FALGUNI VASAVADA

Falguni Vasavada is a full-time professor for the last 25 years. She has a PhD in Advertising. She works at the MICA (Mudra Institute of Communication, Ahmedabad) university and teaches various subjects like marketing, advertising and branding. The second hat that she wears is that she's a content creator, social media enthusiast and influencer. She speaks up about body positivity and encourages a socially mindful & educated future of the youth.

What is your favourite word?
Positivity. Not everybody gets everything, but as humans, we tend to focus only on the things that we don't have. We are always amazed by the concept of "grass on the other side is always greener" - you can make your side of the grass a rainbow colour, who is stopping you? We don't see what we can do to our side of the world because we are only looking at the other side. I think negativity has a huge bearing on your vision and it gets blurred. When your vision is blurred, you don't see what you have gotten easier in life.

I love to see things that I have and not what I don't have. That keeps me on the path of perpetual happiness.

What was the moment in your life that made you Blossom into the person you are today?
I have been a scholarly girl as a kid growing up. I was always winning gold medals, being the topper in the class and had a lot of achievements. That's one side of who I am. Although I was as meritorious, there was something in me stopping me from expressing my 100% because I was a "fat girl". I loved fashion but I never experimented with anything more than a "Salwar-kameez" and "Dupatta" until I was 25 years old.

One of the things that made me feel very confident to step out of that mindset was financial independence. That is something that every person needs to have to step out of any sort of mind imprisonment. The major trigger, however, happened to me as a part of my job. I was always travelling to different places presenting research papers and attending various conferences. That made me go into a cross-cultural learning zone. When I went to the US and I saw that anyone and everyone can wear anything without even being called out or judged, that moment was a game-changer. That wasn't the only trigger. But to have financial independence, reading, travel - these were all the triggers.

What would you want the young boys & girls to learn from your journey?
I think the lesson would be to educate yourself and have financial independence. When I say education, it’s not just the education that people get from the institutions which they stop after getting a job. Rise above that. Be amongst the top learners and always educate yourself more, read more and learn more. Education gives you the ability to observe and question. And I think when you question is when you travel on the right path.

The superpower that education and financial independence give you is ignorance. They will enable you to ignore the random comments that people make about you. They will enable you to get out of "The four people" syndrome - the constant thought of "What will people think if I do this?".

The day you are able to conquer the fear of random people in your life, is the day your self-concept and self-worth becomes stronger. When you know the value you are bringing to the table, you are never afraid to eat alone.