One For The Cohort: Letter To The Tribe

Disclaimer: Heart overpowers brain often, how much ever I ask it to stay in limits. It keeps crossing the line every now and then. This post is a part of one of those ‘got carried away’ (not drunk) behaviors!

To the ones who matter

I wanted to turn and go back the moment I stepped into KVK. A friend had dropped me off. What stopped me from sitting in the same auto-rickshaw and catch a bus back to Delhi with him? An itch to explore the unknown!

What kept me going for three weeks of induction training and two months after that? I don’t know. In fact, I do. You always know, don’t you?
The eternal willingness to try something new, inquisitiveness to get familiar with the India I had hardly encountered with. Exploration of career alternatives, a zeal to churn mind and body muscles that had become too lazy. And, YOU guys!

Being a loner (or so I think I am), I tend to grab any chance to stay quiet and alone, which is what I tried while induction training as well. But inclusion, we had to do. What initially seemed like forceful friendships turned into ‘you can fall back on me’ relationships soon!
Remember, we literally did that on day 1 itself – the falling back bit.

At this point (mid of mid-point), however spread we may be in terms of geographical locations and area of work, everyone has a fair idea as to where they are placed in their organizational structures, some level of comfort in interacting with rural population of the country, has picked at least one new hobby (or habit or skill), is slightly aware of expectations from people around and to an extent, has certain inclination towards either a sector, a new city/village or even a person 🙂

Something inside each one of us is changing forever, for some – gradually, for others – abruptly. We may never be able to relate to most of our old friends the way we used to. Our decisions may not be justifiable to our families anytime soon. We may even stay in a dilemma – of our choices, identities and personalities for a few years. But, remember we are all in this together. And what if the ‘outsiders’ may never understand it, the other 23 odd people will always do. Isn’t that something to appreciate!

While some of us are trying hard to make the ends meet, others are worried they have nothing to spend on.
While some are tired of cooking food every day, others are craving for a healthy home-made meal.
While some are annoyed at being tanned after all the field visits, others are dissatisfied about still being stuck to their computer screens.
While some think they are overworked, others are complaining of idleness.
While some get woken up by the noise of ‘kapde dhone wala bat’ (that’d be me), others face trouble sleeping on time at night due to bhajans (me again).
While some feel trapped with a co-fellow, others may do anything to see one.

Meanwhile, we all have something or the other to be thankful for…

Be it a honey bee, or cute looking kids.
Be it a lush green forest area or incredible sunrises/sunsets every day.
Be it the immensely supportive community or extremely cooperative colleagues.
Be it the unlimited Wi-Fi or much needed disconnect from the virtual world.

Look around. You’ll find at least 21 things…20, excluding yourself!

Now that September has gone more swiftly than August (at least for me), the excitement to see each other again, in less than three months has started building up. Though there won’t be any lakes to sit by like Udaipur, there would be foggy evenings, metro rides, ancient architecture, events we could attend and loads of food to hog on.

So, let’s try to be glad about what all we have got, rather than picking out things we don’t. One of my favorite quotes is by Regina Brett, where she says, “If we all threw our problems in a pile and saw everyone else’s, we’d grab ours back.”

Think about it before the next time you go, “tera sahi hai yaar…” Put your energies to better use, to create stories that will be memories tomorrow, instead of mulling over what’s a waste of time today, and will remain forever.

Just a phone call or a train ride away…
Yours truly!
SS

P.S. As much as I wanted all my blog posts to be understood by anyone who reads it, irrespective of how remotely they may be connected with ‘India Fellow’, YOU made this one happen. It’s of & for the 23 of you, and of course for the ones who brought us together.