There is a world of experience behind his voice and, yet, Isa Khan treads everything, that he approaches, in a cautious manner, one that is more aligned with an individual attempting something for the first time. Perhaps, it is an approach that is based on his own personal perspective, a desire to constantly learn on his own and do it in a manner that meets his own standards. It is, indeed, an extensive repertoire of skills that he has built, from photography to acting to content creation. This is a man who has carefully nurtured his own interests and passions, letting them feed into one another and made something truly beautiful out of that synergy. And, it is a sight well worth taking a closer look at.
Born in Shahabad, Uttar Pradesh, Khan spent his earliest days in a relative idyllic setting before moving to study in Syedna Tahir Saifuddin School, an educational institute under Aligarh Muslim University. A while later, following his parents’ move, he finished his education from Delhi, having earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Administration.
For Khan, it was an immediate drive and urgency to start working that drove him to pursue a career in the Corporate field. Alongside that, he began to teach economics at a coaching institute. A few years later, sensing his own interests lay somewhere else, he quit his corporate position to start his own coaching institute with a few partners. According to Khan, those four years that he ran and taught in the coaching institute were a period of time that he truly enjoyed. Eventually, however, he hit upon a time in his life that prompted him to travel and get out there to experience a new take on life itself. It was during his travels that he organically thought about photographing his travels. It was not any prior intention to engage in content creation that made him think about photographing his experiences and the places he visited. Rather, it was just his own desire to capture the things he found worthwhile in his own journey. Through his constant perseverance and his own desire to perfect his own skills, his work gained the recognition that it has today.
There is a certain sense of independence and self-reliance that Khan’s words exudes. Through his journey, having encountered numerous doubts and challenges, he has made it a point to just learn and get better. In point of fact, when he first began teaching, Khan was just 21 years old, a factor that made the parents of his students wary about entrusting the education of their children to an individual who had just graduated from college. However, the results he produced and the effort that he put cemented his position as a bonafide educator.
There is a natural progression in the way he pursued everything he did. Recognizing the responsibility that a teacher holds, Khan recalls how he would work around his schedule, as a teacher, to pursue his passion for travelling. Without being formally trained as an educator, Khan relied on a very intrinsic method of teaching, one that depended on being able to teach, to his students, the subject and also inculcate a greater understanding of things around them.
It is this respect and recognition of a higher ideal that he also brings in his travels. In all his travel, showcasing the beauty of the places he visits is not enough. There is a certain respect that Khan stresses on when travelling to another place. There are cultural differences and beliefs that must be respected when you are engaging with the people of the place you are travelling to. He recognizes the influence his own actions have and the message it can carry and, thus, he makes it a point that his audience realizes it as well. For Khan, it is constant effort to balance bringing value and, also, imparting a greater appreciation for cultural contrast, through his content, that he strives for.
“The idea is to create value. If someone comments that your video made me smile, I have done my job really well.”
Isa Khan
Indeed, there is, to the man, a way of thinking that evokes a sense of individual effort and perfection. When beginning to photograph his travels, Khan started out with an average phone. Those initial pictures he took were not, according to him, satisfactory. Intending to work on his photography skills, he researched extensively on the technical aspects of how a DSLR camera works before deciding to purchase one.
It is important to stress how much he really pursues something according to his own standards. For others, things may look rosy on the outside. However, there is a lot of work that is put in behind the scenes. From staying up 8 hours to make a 30 second video to editing footage for his travel blogs, it is a constant process of working and evolving through that work.
“For a very long period, I waited for someone to come and solve all my problems. Nobody came.”
Isa Khan
Indeed, through his own journey, Khan has hit upon a singular philosophy, one that, perhaps, drives his own life. Recognizing one’s own strengths and shortcomings is something that he puts an emphasis on. Khan believes in developing a skill through persistent work and effort. It is not a latent sense of being good at something that one should rely on. Consequently, for those starting out in the fields that are passionate about, Khan has a single piece of advice. Do the things you want to do, you only have one life. There is no one else who can get you the things you want except for your own self.
From acting in a web series to starting his own educational institute to becoming an established content creator, Isa Khan has definitely managed to do the things he wanted, based on his own strength and ability. And, that is something, try as you might, you cannot take away from anyone.
