iVolunteer Blog - everything about volunteeringThe Surprise Visit Diwali came with a gift I didn’t plan the chance to go home. It was supposed to be a surprise, a burst of light in what had been a difficult year. My grandfather, nearly 90, had been ill for twelve long months. But when I saw him, something magical happened. Despite everything, […]
It started with a simple observation.I visited multiple schools during field visits for my project, and in every school I went to, I saw the same pattern repeat: students copying and asking each other for answers for a survey even after being told that there were no right or wrong answers. My first thought was, […]
“Which project location will I get?”This question echoed in my mind when I joined the JSW Foundation Fellowship in September 2023. My journey began in Pune, on the auspicious day of Ganapathi Festival—a vibrant, culturally welcome to a path that would transform me deeply. That day, strangers became co-fellows, and soon co-fellows became lifelong friends. […]
(continued from Part 1- Beginnings, Bonding, Becoming.) As the festive spirit of Christmas and New Year quietly settled over communities, we returned to our field locations with a new kind of strength. The second training had deepened our bonds, reaffirmed our purpose. But reality soon reminded us — not everyone would continue. Some fellows, overwhelmed […]
Not a Plan. Just a Pause. I don’t have a five-year plan.I don’t have a big announcement.What I have is silence. A pause. A moment that feels like standing at the edge of a long road – dusty, uneven, but somehow beautiful. This fellowship wasn’t just a job. It wasn’t just “fieldwork.” It was a […]
On the 28th of September 2023, something quietly powerful began. Thirty individuals from different corners of India — diverse in language, culture, upbringing, and aspirations — stepped into an experience that would soon challenge, transform, and ultimately bind them in ways they could never have imagined. We arrived not knowing what lay ahead, but with […]
I came into this fellowship full of dreams, wide-eyed, hopeful, and determined to make a difference. I believed that when your intentions are pure, the world opens up for you. That if you really want to work, you can work, and everything else will find a way. But life didn’t go that way. These two […]
Is ending something an art? Is that why we fail at it constantly? Take a few minutes to picture all the scenarios of having had to end things, in your mind. Can you honestly say you’ve done a good job of all of them? And it’s not like we don’t encounter the need or the […]
Free yourself by practicing the art of starting where we are today and build for a better tomorrow Have you ever set a goal – something very important to you – in your personal / professional life only to back out later because of some genuine reason(s)? Let me share a simple example. I decided […]
I was waiting for the auto after taking a self-development session at Dahagaon Ashram shala. Waiting for an auto has been a normal ritual for me for the last 4 months. I started taking sessions at the Ashram shala as part of my JSW foundation fellowship. (Ashramshala is a residential school for the tribal students remotely […]
iVolunteer Blog - everything about volunteering 