This week, The Mountain Walker begins a new series on the aspirations, thoughts, learnings, and the world view of youngsters from the Himalayan states of India. Over the last few years, scores of talented and educated young people from Himachal Pradesh, Kashmir, Uttarakhand, Sikkim, Arunachal Pradesh, and Darjeeling have been pouring out of the Himalayan abodes and seeking opportunities in the cities and metros of India. This series is about them, and by them.
We begin with an interview of Himani Sharma, a software developer from Shimla.
Himachal Is At Dawn Of A New Era: Himani Sharma, alumni of AP Goyal Shimla International University, software developer in Chandigarh
Where and what did you study (school and college)?
I have done my schooling from DAV New Shimla and graduated in Computer Science and Engineering from AP Goyal Shimla International University.
What is your profession?
I am a software developer with a company in Chandigarh.
What kind of projects do you do?
We have been dealing in projects of Graphic Designing, Web development, Android development.
What tools, technologies have you learned?
I have been working on Adobe Photoshop, Adobe Illustrator, Corel Draw, PHP, HTML5, JQuery, Netbeans, Visual Studio, Eclipse and Android Studio.
Which are your dream companies to work for?
I would like to work for companies that help me gain more knowledge, learn new technologies and excel in my career. It would be a dream come true if I get a chance to work for companies like Google, Amazon, Microsoft.
Would you get a job to suit your skills in Shimla or Himachal Pradesh?
No, there are not very great opportunities that could cover my skills in Shimla.
Where do you hope to be in your career in 2 years, 5 years, 10 years?
In 2 years I see myself at a position at a company where I can grow and take on new challenges. In 5 years I would like to be in a role wherein I can take beneficial decisions for the company. In 10 years time, I see myself as the owner of an MNC company.
How many of your batchmates are working in Himachal and how many are working outside in cities?
None of my batchmates are working in Himachal – all of them are working in different cities as the IT sector in Himachal is under-developed.
Himani lists Steve Jobs, Narendra Modi, Mahatma Gandhi, Nicholas James Vujicic, and Sundar Pichai as her Top 5 idols
Which are the best colleges in Himachal in your perception?
There are several good colleges in Himachal depending upon the course you want to get enrolled in. AP Goyal Shimla International University is one among them you can learn many new things under the same roof. It nurtures young minds.
Who are your top 5 idols?
- Steve Jobs
- Narendra Modi
- Mahatma Gandhi
- Nicholas James Vujicic
- Sundar Pichai
As a youngster from Himachal Pradesh, what are your thoughts on the future?
Himachal the abode of Gods, land of spirituality and peace, but beyond all this Himachal is the best place for aspiring minds, this mountain state has given the country some of its finest engineers, doctors and thinkers. Being a software developer, I find that Himachal has a lot of scope to develop and generate opportunities for software developers, and open doors for future generations. We have brilliant minds that are ignited by wisdom and knowledge. There are some companies that have started looking to invest in this Mountain abode, we have young talent. Compared to the big metro cities, we may be from small cities, but the dreams and aspirations we carry are not small, all that we need is an opportunity to prove ourselves.
In Himachal, each eye carries a sparkling dream, each parent is doing their best to provide quality education to their children, though I guess practical knowledge of making it in the broader world may be lacking here. Parents must encourage their children to go out and get this practical knowledge. I see so many youngsters move out from our hilly abodes to metropolitan cities, and many are bringing back their experience and providing employment opportunities to other youngsters.
Hurdles are everywhere but it’s important to rise above and skip those, instead of thinking about what we don’t have we can focus on what we have, dreams might be hard to catch but it just depends upon our approach. Youth here have started to understand the pressure of the rat race out in the world, and we have become a part of that rat race, beyond tremendous growth opportunities, there is a pressure to stay and lead others. May be the future has different plans for us but Himachal youngsters know that we are at the Dawn of a New Era where the sunshine of opportunities awaits.
(If you belong to one of the Himalayan states and have something to contribute to this series, write in to: editor@themountainwalker.com)
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Categories: Feature Story, Interview, News, People
Instead of Himani going to Amazon, Google or Microsoft the companies should set up shop in Shimla
Mayank, that would be great and I believe youngsters may also like that; however, the eco-system will have to be built and it will happen over time. Personally, instead of such big companies opening offices in Shimla to help Shimla, what I would prefer to see is that they open offices because they realise there is talent there and so it makes business sense for them. It should be a two-way benefit. Also, travelling and working in different parts of the country and world provides young minds the exposure to learn new ways of working, new cultures and that is also essential for growth; India now has thousands of young and middle aged professionals who have worked around the world and are settling back in hometowns to apply all the learning and all of this will help development.
Do keep writing in – dialogue helps move things along.