Saturday 20 December 2014

'Reminiscence'- Winter School at IIM-A

"We all have our time machines. Some take us back,they are called memories.Some take us forward,they are called dreams" - Jeremy Irons.

Those five days can't be easily put up on a paper. It was just more than a 'Winter School'. And,it started with a broader vision and huge enthusiasm.I am sure that it has changed many perceptions of people there,no matter how little.
                 



My thoughts on education,literacy and learning changed completely.It was like that you have been brought up by learning some structured lessons and forming particular opinions and one has always thought that way.And then one day,someone contradicted you and you realized that it too,does make sense and you just never thought that way. I felt the same.

And,then IIM-A taught this by doing what they are best at. We got lessons on different aspects of research and education.From the Cake experiment to teach us about how to distribute resources,field trips,workshop sessions on community building to bonfire night,everything was perfectly in place.

Bringing together people from different educational institutions with varied experiences and ideas was like icing on the cake. We shared ideas,brainstormed and learned a lot of things from each other's opinions.I met some best set of people. Penning down everything which happened during those five days would be really difficult. And,even if one would be able to document that,I doubt that he/she will be able to recreate that same aura that we experienced.
                           



I appreciate the organizers for pulling off an event like that,such brilliantly.I look forward to that little change that we are going to make in our society. I applaud the initiative and responsibility that IIM-A took, for being a part of this change.
I thank everyone there for igniting that spark in me to contribute for society and do my bit. It was a wonderful experience and one worth remembering.


Thank you,IIM-A.

Sunday 9 November 2014

Startup Weekend @IIT Delhi

Imagine you enter a place with random thoughts and complete strangers,pitch your idea, convince ,brainstorm and end up with a prototype at the end of two-day event. Yes!, I just described a Startup Weekend event in one line.

Bring randomness to the moment,fun and curiosity will follow.
 

Sounds quite bizarre? I know. Well obviously, discussing an idea and raising a startup in a two-day span sounds ideal in theory. But,the event made a brilliant attempt to give an emotion of 'what it feels like to start a startup or work in one'. It gave an experience of 'what one should expect if they are willing to go on that path'. And,it taught that a startup is not all that fancy as it sounds.
Well, all of this is coming from a perception of student's observation,who learned a lot about a lot of new things.

It began with most bizarre seventy-seven ideas pitched on the first night.Out of which,20 got selected with much convincing efforts for further collaboration and building a prototype.

“If you're not embarrassed when you ship your first version, you waited too long.” ― Matt Mullenweg (Founder of Wordpress). 
We were continuously slogging away for straight 48 hours,to meet the two-day's deadline and working on our projects.And,the teams left judges in surprise with the prototype that they had come up with,in such span.But,we better know where we missed.

Not to forget,I was pretty much surprised with the way the whole event was co-ordinated.And,the organizers were pretty amazing and kept everyone's spirits high.People of different domains brought varying perceptions in ideas and their executions.

If I would say that winning is not everything,then I would probably be lying.But,I agree that it was one hell of an experience .

Friday 5 September 2014

My Book Bucket Challenge

From pouts and poses to selfies to ALS Ice Bucket Challenge to Book Bucket challenge, everything that has been there on Facebook now or before,creates a fad among the youth. Yes, I suppose 'fad' defines the situation correctly. Let me take you through the definition once, Wikipedia defines fad as any form of behavior that develops among a large population and is collectively followed enthusiastically for a period of time, generally as a result of the behavior being perceived as popular by one's peers or being deemed "cool" by social media. It is said to "catch on" when the number of people adopting it begins to increase rapidly.

Undoubtedly,I am happy to see that the focus finally shifted from pouts and selfies to something that helped to raise the money for a good cause. Despite of the fact that many people were completely unaware of the "Lou Gehrig's Disease" or the ALS association,for that matter.I am satisfied that people stood up for this,with an intention of helping a cause, just by throwing a bucket of ice water on their head. Well, I have never thought that it is this easy on our part, to make such a difference.Pity, my small brain!

This rage inspired other challenges like Rice Bucket Challenge and what not. So, Book Bucket Challenge is one among those. The extent of happiness, when one see his/her Facebook Timeline filled with sensible stuff,famous authors and book names was followed by complete despondency of the fact that how the word 'influenced' is mis-interpreted with 'just-read' in this context.

Well,I am not an avid reader of books.Most of my literary reads were,from school.I won't try to escape by giving a shallow excuse of over-burdened schedule in engineering colleges(though,such is the case).I read and a lot,but most of them includes blogs,magazines,quotes and answers on quora.

Though,I could have easily stated 10 books that I have read.But, seriously, going on the 'influencing' part, I found none.Well, that's too narrow range of reads,on my part. And to the every post on my timeline (not generalizing,though!), I would really love to know how they were influenced by those books. The only 'literary reads' that have really influenced me,are as follows :

1. Quotes from Mark Twain,Oscar Wilde and Charles Bukowski (read on blogs,pages and websites)
2. Where the mind is without fear- A poem by Rabindranath Tagore
3. That excerpt from Julius Caesar, we read in tenth.
4. A Christmas Carol By Charles Dickens.

Well,I should read more often because "A man who reads lives a thousand lives".Keep reading!

Wednesday 27 August 2014

It's A Jungle Out There!

Well,The title might sound a bit cheesy. But,yes! That was the theme of the SRCC Youth Conference held on 22nd and 23rd August 2014. And, the whole chase of attending the event,just on the first day only, justified the title completely in my case.

Yeah, I agree with the fact that big names like Jayant Sinha , Boman Irani ,Papa Cj and many more were going to be there and the crowd gathered at (what!)7:30 a.m. on the SRCC entrance,just to make through the event.
While I considered 9.15 to be quite decent enough(after registering obviously!) but they just didn't allowed us to enter. Well,I was on my peak since I missed my college and made up my mind that no-matter what, I have had to attend that. And in the awe of that moment's decision,we did a lot of crazy things that day. Sneak peeked into the principle's house to make entrance via his place,tried to convince the guard at other entrance and what not. It just went on,to such a level that I am pretty sure that they might still remember our faces.

Well, somehow we managed to enter.But, wait a second, we were just down to half the battle there.Entering the auditorium is a whole another chase. I was very disappointed with the mis-management.But,eventually when the speakers started and told about their lives and connected it with the theme. They just took over my anger and mesmerized everyone out there.

The crowd was eagerly waiting for Papa CJ and Boman Irani who were kept for the end.Amidst that, Dhruv Visvanath, a self-taught musician, who is the only Indian among ‘30 Great Guitarists Under 30’ from across the world, made his mark among the crowd.He played brilliantly and ended up by taking a selfie with audiences.The common thread which connected all the three is the passion for their work and 'down-to earth' nature.Dhruv's selfies, CJ's autographs and Boman's hugs didn't make me felt for a moment that i was surrounded by these personalities.At-least, I managed and was lucky enough to attend their sessions that day.

While CJ's satirical comment on the CBSE topper beated everything ever made on the facebook till now , Boman's 'zero-bulb-moment' inspired us a lot. On the whole, the event was greatly pulled off and we enjoyed like hell.

Tuesday 12 August 2014

Social Design Jam

A pass-out senior,the most practical and blunt girl,an over-enthusiastic fella, an inspirational soul and lot of awesomeness -things I came across with. Well, to put the event in words is gonna be quite difficult for me. It had been more than a week since I attended the event,but I still have a hang for it.

Social Design Jam was basically a design thinking hackathon focused on social impact,organized by Karmany and Teach for India Delhi Alumni. The event was hosted at IIIT Delhi and was held over a span of 48 hours for solving six  major social challenges.It aimed to utilize the design thinking framework to create operational solutions for social enterprises solving pressing challenges in India.

The event included participants from varied backgrounds like engineers, corporates,social change drivers to entrepreneurs.It kicked off with an ice-breaker session where we all were introduced to each other. Along with that, we were also introduced to the organizations and their problems. This included 'I Say Organic','Azadi','Indus Action','Digital Green','Educational Initiatives' and 'Seekho'. And finally, we were split up into teams and co-ordinated with organizations.



The second day began with an inspirational thought of words by Shaheen Mistri (CEO,Teach for India) which marked a beginning of new day with rush of new ideas flowing in our heads.Followed by that, A Design Thinking Primer was presented by Bavidra Mohan from Acumen. Meeting with new people from such different backgrounds having varied perspectives about a situation was the best part of the event. I got an awesome team to work with. And the whole day ended up,by making us indulge in rigorous discussions, brainstorming sessions with business and design mentors for creating a rough draft of the solution,in the lush-green campus area of IIIT Delhi.

And finally the event ended up on the third day, when teams pulled off their final presentations on stage and kept their ideas. "I Say Organic" won the title.After that, Networking Gala session was there,which was like an icing on the cake.No matter, how less you show interest in this and immature enough to define the phrase,it was one of the few things that I learned and considered important enough.

Sometimes, winning is not important.We were happy to create a feasible design for an organization and what matters the most is that our idea is being considered and implemented for a real-life problem and being worked upon.An amazing experience in whole,which motivated enough to contribute back to the society. 

It will utilize the design­ thinking framework to create operational solutions for social enterprises solving pressing challenges in India. The design thinking framework has been utilized for years, however, it is only in the recent decade that it has become a more widespread, documented, problem solving tool. The participants will include individuals ... read more on social.yourstory.com
Run by Karmany and Teach for India Delhi Alumni, Social Design Jam is a design thinking hackathon focused on social impact. The event will be hosted at IIIT­ Delhi and held over 48 hours for solving 6 social challenges. It will utilize the design­ thinking framework to create operational solutions for social enterprises solving pressing challenges in India. The design thinking framework has been utilized for years, however, it is only in the recent decade that it has become a more widespread, documented, problem solving tool. The participants will include individuals from a variety of backgrounds spanning the wide spectrum between corporates and social change drivers. The event promises the creation of viable, scalable solutions that can be carried forward by the organizations post this event. ... read more on social.yourstory.com
Run by Karmany and Teach for India Delhi Alumni, Social Design Jam is a design thinking hackathon focused on social impact. The event will be hosted at IIIT­ Delhi and held over 48 hours for solving 6 social challenges. It will utilize the design­ thinking framework to create operational solutions for social enterprises solving pressing challenges in India. The design thinking framework has been utilized for years, however, it is only in the recent decade that it has become a more widespread, documented, problem solving tool. The participants will include individuals from a variety of backgrounds spanning the wide spectrum between corporates and social change drivers. The event promises the creation of viable, scalable solutions that can be carried forward by the organizations post this event. ... read more on social.yourstory.com
Run by Karmany and Teach for India Delhi Alumni, Social Design Jam is a design thinking hackathon focused on social impact. The event will be hosted at IIIT­ Delhi and held over 48 hours for solving 6 social challenges. It will utilize the design­ thinking framework to create operational solutions for social enterprises solving pressing challenges in India. The design thinking framework has been utilized for years, however, it is only in the recent decade that it has become a more widespread, documented, problem solving tool. The participants will include individuals from a variety of backgrounds spanning the wide spectrum between corporates and social change drivers. The event promises the creation of viable, scalable solutions that can be carried forward by the organizations post this event. ... read more on social.yourstory.com

Friday 18 July 2014

A Stronger Bill is the Need of the Hour!

When people from different walks of life and different perspectives but, with a similar goal meet and share their ideas and brainstorm,we end up getting great solutions even to the most difficult problems.And,this is what happened at the National Consultation organized by CRY(Child Rights and You) on the topic Way Forward-Child Labour(Prohibition and Regulation)Act(Amendment)Bill, 2012 on 10th June,2014. From passionate Cry volunteers, some another NGO executives to representatives from ILO and UNICEF,almost everybody were present there.

Do you know that every sixth child in the world lives in India(MoSPI,2012)? And,with the country's population in billions, you can't even imagine the number of child labourers here.The figures are pathetic.The consultation was focused around the updations required in the CLPRA Act and concentrated on how the word 'regulation' needs to be removed from the Act. The major topics of discussion were :

  • Prohibition of children involved in labour should be extended upto 18 years
  • Steps required to debar children from family-extended labour.
  • Refining the definition of hazardous and non-hazardous activities in the context of Child Rights and Protection.
  • Consistency among the CLPRA Act and other acts like RTE,Juvenile Justice Act ,UNCRC Act and others.
  • Provisions required for rehabilitation and its implementation and many others.
The event began by a presentation on CLPRA Amendment Bill,2012 followed by presentations given by Ms. Shireen Khan,ILO and Ms. Vandana Khandari, UNICEF. It even included the experiences regarding field work shared by Ms.Mamta Borgoyary,CEO(FXB India Suraksha) and Vikas Sawant from CARE and some volunteers from CRY's branches at Mumbai and other locations.

One of the session was regarding Role of Youth in eliminating Child labour which was addressed by delhi volunteers Divyanshu,Latika and Nidhi.They talked  about the role that volunteers play in this initiative. Anshul Tiwari (Founder,Youth ki Awaaz) and Vicky Roy (RANG) were even there to share their opinions about the same.

The event ended on a high note.I got acquainted with a lot of people who are passionate volunteers and acquired a knowledge of various policies which seem to be more in favour than in against of child labour.With this, I would like to end this with a thought that i read somewhere that "Time is money in this world and it takes a lot to volunteer to do things.But, there is nothing stronger than the heart of a volunteer".

Monday 7 July 2014

Is that is what Internet all for?


Well, I was just scrolling through my G+ feed the other day and I came across through this competition held by one of the most accessed MOOC website- Coursera regarding the maximum users from a country.

Where India stands in this?

To my surprise, this reminded me of one of the articles I have read about the number of internet users in our country. Considering the statistic by October 2013, India had crossed the 200 million mark, says a report released by the Internet and Mobile Association of India (IMAI) and IMRB. The report estimates 243 million internet users in the country by June 2014, beating the US as the world's second largest internet base after China.

Keeping this in mind, we also can't deny the fact that internet penetration in the country is just merely around 13% in overall. Yet,the country managed to maintain a spot. Check that out,here!

While most Indians primarily use the internet for communication, largely in the form of email,but social media is also an important driver of internet use in India. This facet of the IMAI report can be corroborated with data from other sources such as Facebook, according to which India had 82 million monthly active users by June 30, 2013, the second largest geographical region for Facebook after the US and Canada.Well!,Facebook does not operate in China.


What intrigues me about the fact that though the number of Internet users is quite high,the larger section of this community spend time on social networking sites.While,I am completely in favour of online presence for networking with people around you but there has to be a limit to it. Wasting time by merely scrolling through one's facebook feed all day long is not the only thing left to do.

Moreover, there is so much out there on the web to browse for, which will help you to hone your skills,staying updated and some good social websites to spend time on like Quora and others.Well, being in India and having an access to internet connection, consider yourself lucky enough to have been exposed to this vast pool of knowledge and start planning out your schedule for more productive stuff.




Updated.P.s- I wrote this, with a naive reflection  and when puberty didn't hit me. Though it contains true stats but, it doesn't reflect the true picture. And, I realized this later. So instead of removing this, I decided to keep it as a souvenir, from my childish brain.

Saturday 10 May 2014

When your small contribution made a bigger difference. :D

Well, I am kind of a fluid person. So,since I begin writing after much procrastination(which I don't know why the hell I am mentioning again), I am gonna write one more.
And in continuation, it is about awesome experience I had with CRY.
Well, I got really happy when i was going through my Facebook feeds and i saw this.



That indeed was a happy moment.But this boring newspaper clipping surely can't describe you the awesomeness about the campaign,the fun we had and obviously about the amazing people I have met there.
Well, let me take you through that!

The campaign went really long and i didn't know when it was actually started. From arranging EAC stall in college, taking it to office or stopping people in metro and convincing them to put their signature for the campaign, people had put a lot of effort. And a few of them have taken it so seriously that they took it to their family functions as well, birthday parties and offices.Being a part of it ,even though at a later stage, made me happy.

#Music #Dance #Bikes 
Awesome Bunch Of People. 
Harley Davidson's Bike Rally By Flying Tigers.
Performance By World Of Talent Group's Drummers. 
And Yes! The Flash-mob.
Amazing Day!  The event missed nothing. 

The successful event held at Cyber Hub,Gurgaon on 30th March,2014 was indeed one of the best day of this year so far.The event had a perfect amalgam of thrill,excitement,emotions and fun. And three big activities were held.

Beginning with Bike Rally by the #FlyingTigers in the morning ,it was really awesome as hell. Those people were so charismatic."When they stand, They were Stud and when they talk, they were Gentlemen." is a perfect one liner to describe them. Well, just to mention,Flying tigers are a bunch of awesome bikers who ride Harley Davidson only and who contributed to the event with much enthusiasm and made the event a huge success.It was so much fun to meet these guys.



Such Studness In Single Frame.

The other was performance by Drummers from  World Of Talent (WOT) Group. They actually made us dance to their beats even without the lyrics. And it was so much fun to have them.We danced and enjoyed. .Music adds the missing charm at all times and the event had its excitement on with the WOT Group.


Lastly we had our Flash-mob event. It was such thrill and fun to see people flock around you and cheering you up and then finally joining you.With all the awesome mix of songs,we danced till our last breath, gave four-five performances happily.


I have never thought that an EAC(Election Advocacy Campaign) event would end up like that. That we would have this much fun to organize such an event and that I got to meet so awesome people.
Well,Volunteering Has Its Own Perks!! ;)






#Vote4Children


Well, just like any other day when i was scrolling over 'Youth Ki Awaaz's Blog',i saw this.An initiative by Save The Children to aware people about the pathetic conditions of children in India. Around 140 lack children here remain out of school and over 120 lakh  children are child labourers. I stared at those figures in incredulity. Though, I appreciate the mere fact that the initiative has given voice to that section of society which contribute around 31.2% to India's population and are deprived from right to vote.



And this is when I decided to write my experience at CRY since last year. I have always wanted to contribute to the society from my part. But, the thing which finally took me there after much procrastination is my love for children, the experiences I have and their conversations which really inspires me. I have understood the meaning of leadership in its truest sense .And, I believe that team work is at the heart of the leadership and this is what I
had experienced last year in summer when I joined CRY.



Just after I joined, CRY in collaboration with the HINDUSTAN TIMES’s theme of ‘You Read, They Learn’, organized a campaign of “Enroll a child” which began after a brainstorming session with people at Indian Habitat Center, Delhi


For this, I have had mentored a team of volunteers (from the general public) who willingly stepped up for the cause. Mentoring involves teaching them how to interact with children and parents, tackling the critical situations. The campaign was aimed at looking for those children who didn't go to schools in slums either because of money constraints or other reasons.

We tried our level best to rectify these problems either by providing counseling to parents or by encouraging them emotionally. Finally, we succeeded in enrolling some of those children in schools under the Right To Education Act (under age 14).

That was surely one of the best things that had happened to me in summer last year since I can still remember those words from a father which were like “ Beta, please meri Beti ka admission krado,bhagwan tumhara bhala krega.”( means “child,please enroll my girl in a school and god will bless you ).That appealing expression he had on his face made me felt ashamed about the fact that I live in a country where access to basic education isn't that easy. Well, the good thing to see was that there were people from all the age groups and (surprisingly!) even some 60 year old ladies were there to contribute.
People joined and put up their best and performed all the tasks keenly from moving in unhygienic slum areas, guiding poor people about the importance of education to creating the database of all details. The campaign lasted for two and a half weeks long and we successfully ended the campaign by enrolling almost 400 children from the slum areas in and around Delhi and NCR.

Best Experience Indeed.


This post is a part of the #Vote4Children Blog-a-thon on Youth Ki Awaaz. Find out more at: http://www.youthkiawaaz.com/vote4children