Living life your way is never easy. It takes a lot of self-belief and perseverance to carve your own path. In this age, when ‘being yourself’ is an over-used concept, it is easy to mistake it for superficial rebelliousness. But truly living your life your way goes beyond that to actually following your passion, pushing yourself even in the absence of role models or societal encouragement and letting your own fire fuel your potential. These individuals had a different vision for themselves, and chose to follow that:
Priyanka Chopra. Actress. Singer. International star. Priyanka Chopra doesn’t fit any single description. She has taken her career from beauty pageants to music videos, Bollywood movies and international television shows. Her most recent adventure has seen her turn producer of regional language films. Whether it’s taking up pathbreaking roles like an autistic girl in Barfi or recording a single with Pitbull or even starring in the hit American TV show, Quantico, Priyanka Chopra has broken the mould in every industry and she continues to delightfully surprise. She can dream and see her dreams through!
Juicepreneur—Anuj Rakyan. A former banker and jewellery entrepreneur, Anuj Rakyan’s love for health food saw him set up Raw Pressery, a Mumbai-based cold-pressed juices company. After returning from the US, Rakyan observed the lack of natural health drink options and decided to enter a market that was predominantly filled with processed juices. Even in the fresh juices space, few knew of and appreciated the concept of cold-pressed juices. It was a bold step, but Anuj remained convinced it would work. Today, Raw Pressery is proving successful with two rounds of investment from Sequioa Capital.
Zumba Queen—Sucheta Pal. Sucheta Pal in her own words was an unhappy 25-year-old living in Mumbai with a stressful 9-to-9 job. The only bright spot of her otherwise miserable day was the Bollywood dance classes she took. One day, she decided to give up her job and become a dancer full-time. She struggled with societal norms since dancing wasn’t even seen as a serious career option. In 2009, Pal discovered Zumba, the international dance fitness program, in the US and hasn’t looked back ever since. Pal is the lead Master Trainer for India and is certified as a Zumba Education Specialist by Zumba Fitness. She has trained over 3,000 trainers and is credited with popularizing Zumba in the country.
TV Tough Guy—Rannvijay Singh. Rannvijay Singh is known as the tough, no-nonsense host of MTV Roadies. Born in a family with six generations of male ancestors serving in the Indian army, Rannvijay took a very different path. He forged a unique identity as a tough guy on television and even made strides into the world of cinema. In a ruthless industry where most actors struggle to have careers beyond a few years, Rannvijay Singh is still going strong after 13 years.
Young Indians are finding new ways to display their talent and ability. They are also finding new tools of expression. LYF Smartphone+, the new smart phone brand from the Reliance Group, enables people to express themselves and their passions through its range of smartphones including the Earth 2 Smartphone+. It has a stylish 5-inch display with a pixel density of 445PPi. It is powered by an octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and has a 13MP front and rear camera with flash and PDAF. It also has unique security features including retina unlock and a fast fingerprint sensor. To know more about LYF Smartphone+, see here.
This article was produced by the Scroll marketing team on behalf of LYF Smartphone+ and not by the Scroll editorial team.