to read more to write more. And as you are reading more, your vocabulary improves so as your storytelling ability. So, when you are writing, you will be writing your own vocabulary rather than looking upon the dictionary and that will be more realistic and lovable to the readers.
Aravind: I saw you perform multiple roles and to be precise, you are working from a young age compared to me so could you tell me and the listeners, one of the biggest professional challenges you have faced and overcome in the past.
Meera: Sure. To be honest with you, when I came to Ireland I didn’t know much about the country, I wasn’t sure of what kind of roles we would be getting into, and I didn’t have any prior work experience from my home country. The very first job I got into has happened in Ireland. And it’s not an easy process as everyone knows, it took a lot of hard work from me like everyone else. I started working in different roles while I was in University. I worked in a hotel in a cloakroom in the initial days & I was really happy that I was able to work forget being regretful. And that first job and the people I met there, later helped me get referred to different roles in my professional career. So, all I would say is there will always be room for finding new opportunities no matter where you work. I did work there for a couple of months before getting into the software industry.
So, it’s all about finding the roles you dream of and having the enthusiasm and perseverance to overcome the constant rejections. When I was applying for a better job, I did give plenty of interviews in IT companies and I did get rejections. And that didn’t stop me and say that this is the end; it only gave me more courage to seek more opportunities to find better roles that suit me and makes me enjoy the work I do and I am in that place today. Losing out on opportunities gave me a chance for a better opportunity that I cherish wholeheartedly. I can confidently say that every single rejection was a learning lesson.
So, for the people who are reading, I would say that rejections are common. Sometimes, despite performing well and getting great feedback one could still get rejected for some reason, you got to learn to be okay with rejections. You know we all aim for the moon right and we may not always end up on the moon, so it is the same in my case too. I initially wanted a role in software engineering like core programming and stuff but I ended up as a web developer now and I am happy with the way things has gone off so far.
There are still a lot of challenges I face like I am currently looking for a different role, and I’m currently working on it. And, there will always be new challenges, and we just have to be grinding and keep going and also the second thing is that I believe that you don’t have to seek help from everyone every time. I would rather say someone to try and attend the job interviews on their own because it helps a lot. The more you attend the interviews, the more you know about what skills you are lacking, so do that and get better yourself, it is easier and more beneficial.
Aravind: Thank you Meera and my final question to you is about the last year’s lockdown. We know it was a tough year so, how much did you age up in 2020, and what were your biggest learnings from the pandemic?
Meera: I definitely feel like I have evolved during the pandemic and the reason is simple. During the year 2020, I was able to do plenty of things that I have never done before. The pandemic has given me the room to pursue these activities, such as hiking and trekking. I have been in Dublin for 4 years and I hardly go for hikes, but I was certainly doing a lot of them. There’s a new hike like every weekend and I enjoy doing it.
I have always wanted to be a part of a book club. And during this pandemic, I have come across a book club and I took part in it. It was an online book club that is a safe space during the pandemic to interact with people right? I am usually a curious person, I like to keep a lot of things on my plate like I enjoy doing multiple things. I have a taste right, so when it comes to reading I’d usually go read one article or a journal either crime or mystery but this book club again allowed me to read different books. Books about Irish culture and depression and many more.
And we used to have book club meetings where you can actively talk about what you have read and express your opinion, and I would have never done that if not if I have never had the time for so I would say those were the positives and there are a lot more. I have an Instagram page for blogging and it’s called ‘’LETZEXPLOREIRELAND’’ but I wasn’t really active on it earlier on, but again the pandemic made me get a bit active with it. I started taking multiple pictures from the hikes, visiting new places and there are so many hidden gems in Dublin people aren’t aware of so I am getting to explore them and share them on the page the beautiful landscapes across the country of Ireland.
I have been living with the thought that this could all be gone tomorrow so I am living in the moment feeling fulfilled with my pursuit. And that’s what I learned in the pandemic. On the contrary to how it may sound like, I’m sure that most people would have gone through a lot of struggles like job loss and all and I know it was a hard time but I am just saying that there are so many good things going on as well, things you would have never thought that you will witness. So, I am cherishing all the good that has happened during the pandemic.
