Ashish Vidyarthi urges leaders to celebrate three chances and stay hungry

Actor and storyteller Ashish Vidyarthi delivered a motivational session at the NCPA in Mumbai during Print Summit 2026 on 4 February, urging professionals to stay hungry, keep learning and take ownership of their life direction even after achieving success.

Positioning the session as a conversation rather than a speech, Vidyarthi told the audience that people in the same industry often assume they share similar journeys when, in reality, their back stories are very different. Those differences, he said, shape how individuals respond to risk, failure and opportunity.

He structured his message around what he called “celebrating three chances”. The first is being born. “You did not have a hand in your birth,” he said, describing life itself as a matter of chance. The second is being alive after the Covid years. “Many good people did not make it. Completely by chance, you and I made it,” he said. The third is being present in the current moment, which he described as the only point from which change can begin.

Vidyarthi encouraged the audience to drop what he termed their personal “Jamna paar”, referring to a Delhi expression often used to label someone as coming from the wrong side of the tracks. He used it as a metaphor for any past limitation or embarrassment. “It does not matter where you came from. What matters is where you are headed,” he said.

Sharing his own journey, Vidyarthi spoke about growing up in Delhi, facing labels and doubts about his acting ambitions, and managing family expectations. He noted that people who love you are often worried for you, especially when your dreams look unconventional. “The bigger the dream, the more uncomfortable your day will be,” he said.

He also warned against living on past recognition. Recalling experiences in new markets where few people knew him, he said professionals must keep creating fresh value. “The world will listen when I add value,” he said.

Vidyarthi highlighted reinvention as a survival skill, citing his shift to social media during Covid when film and speaking work slowed. He said adapting to new platforms helped him reach wider audiences and build new opportunities. At 60, he said he still sees himself as “hungry, learning and on fire”, urging the audience to adopt a lifelong learner mindset. He closed by advising attendees to convert regrets into action and not wait for a “special life” to begin.