Bringing in a breadth of fresh air!

Day in and day out routines are great for they give a sense of grounding and a comforting thought that we have a job. The sense of fulfilment is there too for we are being useful, in some way or the other. New challenges and different assignments or tasks which are internally offered add to the charm for a human mind is a creative workshop even if we do not realize it.

 Days had turned to years and years to decades, as I kept going for my work and continued to enjoy it, detest it, find it monotonous, be enthused, find it too rhythmic – in  varying degrees over the three decades. The reasons for job changes ranged from all the copy book ones to the most unusual but always led to some moments of despair, angst, anger and then full recovery. There was always a pattern with slight variations in the duration of the phases. The duration was dependent on the magnitude & degree of involvement with the organisation. It was almost always enormous.

The work itself was never scary but the people one worked with always were and the environment they created wittingly or unintentionally was always the basis for the organisational ethos. Surprisingly it’s remarkable that those small percentage of the work force of an organisation end up defining its character. And its equally surprising how a miniscule percentage end up leaving it, despite of it! I always ended up in that miniscule percentage, startlingly.

The full recovery phase always put things in a wonderful perspective, and it didn’t matter after all by then. My last such change of outlook got me to another stage of my working career which I have come to call: Carefree Prudence. With far-sightedness and sound judgement being happy-go-lucky.

This stage has turned out to be extremely productive and with two books in my kitty as author, I guess ‘productive’ isn’t an over statement. When I decided to start on my first book it made sense to keep things simple. I was exploring a territory I hadn’t ventured out into and did not want too many angles pulling me in different directions. Also, I kept myself aware of the fact, always that being a first-time author, my publishers as well as my ‘subjects’ of the proposed book would be apprehensive about me and my writing. A large amount of time was spent in writing the book no doubt but the preliminary thinking and eliminating and brainstorming which went into  devising a methodology of approach which would indulge people, I approach, into sharing and agreeing to be part of my book, took up a significant part of my time too.

Everything worked well and I had my book off the drawing board into my camera and my small black diary. I was welcomed with open hearts and the ‘Icons’ as I have called them let me in on their lives.

The surreal journey of feeling, living, understanding, grasping and fathoming the trials, struggles and the labour behind everyone’s career as an educationist was humbling as well as enlightening.

Building communities from within, being a catalyst for transformation in thought processes, facilitating the growth of positive  mindsets, channelizing energies into constructive networking, being an agent of change – aren’t roles taken-up by people with horns but ordinary, commonplace human beings like me and you. And those are the changes which are sustainable.

In both my books, I celebrated people I had known for several years, those who I did not know at all but did through my book, those who remained friends for ages, those who respected me. We all had our reasons for doing the book – I had mine and they had theirs – but the focus remained on telling it right and telling it straight from the heart.

The Deccan Trailblazers – Education Icons of Hyderabad (https://notionpress.com/read/the-deccan-trailblazers) happened as a celebration of friends, educationists, people, experts who dared to take the plunge and discover  themselves (again) through my pen and me who dared to take the plunge and discover myself through my writing. It was a win-win situation for either side.

My second book The Cutting Edge – Iconic Schools, Noteworthy Curricula, Extraordinary Strategies (https://notionpress.com/read/the-cutting-edge) wasn’t a second part but a logical off-shoot of the first. Talking about the curriculums and presenting views of a wide cross-section of individuals associated with its delivery in the Indian scenarios and classrooms was consistent with my own coherent understanding of ‘what next’.

Keeping soundness of health both physical and mental always is paramount and in the present even more so. I often revisit my most pleasant memories to stay ahead of any pessimistic thoughts and to stay afloat in this huge deluge of melancholy news, despondent, callous attitudes of certain people, poignant, low-spirited prognosis about the days ahead.

Staying connected with my family, my friends, my world around me through my writings and their messages and our calls, we lessen our distances while staying connected and sending cheery thoughts like a breadth of fresh air into each of our lives through the day.