You can call a year extraordinary in which you get to live your dreams, dreams which are made of youthful energy and mature realizations; A year in which you get a clean slate and on the way of writing your own story, you recognize that your story is every other person’s story. When you work hard and persevere and keep patience enough and are equally lucky to see the seeds sowed long back sprouting lively green leaves. And an extraordinary year is one in which you reclaim your identity.

When I started on my tryst with Community Service Council a year back, I very well knew what I was there for – to understand people, to listen to their problems and to help them in whatever way I could – but I didn’t know that a time would come when it would be hard for me to see my existence without this organization. What began with a commitment of one day a week for an hour in one of the Programs has now ripened into an almost 24*7 involvement across all of them.

It really has been a remarkable journey not just for me but for everyone who believed in what we were trying to achieve – to extend our scope and reach to maximum number of relatively disadvantaged people, in terms of fundamental requirements such as education, and to benefit them; To involve and make employees in HCL understand the importance of Community Service & how their little association can help trigger a significant change; And to create a system where anyone who is contributing is creating value not just for the receiver but more so for himself, whether it is through taking a class, realizing that folks listen to him so what if they are students of IXth Class, & thus imperceptibly raising his self confidence or through expanding and enriching his societal understanding by being part of a group which already has that understanding.

Right from the day I joined, I have been a part of an outstanding coterie which shares the same belief that all men are created equal & hence everyone must possess a decent shot at life. They clearly know that there are a lot of things which are not yet fixed but equally realize that they are not going to if they don’t fix them.

However, if there is one thing I have to single out which gets this group & hence the CSC going is that this small collection of highly motivated persons entirely understands the dynamics of an efficient team; That it’s never an individual attempt but a collective effort; That it’s not about compromising your positions but aligning them to a common purpose; That graciously taking a step back is sometime the right thing to do; That the stage is as much of your colleague as yours; And that when everyone walk together, only then success becomes the most evident surety.

I have come to understand that as important as it is to take the right decision, it is equally important to make sure that it is right for everyone because if you don’t have a consensus, there will be no takers for it. And this single realization can help you look at the problems around you, local or global, through a more tolerant lens. You will become empathetic to people rather than be growling at them for not making things happen, from food vendor at your cafeteria to the Prime Minister of your country, because you know that if something is not right somewhere, it is because someone wants to pursue his/her personal ambitions which are not in public interest.

This team never shirks from getting into other people’s shoes because it knows that you don’t get a 360 degree view of an idea or an issue until you change your standpoint. That it’s important to listen & listen with intent because you believe that everyone talk sense and anyone out of that everyone can be talking about the next big idea. This team that I am working with here thrives on each other’s success. It takes pride in each other’s accomplishments and fuels itself with each other’s appreciations.

Community Service Council has come a long way since its inception and one thing which has majorly contributed to its growth is the egalitarian principles it believes in. This is a place where if you have an idea and the willpower to execute it, you are a hero. CSC welcomes you with open arms and all its resources. I can safely vouch and assure every stakeholder in CSC from volunteers to beneficiaries that people who have come together & made this progress happen will fiercely preserve this democratic nature of its functioning.

So, an extraordinary year looks like this, when a small group of people which you didn’t know a year back becomes a big part of your existence, when bare acquaintances become lifelong friends in no time, when you start deriving insights out of casual discussions over dinner and when the picture of what-you-want-to-do-with-your-life starts becoming clear.

Hoping for another such year; For now, I am just happy hanging along.

The main characters in the story are Priya, Abhishek & Vaibhav, of course with Mr. Peeyush. This is the eve of the main event, the night of 13th November, where they are finalizing the last minute details & plans and sharing some light moments in between. Ankush has also got an entry but he stayed all the time on the other side of the call. These people, however are just representatives of all the others who contributed equally & put similar kind of passion & energy to make the event successful & worth remembering with fondness. The only difference with them was that they didn’t have Peeyush, their bad luck.

So here I am, presenting to you a small clip but a perfect illustration of the hard work, time, mind & heart spent of a hugely committed, extremely motivated & slightly mad group of people who came together to create an un forgetful day for Children of Sri Krishna Inter College, Garhi Chokhandi in NOIDA. In the process, they made themselves realize how happy one can be when one does the things one likes doing & how fulfilling it is to see smiles out on faces when your thoughts & ideas are a reason for it.

Enjoy!!

So when I looked back at the last four months, I found that I really had a lot of things to think about, to be satisfied of, to appreciate and to look forward to. You never realize how you are shaping your life with your day to day actions but you do. And when you look back you find a certain set of beliefs changed. You don’t remember what exactly caused it but you know that there was a period of time which was responsible. You remember the context but not the people, the result but not the process. Its good in a way because if people keep remembering the significant details which brought a major change in their lives, they may lost the spontaneity & naturalness of their actions and may do the same things over & over again, because they worked well for them, & will keep getting the same result. Moving on is important & that’s why it’s advisable not to read your daily diaries over & over again. Keep a diary for hindsight instead.

The span of last four months has been the busiest period of my life till now & I am grateful for this. I don’t remember when it started getting hectic for me & I started feeling the time crunch but I know that this was what I always wanted, to stretch myself to the maximum & make sure that I do not break. Now, I don’t want to give an impression that I am working 24*7 but it’s just that I did five times more than I used to do; the significant question then is that, what I used to do? Not Much. Still five times of ‘Not Much’ takes a lot of effort, it sweats you out. Shaking your foundations is not easy, but then there is no other way to move ahead on the ladder which you have made out of your ambitions, objectives, hopes & dreams. You have to start, even if its inch by inch.

Yeah, so there are these numbers of things that I have done; some are implementation exercises of my past experiences & learning but many of them, pretty new. I have spend worthy time with some of the most knowledgeable & well informed individuals I could get hold of and have tried to imbibe all their best practices, they have made ‘Process’ & ‘Framework’ an integral part of my oral discourse. I have invested numerous hours on phone with one of the most motivated & most righteous person I have ever met & have helped each other decide what we exactly are doing & what exactly shall we be doing. I have become a part of the most socially engaging entity in my organization, where highly motivated & selfless individuals are trying to make the lives of relatively underprivileged, better. Add the preparation for one of the costliest exams on the planet plus my professional commitment & you may probably get an idea of how eventful it has been for me.

It could have been much simpler, meeting the virtual profs on weekends, talking for some minutes over phone, showing up for couple of days for the social work, preparing for an hour or two daily & keep doing the regular office work with the regular speed but the real trouble and the real test arise when you want & try to become highly involving in all these activities, when you start talking of changing the way things run & setting up your own idea, when you start seeing the market & try to grab a pie out of it for yourself, when you really strive hard to create a repeatable & sustainable model topped by consistent monitoring, when you want to ace your exam as well and when you deeply desire to get an ‘Outstanding’ rating in your annual performance appraisal. I wanted to try everything that was coming my way, it’s part of the exploration process wherein I keep looking for the answer of the ubiquitous question as to what exactly I want to do.  So I plunged in, not yet sunk so I guess it’s alright.

Hindsight takeaways out of all this are a deeper understanding of myself & society around me, relationships with people at a personal level, utmost contentment seeing the smiles on the faces of children we teach, a conscious confidence that I am moving in the right direction and a blindfold belief of some ‘P’ersons on me & my abilities & who make me feel very special.

P.S:  And I tried my hand at Photography too, didn’t mention that. Will put in some specimens here, soon (read ‘in couple of months’, like this post).  

Before the invite, the Questionnaire. And some info.

Do you know these faces? Remember seeing them sometime, somewhere?

Name:                                                 Sajid Hussain Khan

Passionate About:                     hp laptops, tunde kababs

Significant Achievement:   Just 3 months on Bench

Biggest Worry:                             Fate of Indian Cricket Team

Ultimate Dream:                        Replacing Sachin Tendulkar as the Brand Ambassador of Jaypee Cement.

   Name:                                                 Priya Bahuguna

   Passionate About:                    Java, Java, Java

   Significant Achievement:  No Benches

   Biggest Worry:                            Global Warming

   Ultimate Dream:                       To be the next Medha Patkar

  Name:                                               Subhasis Rout

  Passionate About:                   Nothing

  Significant Achievement: Returning unscathed from Oz

  Biggest Worry:     Nothing; says, ‘hum lete nahin, dete hain’

  Ultimate Dream: Nothing, he is an Insomniac

Name:                                    Anupama Dabas

Passionate About:        Creating useless collages of herself

Significant Achievement: No weight gain in last 3 years

Biggest Worry:                           Delhi’s traffic

Ultimate Dream:                      Getting VRS asap

   Name:                                             Vaibhav Srivastava

   Passionate About:                  Procrastination

  Significant Achievement: His survival in IT

  Biggest Worry:                           His single status

  Ultimate Dream:                      Winning Nobel prize for Literature

Giving the benefit of doubt to your recalling abilities, i believe you remember. These five were there with you on the twilight of 8th July 2006 when you checked into the makeshift Galgotia hotel. They attended, with you, those bogus presentations which everyone listened but no one understood. They slept through the screening of ‘My fair Lady’ but vigilantly followed the brief on annual leaves. They rejoiced when they saw the red debit card & cursed when they were told to look for houses on their own. They loved the gentleman from Comnet but hated the ladies from Technologies who lectured them on team building (bullshit!).

After that anxious and cherished fortnight, everyone got dispersed in the HCL sea, coming across each other as seldom as possible, a casual ‘hi’ in the office or a chance profile visit on orkut. In the years that followed these people travelled across oceans to the great cities of the world adding their bit to India’s showpiece industry. Meanwhile, few left, to explore some better avenues or to follow their dreams. Hopefully, they are doing well. Those who stayed, differ on the level of happiness & satisfaction they have achieved. Some are living it in, some are fighting it out.

Alright, enough nostalgia, coming to the point. Those who are livin’t’in & fitin’t’out are going to become three years old in something which was their dream job four years back. Recessionary times notwithstanding, it’s an achievement spending three years in a company which doesn’t pay much & is not likely to, either. It demands, of course not ostentatious, but at least a modest & spirited celebration.

We are planning a get together to mark this event. The plan is very simple. We will gather on the compound of GIP (Great India Place, NOIDA) & then swarm into Pizza Hut or at whoever’s place where we can get enough seating. During the interaction people can share everything from their months on bench to foul smelling Rajnigandha eating manager to  one sided love affairs to the delight & apprehensions they felt in a foreign land.

Everyone is invited and everyone means people who left HCL as well. Forward this to them & let them know that they are most welcome. People in Gurgaon, try to make it to the meet as we may not have something like this in the near future (probably years).

THINGS to REMEMBER:

Day:      12th July, Sunday

Venue: Food Court, 3rd Floor, Great India Place, NOIDA

Time:   6:00 PM IST

 

Everything being said, however, the very fundamental idea behind this meet is to witness how far we have reached in relative terms starting from the same point and  appreciate how the different choices, which we made (or rather forced to make), have shaped our lives. Let’s share how life played foul with us & how we over smarted it every time. C’mon, let’s see each other and find out some more maverick case studies.

Hoping to see most of you on 12th.

Cheers. Vaibhav.

P.S.

1. People who are onsite, don’t lose heart. It’s still few days & there may be some tickets left with some airlines or travel agents, you may try. We will be sending in the pics anyways.

2. Please confirm your availability by putting in a Comment on this post. Avoid replying to the mail as it may lead to unnecessary clogging of the bandwidth.

3. Also, please confirm your non availability as well by putting in a Comment on this post. Knowing the exact numbers will help us plan the logistics well.

4. We will be sending a mail at the EOD everyday till 10th July, Friday, with the list of people who have confirmed their attendance.

5. My (vaibhav.srivastava@hcl.in) number is 09999187536 & Priya’s (Priya.Bahuguna@hcl.in) is 09971390035. You can CALL me & SMS her anytime regarding any more info.

Was experimenting with ‘Out-of-Focus’ images, got this. Love the assortment of colors this picture offers.

Clicked this on a broad avenue full of lights indiscriminately contributed by motor vehicles, traffic signals, colorful bicycles and decorated buildings.

An open exhibition.

A brasserie.

This building was dominated by Danish brands.

The weather in Sweden is as beautiful as it is horrific in Delhi. People were sad there when they heard that I am leaving, not because they had developed some particular affinity towards me in the two months’ time or liked my ghazals, it was because they wanted me to see how cozily warm & beautiful Sweden looks during summers. But you can’t do some things, like asking your company to extend your visa & keep you where you want in spite of having no work to do; hence I left on the night of 28^th April. Still, I have seen a fair bit of the things to come, in fact what already is & going to stay, the greeneries of the countryside, the brightness of the sun & the feel of an ever present wind in a sub 15-20 degree Celsius temperatures. I have seen the sunset at nine in the night; it feels a bit odd here, no? How can a sun set in the night and if I say evening, it’s like how can there be an evening at nine (in the night)? I also played a lot of cricket which was both fun and a reality check. Fun because it brought me on the field again & made me feel competitive in the same way as I felt ten years back, reality check because it made me understand that I don’t have the same kind of body as I had, then, I mean I can really run with almost the same speed but not for long and my legs pain. But I assume it made me think at least towards improving my stamina and strength, don’t know how much actually I would do being an eerily lazy guy. Nevertheless, it’s always good if you know the facts.