I'm Arvind Krishna, and this is the story of my life.
I was a normal boy, with an extraordinary love for football. I wanted to be a footballer and play in the best leagues in Europe. My Father however, wanted me to aim for something more common - he wanted me to work in a software company. We eventually agreed that I would work on both my football and keep studying at the same time, and if I got the chance to join a big European club, my dad would let me.
So, I joined Mohun Bagan, one of the best football clubs in India, at age 12.
I had a very good game - as usual - knocking up 3 assists and a goal from my position as a playmaker. From the reaction of the scout, it looked like he was impressed, and I was on my way to Germany soon. But, I got careless during the closing stages of the game, and a hard sliding tackle caused an injury that I could not recover from, and hence drew the curtains on my promising footballing career.
Skip forward 10 years or so, and I'm in Singapore, doing exactly what my dad expected me to do. At age 25, I was working for a software company, and life, as I expected, was boring. Even though I was good at my job, my boss disliked my for some reason, and I probably would have to leave soon with only 7 months left on my visa and my boss not to keen on offering me a reason to stay at my job.
One day, some of my colleagues were out in the hall, watching T.V. They were making a ruckus, so rolled back on my chair out of my cubicle to check what the fuss was all about.
Everyone were excited about the competition and the show and were debating about whether or not they should apply. I quietly thought about it in my office and realized I should. What was I doing here anyway?
I applied and my application was successful.
Skip ahead six months and I'm now the winner of The Apprentice Asia, and I get my "dream job" under Malaysian tycoon Tony Fernandes.
Tony gave me a month off to go back home to India, and told me to decide what job I wanted during that time. To be honest, I didn't really know. My dad would probably tell me to get a job that will pay the most.
I got onto the flight and the pilot announced it would still be another twenty minutes until take-off, so I turned on the T.V attached to the seat in front of me.
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I switched across the channels, and there was nothing interesting, so I decided to watch the news - which, of late, I didn't have time to.
I found out that Mark Hughes had been sacked by Tony Fernandes.
http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/photos/001/940/306/hi-res-137057800_crop_exact.jpg
Finally, I thought. I always wondered why Tony hired one of the worst managers in the world. After splashing all the cash, he only managed to keep Q.P.R up because of a refereeing mistake at the Stoke-Bolton game.
And at that instant, the thought struck me, and I knew what job to asked Tony for.
I was a normal boy, with an extraordinary love for football. I wanted to be a footballer and play in the best leagues in Europe. My Father however, wanted me to aim for something more common - he wanted me to work in a software company. We eventually agreed that I would work on both my football and keep studying at the same time, and if I got the chance to join a big European club, my dad would let me.
So, I joined Mohun Bagan, one of the best football clubs in India, at age 12.
http://topnews.in/sports/files/Mohun_Bagan_.jpg
By the time I was 14, I became a first-team regular. My coaches were all very impressed, and managed to take the help of the Indian Football Association to ask Bayern Munich - who had some connections in India - to send a scout to watch me for a game.I had a very good game - as usual - knocking up 3 assists and a goal from my position as a playmaker. From the reaction of the scout, it looked like he was impressed, and I was on my way to Germany soon. But, I got careless during the closing stages of the game, and a hard sliding tackle caused an injury that I could not recover from, and hence drew the curtains on my promising footballing career.
Skip forward 10 years or so, and I'm in Singapore, doing exactly what my dad expected me to do. At age 25, I was working for a software company, and life, as I expected, was boring. Even though I was good at my job, my boss disliked my for some reason, and I probably would have to leave soon with only 7 months left on my visa and my boss not to keen on offering me a reason to stay at my job.
One day, some of my colleagues were out in the hall, watching T.V. They were making a ruckus, so rolled back on my chair out of my cubicle to check what the fuss was all about.
Everyone were excited about the competition and the show and were debating about whether or not they should apply. I quietly thought about it in my office and realized I should. What was I doing here anyway?
I applied and my application was successful.
Skip ahead six months and I'm now the winner of The Apprentice Asia, and I get my "dream job" under Malaysian tycoon Tony Fernandes.
Tony gave me a month off to go back home to India, and told me to decide what job I wanted during that time. To be honest, I didn't really know. My dad would probably tell me to get a job that will pay the most.
I got onto the flight and the pilot announced it would still be another twenty minutes until take-off, so I turned on the T.V attached to the seat in front of me.
I found out that Mark Hughes had been sacked by Tony Fernandes.
http://img.bleacherreport.net/img/images/photos/001/940/306/hi-res-137057800_crop_exact.jpg
Finally, I thought. I always wondered why Tony hired one of the worst managers in the world. After splashing all the cash, he only managed to keep Q.P.R up because of a refereeing mistake at the Stoke-Bolton game.
And at that instant, the thought struck me, and I knew what job to asked Tony for.
