T he first big turning point in my life was joining the National Institute of Design (NID), Ahmedabad at 17. At NID, a whole new world opened up to me in terms of art, culture and people. My father was in the Indian Air Force so I had always lived in a defence services environment. But Ahmedabad was a different ballgame altogether and exposed me to a different India where I learnt a lot about life.

Another significant decision was to live and work in Bangalore. While my friends moved to Delhi or Mumbai, I was drawn to Bangalore. My parents were in Coorg and Bangalore was closer to them. I began my career with an advertising agency after which I launched my own agency.

But few years later I got bored of advertising and diverted into event management. Luckily, most of my clients were in the business of fashion or food, and soon my company morphed into a fashion house that organised fashion shows.

Another turning point came in the ’90s when we became a full-fledged event management company. We made inroads into other cities and began organising events in Delhi. Building a reputation in Delhi was a big thing for me and it got me noticed at a national level.

Being married and having my kids were the other life-changing turning points. After marriage I realised that I couldn’t fool around with my life anymore and that I needed a steady source of income.

In the past few weeks, I have been busy organising the Indian Premier League (IPL) after-match parties for which we organised fashion shows featuring designers from Colombo, Pakistan, Bangladesh and India. I think from each and every event one learns something new which contributes to milestones in a person’s life.

(As told to Chitra Anand Papnai)