Four Years

Challenges are what make life interesting; overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.~ Joshua J Marine

"Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do. If you haven't found it yet, keep looking. Don't settle. As with all matters of the heart, you'll know when you find it." - Steve Jobs

I completed my four years in Bangladesh last November 24th and it's the same anniversary for my Visual Merchandising Department too, I'm still proud to say that I am the pioneer Retail Designer/Visual Merchandiser not only in the company but also in the country.

It was a long journey with ups and downs along the bumpy roads which was sometimes smooth, long stretch with a sudden curve. The sudden curve happened recently with the changed of management and it's just starting, we haven't reach the peak yet. The transition is always a hard part, others may not be that affected but somehow you get affected if the concern person/department is co-related with you, and that is what happening to me right now. I'm both directly and indirectly affected with the transition as I work closely with the new management and the other department. It's stressful, tiring and hard but then, this are all part of life and work and you just have to learn how to adapt to it.

Some few highlights of the past four years:
-set up our pavilion in DITF for 4 consecutive year and maybe this 2012 will be the last at the present venue

-we created a kid's zone for our kid's furniture with a "Bangladesh village ambience" in one of our retail store, another first concept in this country

-set-up a total of 10 new showrooms and one fashion store, with another 2 furniture showrooms in the pipeline

-had 3 TV appearances; first, a newsflash discussing about the new concept and design of our company. Second and 3rd, a segment regarding colors and designing your home in a Local Lifestyle TV show. I also did the set design for this show.

-met the Nobel Prize awardee Dr. Muhammad Yunus

-had a breakfast meeting with Dr. Philip Kotler

-received a Nitun Kundu Entrepreneurship Award for an Excellent Design of DITF 2010 OTOBI Pavilion

What a journey it has been, I did enjoy it, I'm hoping for the best for the next year and the years to come, both in my career and personal life but I don't know what lies in the future. With the present situation, I'm hanging in there for practicality. I still love my work and I still enjoy it but not as much as before. Maybe there's a silver lining in the dark clouds that I have yet to see. BUt no matter what, I will try my very best to enjoy the ride and color it bright.