Fifteen years ago Chennai welcomed an adolescent teen who entered the city with bare essentials but lots of dreams and a vision to conquer. I was born in a middle-class family of a banker father and a teacher mother and raised in several small towns of Tamil Nadu.

During my early days of engineering at SSN, the idea for business took hold of me and grew up with a zeal to become an entrepreneur. I started to invest my time to learn the skills by monitoring and organising various cultural events, tours and seminars etc, made a few bucks and worked on my skillsets. Upon graduating, I along with my friends started iThoughtz with a scarce amount of capital contributed by my father. However, a few years down the line, we met with a couple of hurdles and the company began to incur losses leading to the eventual wind-up!

It was a crucial crossroad in my life when I decided to upgrade my education by enrolling for the LIBA�s Management Programme, however, a failed stint at iThoughtz led my parents into forcing me into pursuing a full-time MBA abroad and look for a stable job. However, to my surprise life threw me a bail. Being a hardcore foodie in the city, my knowledge and passion towards branding food chains got me to work for several top-notch brands such as Swensen's, a Los Angeles Ice-cream brand among others. This phase of life made me a confident and self-sufficient though this wasn�t close to something that I had aspired.

I started Evoke media an event management, branding and advertising agency. The company eventually went on to win several accolades, laurels, distinct mentions for exemplary contributions made towards many central and state government programs and has also successfully executed the entire event publicity and promotions for DefExpo-2018. My work is not just limited to the government but also includes eminent corporate clients and extended government subsidiaries.

My entrepreneurial journey has crossed a decade and my breakthrough came with �Special Olympics International Football Championship� (SOIFC). Conducting an Olympic title in the country is no joke. However, my courage and confidence made me pursue the deal to become the official hosting partner. Wishes and support came pouring in from all corners across the country. The event was presided by celebrities including Maestro Ilaiyaraja and actor Varalaxmi Sarathkumar, Special Olympics officials from the USA, various consulate generals and not to forget the humongous support from the Ministry of Sports and Youth Affairs. This event, however, challenged my entire learning and experience. End to end execution of the event meant meticulous planning and execution for about a year.

Talking about the sense of achievement from SOIFC, I think that upon hosting this title successfully against all odds, I realised that I made god�s own children smile and win and hosted them in my city, I felt like it was worth all my efforts. I understood the importance of giving back to society and humanity even while at business.�

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