Offbeat Career: Anupam Sidhant

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Anupam Sidhant was a student from the Department of Metallurgical Engineering and Materials Science and is currently the co-founder of Bombay Locale, a brand strategy consultancy Startup. In this article, he talks about his passion for creative writing and film-making and how he pursued this dream and turned it into reality.

1. Tell us in brief about your present role and experience at Bombay Locale.

I co-founded Bombay Locale in 2017 and I also am the creative director of the company. We started the company in 2017 as a Brand Strategy Design Consultancy and Advertising Firm. It has been a journey with a million obstacles, but it has sure been a fulfilling one at that. Presently we are doing great and have a very hardworking and dedicated team in place.

2. What made you take a different path than the students taking mainstream decisions. Do factors like job security & FOMO didn’t influence you?

Nothing MADE me take a different path than anyone else. Nor do I think of it much as a different path, it just was the path for me, and the only path I knew of. I realised very early in life what it was that I wanted to do, and it was film making, writing, telling stories, so everything else was just a step in that particular direction. I was never going to take up a job, so no, job security didn’t play a role in my decision making. It isn’t a mainstream decision yes, but it was the only decision I knew how to take.

3. When did you decide to do something different? How did it affect your career?

It was probably standard 8th or 9th, but the thought matured over time. By the time I was in my 11th grade preparing for JEE, I knew this is what I was going to do. Film schools were expensive and I couldn’t have asked my parents for that kind of investment due to the financial constraints, so I decided to finish JEE and somehow come to IIT Bombay. And the idea was never any of the IITs, or the old IITs, it was always IIT Bombay. Because this bug bit me pretty early during my JEE days that this is the only college where you could literally do anything. And so I did. And later on, I realised that it was true.

4. Students with inherent talent/skills in different fail to shine as they try to come in terms with peers. How did you tackle this and what you suggest to others?

It’s always the driving force inside you that determines what you are gonna do. If not following it will kill you and you know it, go for whatever you have dreamt to do. Because even if doing it kills you, the other one is worse. Everyone has their own set of struggles, peer pressure, fear of failure, financial backgrounds, parental pressure, money, but what can we do. Everybody has them, you just have to overcome your fears and take a step, and make an informed decision. That works for me usually when I am struggling with anything. I’ll suggest the same to everyone who is facing these issues. Follow your gut. And jump.

5. How did IIT influence and shape your choice and dreams?

IIT has been one of the most beautiful mistakes that I have committed in my life. I owe almost everything to our college. In my first year, a senior once told me – “No matter how good you are, and no matter what you’re good at, there’s one guy in this college, who does that thing better than you”. That statement resonated with me like anything. And I always wanted to be that guy. That particular guy, the one who did it better than all others. That was the pursuit.

And I made friends, lifelong friends, people who I am gonna work with for life. It taught me everything I would need to survive. Fourthwall, PAF, films, I learnt everything in this 600 acre haven. Life has been a miracle here