While walking on the path toward our dream many of us come to a point where we do not understand where to go. What is the right path for me? In which direction should I head to move toward my dream? What steps should I take to create a life that I want to live and celebrate? I was also standing at such a point looking at different roads before me. Not able to decide which is it I should walk on. It was a small pause that left the mind with anxiety. In such a situation of a dark night where it seems like it’s the end of our horizon to search for the way to living dreams, a ray of hope brings a new opportunity. And this new journey of mine as a JSW foundation fellow is that ray of hope which will take me on the journey ahead, towards a more beautiful and meaningful life, to experience love and belongingness in action. I believe that these are core values as a human for humanity. It comes from the space of contribution to make my world more beautiful.
I still remember the moment when I came to know about this fellowship program and I opened the JSW Foundation’s website to know about it. There were three questions as follows, ‘Do you feel far removed from the challenges of rural India?’, ‘Do you want to contribute but don’t know where to begin?’ and ‘Are you ready to take action and contribute to nation-building?’ And the moment I was reading these questions, my mind was saying Yes… Yes.. and Yess! to each one of them. That was the moment I felt connected at the core and excited about the program for the first time. Then in a long selection process, I managed to reach the third level which was the assessment day. Even though I did not know whether I would get selected or not my actual journey of experiencing this fellowship started on the assessment day. It was the first time that I was experiencing such a creative way of assessment and selection process. That day left me with no fear or anxiety of selection but rather it left me with a very enriching new experience. I got to see something new and I enjoyed it very much. Then the mail of selection came and I felt excited again thinking that I am going to experience the same newness of learning as it was on the assessment day for the next two years.
Then comes the training days. The 14 magical days of exploring people, places, knowledge, ideas, cultures, and feelings. They equipped me with many enriching experiences. It started with an adventurous journey towards YASHADA the first venue for training. We were welcomed by the heavy rains of Pune. As I reached the venue I had a feeling of being privileged to come and learn about development in an institution that trains the administrative officers of my state, YASHADA. Getting to know co-fellows through such fun activities was a really interesting thing. We also met with some experienced personalities who have contributed to the development of this nation at the very grassroots of society, on the level of government administration as well as in policy making. Interaction with this wide range of personalities gave me different insights about development as a concept taking shape on the ground. Here I mate with my cohort, the most beautiful thing happened in the fellowship. I must say ivolunteer has really selected the pearls from the ocean. I always feel and will continue to feel grateful for getting this beautiful present.
Next, we reached the Tata Institute of social sciences, TISS campus at Tulajapur. We got various beautiful insights about rural communities, local government systems, and other stakeholders in the process of rural development. The opportunity to interact with learned professors, extraordinary guest faculties, and students of such a vibrant campus was overwhelming and a dream comes true-experience for many of us. The most important moment for me was we were interacting with a ‘gram sevak’ and I felt that this is what I wanted to do. That was a wow moment for me. That energized me to move ahead with enthusiasm. In the village called Mardi, we went for a field immersion of three days. In spite of being from a rural background, it was a new learning experience for me. Studying the village system as a third person was a thing I never did in my village. So, I got a new perspective looking at villages. I feel lucky to get guidance from Ganesh Chadre sir, one of the experienced personalities in social work, community participation, and rural development. He also equipped us by giving many reality checks on the field. TISS was also the place where we came closer to understanding each other as friends and got strengthened as a cohort.
Collecting all these profound experiences we came to JSW headquarters in Mumbai. This was a totally new world for many of us. Many of us were wearing formals for the first time and feeling anxious about it. We were practicing how to naught a tie by watching a youtube video for one and a half hours. That day, a grand welcome by Mrs. Sangita Jindal the chairperson of the JSW Foundation, and interaction with key people of the foundation made the day very fruitful and we also enjoyed the new dressing.
This beginning of the journey of fellowship with much more beautiful and profound experiences will continue for the next two years. But, the induction period of the fellowship was something that created a strong basement for a strong building to stand. These 14 days were literally so magical. I can’t point out one single experience or event that is special in this journey because each small step in this journey has shaped my understanding, knowledge, insights, perspectives, feelings, and thoughts. So, each of that steps matters and has the same importance, as without any single small moment this journey will be counted incomplete. And I will again mention that I feel very grateful to get an opportunity to walk this path of exploration of new possibilities towards contributing to making this life more beautiful and meaningful. Hence, the search for new horizons begins.
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