Dipen Gada
Those Three Marks You never know where destiny is driving you. When the time came to select a stream in 10th Std., my heart said commerce, but under influence (of my cousin) it screamed science. Coincidently, I scored well in 10th std. and continued in science stream and my cousin got lesser marks and he went for commerce stream. After 12th Std, I had keen interest in Mechanical Engineering as my uncle in USA was doing well in this field. I worked hard enough to get good marks to get in Mechanical Engineering but failed due to short of 3 marks. Then, there was no alternative and I had to select Civil Engineering. I got admission in Architecture stream as well. There was an option that after one year one can opt for change of division i.e. one can switch from civil to mechanical. So finally to fulfil goal of Mech. Engg., decided to pursue Civil Engg. and not Architecture. As fate would have it, I was again 1 mark short to opt for Mech. Engg. Hence, the completion of Civil Engineering became mandatory. One fine day, cousin of mine asked me to supervise work for his house for which he had bought marble. In doing so, I made some changes to the planning and the end result turned out to be quite something! It was different and something sparked in me. One of my friend happened to see the completed house and requested me to do the design for his boutique. I obliged. This was the turning point. The spark in me had started a series of firecrackers. I went on a learning spree. I started educating myself through books, seminars and working self on site quite often. This is how those three marks led me on to this journey of becoming a designer.
Contributed by: Dipen Gada
Complete Article and Images are available in Building Giants Feb-April 2017 Issue
