Who are the people who have done the most to influence your personal development and in what ways were they influential? (Carleton College)
The one person who, I think, influences everyone in some way, is a mother. She is someone who is with you since the day you were born. She teaches you your first words, she helps you walk your first steps, and she is the one who teaches you your first basic manners. To wish your elders, to say thank you, to apologise, to respect everyone, she teaches you what is wrong and what is right, and everything, from the way you eat to the way you talk, is influenced a little by her. And I can say that I am influenced a lot by my mother. I remember trying to copy everything she did when I was little. The way her hands moved when she spoke, the way she would cook, the way she would dress, put her make-up on, everything. But one thing she used to enforce a lot was speaking the truth. I would get a hard slap every time she caught a lie. And now my friends tell me I suck at lying. I’ve learnt a lot from her, but one thing I will always owe her is the strength she gives me. I look at her and her past and how she went through it and I always feel stronger.
Friends are very very important people in anyone’s life. You spend your days and sometimes even your nights with them. And as you start growing, they become more important than your parents, and your friend circle starts describing what kind of a person you are. Punks, emos, geeks, gossip girls, the bad boys, whichever group you belong to influences you a lot and it also shows when you become an adult and start working. As my Dad is in the Army, I kept changing schools and kept meeting new people and I think I can say I’ve been in all the kind of groups! And I have some wonderful friends from all over India and some of them encourage me to study hard, some emotionally support me, I’ve had some really amazing fun moments with some. So I am pretty balanced that way and its all because of my friends.