The Sky is Pink: A Journey of Reinvention

“The sky is blue. The tree canopy is green. And the bark? That is brown.”

I remember saying this with growing impatience as my two-year-old calmly colored the sky pink and the trees bright red. It wasn’t the first correction, and she was not persuaded. Eventually, I stopped trying.

A year later, life carried us from India to a small town near Toronto. We were adjusting to everything at once - a new country, a new professional landscape, a new rhythm of life. That evening, while driving past sprawling parks, my daughter suddenly shouted from the backseat:

“Look, Mummy! The sky is pink. And the trees are red, orange, and purple!”

She was right.

We were witnessing our first North American fall sunset. The sky blushed rose and gold. The trees burned in deep crimson and amber. In that moment, something shifted in me.

My daughter had never been wrong. She had the innocent courage to experiment, have an open mind, and to challenge the norm. That realization has stayed with me, not just as a parenting memory, but as a professional one too.

Over 17 years, my career has taken me across countries, sectors, and roles. Each move required me to step outside my comfort zone and look outside the box. Each transition asked me to stretch and have an open mind.

If you are navigating change, a transformation, a career shift, a relocation, or a return after a break, I want to share a few reflections that have helped me not just endure change, but enjoy it and flourish within it.

Constant Reinvention

When I moved continents and began navigating a new professional ecosystem, my instinct was compliance and I thought maybe success is in translating past experience, adjusting tone, replicating former successes.

But reinvention is rarely about replication or compliance – it’s an opportunity to craft a new version of yourself. And, trust me, it’s rarely achieved in comfort.

If you are currently in a phase of discomfort, uncertainty, or flux, do not fret. You are not alone and you are certainly not behind. You are in metamorphosis, and just getting ready to expand. Take up new mentors, courses, and collaborate and work towards what you see as your improved version.

Network Is Not Enough. Treasure Allies.

I often refer to 2025 as one of the toughest years of my life. In that single year, I experienced more change, loss, challenge, and loneliness than I had anticipated.

My greatest learning was this: it wasn’t my broad network that sustained me. It was my close set of allies. Just as interpretation makes raw data valuable, trust makes relationships meaningful. It is not the number of connections you have - it is the few who understand you and your skills, challenge you thoughtfully, and stand beside you during moments of doubt.

Treasure your allies, sponsors, mentors, and guides. And do not hesitate to reach out to them when needed.

You Are Always More Than One Thing

That belief was instilled in me early by my father. In the 1970s, when careers were expected to align neatly with a single college degree, he chose to pursue two - medicine and electrical engineering. He spent his free days, away from his hospital, in a small den at home and built automatic tools. His life modeled something powerful: you are never just one dimension of capability.

You are always “1+.”

Find your plus - the dimension that sharpens your edge and fuels your creativity. It may not always sit neatly within your job title. But it can become your differentiator, your sanctuary during demanding life stages, and your anchor when roles or circumstances shift.

The Courage to See the Sky Pink

One of my favorite professional memories from my time at Singapore involves a team member who was deeply unhappy about being promoted. The new role required client engagement, and she firmly believed she was not ideal fit for it. She described herself as an introvert who disliked small talk and preferred working back stage.

I encouraged her to treat the role as an experiment - a trial period with full permission to step back if it didn’t feel right.

To her own surprise, she thrived.

She wasn’t successful because she suddenly became extroverted. She excelled because she was a careful listener, a patient troubleshooter, and someone whose composed manner inspired trust. She did not need to transform into someone else. She needed to bring more of herself into the room.

How many hidden strengths remain unexplored simply because we accept conventional definitions of who we are supposed to be?

A Reflection for Leaders

For leaders reading this, there is a parallel responsibility. If we want innovation, we must create the right room for that. We cannot demand transformation from our industries while resisting it within our own teams.

I urge leaders to,

• Encourage cross-functional mobility,
• Value nonlinear paths,
• Recognize international experience,
• Reward curiosity and attitude alongside competence.

Closing Thought

That evening under the fall sky, I realized something humbling: my daughter had not been wrong. She had simply seen a possibility before I did.

Change often appears unusual, disruptive, unstructured, sometimes inconvenient. But what if it is simply perspective catching up with potential? Looking back, I know I could not have achieved or learned what I did had I stayed within the obvious path. Growth demanded that I question assumptions, test new environments, and give my ideas some wind, even when the outcome was uncertain.

The sky may have been blue yesterday. And tomorrow, it might be pink. But, the most courageous move you can make today, in your professional or personal life, is to look up and allow yourself to see it. Like this convex rainbow in the sky - rare, unexpected, and easy to miss if you’re not paying attention. Have you ever noticed one before?