WHAT CHALLENGES I OVERCAME IN MY LIFE
In 2013, I found myself amidst the herculean task of arranging a three day long International Youth Conference, one of 95 conducted across the world for youths of age 15-30, with the common motive of finding the means to moral revival of their community. I was responsible for bringing to context the studies and learning through initiatives of the participants, articulating them through their cultural prisms. There were 2000 youths, from all over Odisha, and also other states, and some observers, who were keen on identifying the traits that distinguished this event from any other sporadic event that trot the news every day. I was leading the cultural committee, having a 2 hours engagement every evening, where participants from all walks of life, with diversified communities and varying exposures came together to present their learning through skits, songs, poems, folk dances and other artistic representations.
But on the second day, we encountered heavy rain, disruption of power and leaking pandal roofs. I didn’t want to water down the embers of emotions that was envisioned to drive these young youths to later on bring about a lasting change in their community. I saw a dhol brought by a few participants from Sundergarh district of Odisha. Finding the owner was hard in the rain and commotion, but getting him to drum it wasn’t. The reverberations of the drum, though faint in the beginning got some to rally around. The distortion and chaos of thousands was converging to the beats of the drum. I encouraged the group from Sambalpur, who gladly hurdled around him to dance around in a circle, almost like a jubilant tribe dance. The crowd was soon taken to influence and the commotion now seemed like an orderly gathering of jubilant youths who saw hope in despair. I found that constructive influence could go a long way at diminishing the disorderly nature of everyday behavior, which later on becomes the defining characteristic of a community.
HOW ABG IS BIG IN MY LIFE
First job is always big in life, but bigger than that is one’s first salary. I remember finding myself in a mall, sifting through the merchandise to find something that will make me look good, and also not burn a hole in my pocket. A dozen stores, and scores of jackets later, I found myself seeing myself wearing a black jacket, the shoulder and elbow of which had leather patches with an even pattern. The collars deemed just appropriate for my long neck. It cocooned my bodily frailties and gave me a warmth that was light and sombre. I instantly developed a desire to own this particular jacket. But the satisfaction came when overturning the tag, I found an amazingly trendy jacket, feeling just the right amount in weight and warmth that my skin could immerse into, comparable to the cost of a shirt of other brands. I’m a cost-conscious consumer, and my eyes lightened up knowing that I will own this without any second thoughts. I wore it through two winters, and occasionally in between, and always sighed at each passing season wearing my jacket off. I wanted it to stand the test of time. Though nothing lasts for ever, but ABG brought me a lasting happiness, and satisfaction that many others would pay their testimonies to.
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