Being an Engineer, with so many wins and fails in life, I realized my prime source of motivation at a very early stage in life – the satisfaction that comes after facing challenges with a determination and emerging victorious. Be it a cricket match against a stronger team or setting up a business from scratch. I had my first taste of management and leadership when I was the captain of my school cricket team where I realized the importance of planning, coordination, and execution.
During my final year at engineering, I did a project with Teach for India. I started a computer literacy program to teach the basics of computers to a group of 40 people, including 30 students and 10 adults. The name of the project was “Magic Room”. The small room filled with even smaller kids defined the real concept of magic to me. The moment I entered the class and meet them I used to forget about the world outside. Their passion and willingness to learn never failed to surprise me. Had I been like them when I was a student my teacher would have been so proud of me. At the start of the project, my students were not even aware of the different parts of a computer. But, at the end of this two months project, each and every student was able to use Microsoft Office and Internet easily. It was a drastic change in their lives. It was not just again in their knowledge about computers, but this gave them a ‘can do’ attitude in life. They became optimistic in life with a positive outlook. It drastically increased their confidence level. For adults, it became a source of livelihood, as they started computer classes of their own. At the end of the project, I gifted
Peter England’s shirt to every student as a reward for regularly attending the classes. As all of them belonged to the poor section of society, they were not used to wearing such great quality shirts. When they received their gifts, it was a priceless moment in my life. At the end of the day, when I know that I was able to create some positive change in the society, it gave me great satisfaction.