A start

As mentioned in my earlier post, today was supposed to be my first professional workshop. Going by what happened yesterday, I was just keeping my fingers crossed and sincerely wishing that the day long workshop would actually happen. Yesterday, I had given a call to the principal of the institute reminding her of the workshop to which she replied that she has completely forgotten about it and she just can't seem to remember who I was. Imagine, how one would feel by getting such a shock. But gladly it was like a Zor ka Jhatka dheere se lage types as the principal did agree and asked me to come over.

I reached well before time and set up everything. And then the first batch arrived, about a 50 odd students, one round of introduction and then began the workshop and I started speaking. One workshop happened and then the second, a lunch break, the third and then the fourth one. By the time, all the workshops ended, I had already realized that this is it, this is exactly what I would loved to do and got greatly convinced not only about the workshop which I had designed but also on the purpose behind it. I sincerely hope that a large number of students would have got a little more enlightened by listening to me today but practically even if 10 out of those students would go on to do something about global warming or pollution, I would consider myself extremely satisfied. I forgot to mention though that all the 4 sessions went well and were very well received by the students as well as the teachers present.

Even Harsh from Sarthak Prayas was present to see one of the sessions and am glad that he too liked it. In fact today only we came to know that an NGO mela is being organized in the school for which now even we are participating. This would not only give us a good exposure but also help us get some volunteers.

So, at it stands now, the revenue figure of "i-dream" stands at Rs. 1050. The figure is not important, what is important is the satisfaction that I had at the end.

My i-pod is happy as well and it is going Rock On! after a long time.
"Socha hai ya tumne kya kabhi
Socha hai ki hain kya sabhi
Socha nahin to Socho abhi"
Enjoy!

Another Step forward

For the first time in my life I met an entreprenuer, whose satisfaction lies not in creating a big successful enterprise but in doing work which we conventionally associate with an NGO such as organizing blood donation camps, maitaning a blood bank, AIDS awareness, children's education, old age home etc. The work which he has already done and which he plans to do truly reinforced my thought to belief in yourself and give everything you got to turn your dreams into reality. The end result is immaterial, whether you make it or not does not matter so much in the end, its the inner satisfaction of having tried something you believed in, it is the effort, it is the journey that matters the most.

Meeting him also gave me a wonderful opportunity to involve myself in such an initiative. After the first few meeting, we have decided to work in collaboration which in business term means that we both join hands and now work together for the cause of environment and the society. Lets see how this association goes on from here.

On the business front, things seem to be progressing though still no major breakthrough. If things happen as per schedule, on wednesday, 21 Jan, I may be doing my first professional session on global warming, which would make it my first case of revenue generation. But lets not speculate much until the session has finally happened. I will update the status day after.

PPs marriage is nearing fast and am certainly excited. With all friends coming down to Delhi, am sure it would be fun filled two days.

My i-pod has turned spooky and has developed some love for this certain Raaz which only he knows. Enjoy the song as I try and figure out the Raaz.

"Tujhe mil ke laga hai ye, tujhe dhoondh raha tha main
Tujhme hai kuch aisi subah sa, jiske khaatir main tha jagah sa
aa tu mere khwaab saja re, "

Here come the Chota Haathi

15 January, 2009, lets mark this date because today has arrived the Chota Haathi. Its nothing but a beautiful silky silver coloured Maruti Alto Car. In a way, it becomes my first owned car, as it was financed partly through my savings and partly by my dad. And I shared the first ride with my very good friend Ankur and hence we now become life partners. But I would like to thank him, for buying my car means a lot to me and it was he who stood there with me waiting for endless hours before we got to drive the car...may be I bored him a bit today but I guess he has teased me enough to deserve this and even more :).

I also take buying this car as an investment into my business. In fact it is the first major investment that I have made so far in the business if I consider just the value of money. The car now would ease my movements through the city and help me cover distances faster than earlier. I sincerely hope that this investment would start to bear fruits as well and that too soon.

On the work front, nothing substantial has yet happened in terms of revenue generation though there are a number of prospects which seem to developing well. At this point, lets just keep fingers crossed and keep working at it with full enthusiasm and passion.

The best thing however are the guitar lessons. Chord lessons are now almost over and by how things stand right now, I am getting better at them. From this week, the lessons would get one step tougher when we would start to mix leads with chords. With a lot of practise and even a lot more of patience, I am sure I would only get better. So Rock On!.

My i-pod is happy today, as we just came from a good drive and had a real nice dinner as well. It is now playing, " Shut Up n Bounce" from Dostana. Enjoy!!!

New Year and the Journey continues....

2009 has come and plans have been laid out for the year ahead. The aim is to reach out to more and more number of students and spread the message of environment protection.

These days, the things are going slow. With schools closed for the winter vacation, I cannot even approach them. Hopefully from next week onwards, work would pick up some pace yet again as schools would start opening up. In the meanwhile, a friend of mine from school, Shifu Gupta has joined me and will be helping me in this endeavour. She is a Math teacher at school and going by what I have seen of her so far, she is a very good one too. What impressed me most about her was when I was thanking her for deciding to help me out, her attitude was that I don't need to do that. And the reason she gave me was that like me, she too wanted to do it and she is therfore making a very conscious choice. She also said that if we work hard there is no reason why we won't be successful. Hopefully, she will be able to maintain her enthusiasm for all the times to come.

My best friend from JMI, Gaurav will soon be leaving for US, in fact he is leaving in three days now. He is going to CMU, a very prestigious university to complete his MS. I am extremely glad that he is now going on to do what he really wanted to do and hopefully it will pave the way for all his dreams to come true. I wish him luck and all the success in the times to come. Work hard buddy for you deserve it all. However, I must confess that I would miss the good times that we have had and those long chats discussing the next technological trend and the next big business opportunity.

Its getting extremely cold out here in Delhi and my i-pod just loves this weather for it makes it go all romantic as it plays for the first time an english number, but the most romantic song ever, “My heart will go on....". As you sleep off, enjoy the song!