There are few moments in life that remain crystallized in your memory- one such instance, perhaps the most formative one was when I sat in the midst of my squabbling team, three days before our play was to debut, absolutely lost. It was towards the end of 12th standard when we, the members of the senior class had to put up a play as part of a 60-year tradition in our school.
We were given a month- ample time to prepare and present and yet, in the familiar way of students all over the world, we procrastinated and pushed until we were down to the wire with nothing to show.
Now you might be wondering how this in any way shows me off to be a good leader- having been an utter failure till the end. I for sure felt that way. Disappointed in myself. Terrified of being the first team to not put up a show in the six decades that had preceded us.
That’s when it came to me. In bursts and spurts. The first seedlings of leadership- I sat one whole night, before a chemistry exam, and wrote an entire script from scratch. Characters and sets and backgrounds flowed through my head to my pen. It wasn’t my best work but I was so, incredibly proud of it. For a moment I held the futures of all my friends in my hand and I was successful in safeguarding it.
The feeling was exhilarating.
The following day we rehearsed and fought and argued and laughed and this heady determination to be the best, to be memorable, to inspire had infected us.
We worked like madmen and madwomen.
I ended up directing and acting in a supporting role. And I believe in my own way, I pulled the team together through the power of shared fears and more importantly- a shared love for this school we were a part of. Lines were memorized in a dash, stage placement was debated over, props were hastily constructed.
We closed curtains to a standing ovation. I can still hear the applause to this day.
The pride I had in my team and in myself, for what we accomplished that night, will perhaps keep me running for the rest of my life not just as a budding leader, but also as a human being.