11 Jul 2019
Our time in this world is a limited one and in that time, we come across and interact with a lot of other human beings. Starting from our family, to our friends, from our teachers and professors to colleagues at work, from complete strangers to people we’ve loved and lost. We humans are social animals and rarely do we tend to drift away from that basic instinct.
At it’s very core, I belive that humans are a bucket full of emotions. Each of us is going through emotions and some of us have mastered the art of camouflaging it in our own ways. It may be a friend who is going throuh a tough breakup, a colleague who is having financial problems, or a family member suffering from health problems, one can only guess.
Even though we have all the tools to connect and stay in touch, the social media, the countless messaging apps, one may still find it difficult to express their emotions. I’ve seen friends fight depression, overcome financial problems and some sort out their personal shortcomings. They are all brave warriors in their own ways. Some of us may also be having positive emotions of happiness, excitement or love. Sharing that with compliments & acknowledgement is equally important.
With all this, it becomes important for us to be supportive and caring. Lending a shoulder to cry on, ears to hear problems, saying words of encouragement or even sitting with them in silence can go a long way and be a major boost for their struggles.
Never underestimate the power of a simple act of kindness. So, the next time you take that uber, place an order with a waiter, or talking with customer service, don’t forget to smile & acknowledge their efforts. You never know, you could just end up making their day!
Because I truly belive that being nice is highly underrated, and that “People may forget what you said, what you did, but they will never forget how you made them feel.” :)
18 May 2018
Time - the most treasured gift you will receive, your most prized possession and the most invaluable asset you’ll have by your side when you step out to conquer the world of your dreams. Now, what if I told you that you could donate a part of this priceless gift to help someone from the comfort of your home?
In October last year, sometime around Diwali, I had decided that I wanted to do something apart from the daily work routine which would help bring change to somebody’s life. Coincidently it was around this exact time I was introduced to Everyday Child by my friend Abhinav. Thanks man! :)
Fast forward seven months from then to April this year and I’ve completed teaching two batches at EC. To the first batch I taught “Gmail & Google Drive” and the topic for the second batch was “Internet & Websites 101”. In this post I want to share some of my experiences of being a donor with EC.
About Everyday Child
Everyday Child is an e-learning platform that allows you (known as a Donor), from anywhere around the world, to donate your TIME for empowering youth to learn. You can do this from the comfort of your home, all you need is an internet connection and a google hangouts account.
Each batch comprises of students who are typically in the 18-22 age group. They have different educational backgrounds as some of them are 10th or 12th dropouts, some have completed their high school, while others are studying BCom or an equivalent course.
The first workshop session
I still remember the first workshop session clearly because honestly, I was very nervous. I did not know how the session would turn out to be, given it was the first time I’d taken up such a task. I remember giving a brief introduction about myself and asking for theirs in return. What followed that was basics of e-mail & introduction to the world of Gmail. Little did I notice how those 30 minutes of my first session went by like a breeze. By the end of the class, they now knew how to create their personal Gmail account. 30 minutes is all it took!
First EC workshop
Homework
The key to learning and actually implementing any subject of interest is practice. One form of practice is homework. At the end of my first session, I’d asked my students to create their own gmail account which we would use in the future workshop sessions and send me a test email. So following this tradition, at the end of every session, I would provide them with simple tasks to complete which would help them get one step closer to using Gmail easily.
After a few days, my inbox was filled with their homework task. I cannot tell you how happy I was that day. Here’s a screenshot of their homework.
First Gmail homework
Preparation is key
After a couple of sessions, I could judge their learning speed and I realized that preparing on a week to week basis wasn’t enough to share “valuable” knowledge. What I needed was a proper plan in place. This led me to come up with my version of a syllabus (for a lack of better word). That’s when I spent time chalking out topics that I could teach. I used Xmind to prepare my list of topics for each class. Below is a snapshot of the custom course I prepared for the students of my first workshop session.
Challenges
One of the challenges I faced was preparing valuable content for the 30 minutes per each workshop session. Cram too much into one class and it becomes difficult for the students to follow. This is something that comes from trial and testing the content. It was important to ask and make sure that the students are following you during the session. In addition to this, after each class I would also ask for feedback from the Vaibhav, who is the coordinator at the center, whether the students were able to follow the content taught. Vaibhav has been really helpful in not only providing precious feedback on my sessions but also in clarifying the student’s doubts offline.
The other major challenge was to simplify the content so that the students could easily understand the topics. Think about it. Composing emails is something that we do regularly, so much so that we take this “mundane skill” for granted. However, breaking down the sessions into small meaningful topics for them to understand was a learning curve for me also. Most of these became the significant aspects of my Xmind map.
Meeting in person
The Everyday Child learning center is located in Mumbai. I happened to be present there in December and so I took the opportunity to meet my students at the center. I wanted to take a break from teaching my topic so I talked about some of my personal experiences from college and work. It was truly refreshing to talk to the brilliant students of Everyday Child.
Visit to Everyday Child Center, Mumbai
Final thoughts
I think we all underestimate how much knowledge and experience we have, that we can easily share. I truly believe that knowledge is power and to share it, is an invaluable gift. Simple yet impactful, the Everyday Child e-learning is a brilliant initiative that stands apart from the regular teaching and learning experiences that both teachers and students have. There are a wide range of topics which can be taught and donors from all around the globe can get involved easily. The students are receptive, engaged and always eager to learn more. Their smiles at the end of each workshop just make my day brighter!
If anyone is interested in donating their time to teach but don’t know where to look, I’d highly recommend starting their journey with Everyday Child. It has definitely been an enriching experience for me and I’m always look forward to my weekly workshops.
Leaving you with a collage of the donors at Everyday Child.
Can you spot me? :)
15 Oct 2016
Dearest Dadu,
Wish you are very Happy Birthday! How I wish you were here and we all could celebrate your birthday together like old times! However, I hope you are doing well, up in the heavens.
Speaking of celebrations, I recently watched the M.S. Dhoni biopic. Took me back to the day when we watched the 2011 Cricket World Cup final together. I could still remember the joy on your face when he hit the winning 6. We celebrated and saw history being made together in that hospital room.
Let me begin by telling you that I’ve really dearly missed you. I still imagine that someday I’d get a skype or viber call from you on my phone. I’ve always been really proud that you always wanted to be in touch with everyone and needless to say technologically up to date.
Ba hasn’t been too well since you’ve gone. I guess she never thought she’ll have to live without you by her side. Initially it was difficult for us to understand her and her drastic behavior. She has been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease coupled with Dementia. We are here to take care of her and the medicines are definitely helping. We try to make her smile and there are some lucky days when she remembers my name :)
I didn’t realise that the last one year has passed by so fast. It has been a rollercoaster ride to be honest. From quitting my job to trying and find myself. In the last year, I’ve been unemployed and it’s one decision I’m proud of. I was selfish this last year as I decided to invest time in myself. I must say that I’ve learnt a lot.
One of the most important lessons I’ve learnt is something that you always told me about. Time is Money. I was naive back then, however now I’m slowly starting to realise what it really means. Most people value money a lot. Little do they realise that time is our real currency. How we spend our time, with whom we spend our time is probably the most important lesson one can learn. That family, friends and ourselves are the prime factor. I’ve learnt that things don’t always turn out the way we plan. That sometimes, it’s better to go with the flow and eventually the final picture will become clear.
They say that there is a reason why people come in our lives. There’s so much to learn from everyone and it all helps us shape into the better person that we ought to become eventually. I’m very thankful that I’ve had you by my side. Thank you for always showering me with love and care. At the same time, I’m grateful that you were strict and stern when I was being childish and deviating from being a better person.
There is so much more that comes to my mind and I’m sure I can go on forever. I want you to know that I’ll always love you and you’ll always be in my prayers.
Your grandson.
Throwback to innocent play times I was a year old :)
17 Apr 2015
I looked at my watch, it was 5 PM and I hoped that the cab driver was on time so that I could beat the crazy Pune traffic and reach home early. To my luck, he was already waiting for me at the office entrance. I got into the cab.
A thin man in his mid-40s with a tired look on this face sat in the driver’s seat. ‘Hello bhaiya’, I greeted him as a brother. He some how managed to summon up a smile and greeted me back, ‘Hello sir’. This was followed by a few minutes of silence till we got onto the main road.
Now I’m usually more of a listener, but if both the people are silent in the car, it’s something that makes me feel awkward. I just don’t know why, it just does. So, I decided to have a conversation and maybe in that way make this 20 minutes of journey something worthwhile.
Our conversation happened in hindi but for the benefit of the wider audience, I shall translate it to english. Here it goes.
‘I wonder what will happen to Pune’s traffic!’ I said. Failing to come up with a better topic.
‘Yes’, he said. I’m sure he agreed with my sentiments and what I was trying to say. ‘Sir, it’s actually not that bad today’. I think he was trying to make the conversation more positive. ‘Today is Ambedkar Jayanti, many of the offices have holidays’. Aha! That’s good, less traffic! I told myself.
‘Bhaiya which cab company do you work for?’, I asked. ‘Optimus cabs’, was his prompt reply. ‘So, right now you are on duty for Optimus cabs?’, was my next query. ‘No, right now I’m on duty for Megatron cabs’.
‘I didn’t understand that. You work for two cab companies?’, my curiosity started to get the better of me now. ‘Sort of. Officially I work for Optimus cabs but I work on duty for Megatron cabs also.’, he said. ‘How is that possible?’ I asked. With a straight face he replied, ’The owner of Megatron cabs is a relative of Optimus cabs. So whenever he is short of drivers for his customers, he often asks for drivers from Optimus cabs to step in’.
’See, I’ll explain.’, he tired to help me understand how it works. ‘Your company is tied up with Megatron cabs for pick-up and drop services. So I do that duty in the morning while dropping you and then again in the evening when I’ve to pick you. Other hours apart from that I work for Optimus cabs.’
They say that confusion along with curiosity isn’t always the best combination, but little did my mind understand that and so I went on.
‘Bhaiya, tell me something. How many hours do you work in a day?’ was the next immediate question on my mind. I’d actually call it a concern.
‘I start my day at around 6 AM. Have breakfast & tea, wash the car and get ready for work. I leave my home by 7 AM. My first duty of the day is for Megatron cabs, which is your drop to office. By 9 - 9:30 AM I switch over to working for Optimus cabs. In the evening I switch back for Megatron cabs because I’ve to drop you back home. Then again after that back to Optimus cabs till might night.’
That took me some time to digest and then calculate the number of hours he has to work. ‘How many hours do you have to work for Optimus cabs?’. ‘Around 14 hours for Optimus cabs and another 4-5 hours for Megatron cabs. So in total I start at 7 AM and reach home midnight.’ he said in a firm voice, feeding my curiosity.
He continued, ’some days are worse as I might have to do over time also!’. By now I was dumbstruck. I think he saw that look on my face. He said ‘Sir, now you only tell me, if we are treated like this, we don’t get much time to do anything else. Then in you’ll hear about accidents and it’s the drivers fault because of rash driving, breaking the signal light, dozing off while driving etc.’. I didn’t know what to say.
‘If one has a choice, he should just opt for a security guard duty, than be a cab driver. At least he won’t be treated like this and get blamed for everything’
‘Here we are.’ he said with a voice full of energy. We had reached our destination. ‘Thank you very much bhaiya’, I said, this time it was my turn to summon up a smile. ‘I’ll see you tomorrow morning sir!’, he replied with a wide natural smile, contrary to the one before.
There was something about that tone in which he said this to me. It was as if he wanted to end this conversation on a good note. May be we was trying to motivate himself? We exchanged good byes and went our ways.
Honestly, if you ask me, I’m still trying to make some sense of this encounter. I guess I covered multiple topics in here. City traffic. Cab companies. Drivers. Working hours. I did ask myself one thing though, why is he doing this job if it’s so tiring? Is it the pay and he needs it? Family reasons? I’m sure he has valid reasons, which I’m not aware of. Fair enough. But some how, he still manages to do this day in, day out. With a smile.
