Finding Joy at 50 by Pursuing Dreams and Embracing Passion

hey amita how are you i'm good rapali yeah so i know you become a teacher at a very late stage of your life you're in your 50s yes yes your age yeah and you look like a gorgeous 50 year old woman so thank you so just tell me why did you even choose to become a teacher i mean what was your journey like What was your journey like you know rupali i always wanted to be a teacher ever since i was a little girl i i always used to play teacher teacher dress up in asari have a blackboard and i did my masters in delhi i wanted to become a professor but you know i got married i came to the us and even over here i wanted to become a teacher but somehow i couldn't because uh there i was just trying to fit in my career with the whole family dynamics you know doing a corporate job i never ever liked what i was doing it did give me flexibility yes it gave me better money yes it worked very well around the kids schedule because i was able to work from home and all of those little perks but i was never happy and it took me a really really long time to realize that hey i can actually go ahead with what i like to do and everything else will fall into place rather than me trying to adjust and getting validation from everywhere my you know everybody whom i knew my kids my husband etc but it took me a long time to realize so and then i finally did my credentials and then i think at the nice age of 50 i actually became a teacher so but i wanted to also ask you like you became a teacher at 50 but was there anything else that inspired you to continue with your dream How did you decide to pursue your dream yes so i actually uh while i was growing up was very fond of dance but growing up in delhi given with all the distances and um you know not having a conveyance at my disposal uh i was very i was a very big dance and theater enthusiast so um i did learn dance from here and there but never did i never had the opportunity to get formally trained trained in it so here when i came to the u.s and actually after my daughter started learning kathak i started learning with alongside with her and i started learning at the age of let's say around 35 or so and before i was 50 i finished my bachelor's or visharath in dance and i was just so happy in that journey and then i realized hey if i could you know do a dance degree then why can i not become a teacher and and do career-wise something that i have always wanted to do so i think it's been a really long pursuit of happiness and a whole journey to realize that you know unless i am happy that's the only way i can make everything around myself be more pleasant yeah fantastic thanks navita this is wonderful