Eureka Batch it is!!!

You know what!! This is a beautiful time of the year. I know....I know it is still Jun and the sun is beating down on us with all its might but it is also the time when summer vacations get over. Now, It is ok if you guys raise your eyebrows and wonder: how on earth do summer vacations impact him ? Is he not a working professional? He does not get summer vacations!! Relax people, you are right, I do not get summer vacations (though I don't mind!!) but the kids at AID NOIDA do. For the past two months, the children were far away from the hustle-bustle of the city. Most of them went to their village and met their grand moms and grand dads. But, they are back now!!! Once again, the community is bustling with kids and most importantly our classes are back in session.

Yes!! After two month of lull AID NOIDA centre is again full with kids and volunteers. But there have been some changes. First of  all, The responsibility of senior batch (2007) has been transferred from I and Prashant to Prateek and Darshan. Secondly, I have been given responsibility for the Eureka Batch (2008-2010). Initially, it did not seem like a very big shift but last Saturday when I went to the class I realized that batch shifting is not that small a thing after all.
 
First of all, I will miss teaching the Senior Batch. The batch consists of the eldest and the most responsible kids studying at AID NOIDA. Being the batch owner for past 6 months I had seen a lot : Aashmina performing very funny" tum paas aaye... badbu phelaye" skit, Jaanbaaz, Sajaad and Subi managing junior kids and wonderful sessions on volcanoes, water cycle, earthquakes and many others topics. The innocence, the inquisitive nature and the sparkling intelligence of the kids have spellbound me. In fact, I feel personally attached to the senior batch and I will miss those classes.
Secondly, I was a bit nervous when I entered the new class. Yes, I was kind of worried how the kids in the Eureka batch would respond. Will they appreciate the change? Will they listen to me the way they pay attention to Anvita - Eureka Batch owner. What do I need to do to develop that trust? You think that I am being paranoid. No I am not!! It is not easy to teach in a class. One needs to connect with the kids. One needs to develop a bond of care and trust with the kids. It is the bond which lays the foundation of a healthy student-teacher relationship. I had developed that bond with the senior kids. It took me time, but slowly and steadily I was able to connect with them. Janbaaz, Sajjad, Subi, deepak, Danista, Julekha, each one of them had specific behaviour patterns and I knew how they would react to various situations. But now, I have a new batch and I need to start again.

Therefore, to make things easy during the transition, I requested Anvita and Charu to be present during the first class. Anvita arrived early and informed the kids about the change. The result: - the moment I entered the class Jainab said:"sir hum aapse nahi padhenge, hum Anvita didi se he padhenge"( Sir, we want Anvita madam to teach us, not you) . I had not expected that and I did not know what to say. I just smiled and sat down, knowing that many cute but big eyes are watching my every move. You know, it is a strange feeling when the kids observe you. Some of them look affectionately with their big black eyes, some of them have that curious look on their face - wondering “who is this new guy?” and some of them look confused and baffled, still contemplating on how to react. What did I do? I just maintained a broad smile on my face remembering what someone had said "A smile can go a long way".

As the kids settled in the class, we started a formal introduction session. One by one, the kids told us their name, the school in which they studied and the class they were studying in. Most of them were a bit jittery, scratching their head and speaking in barely audible voice but they still looked super cute.  Actually I am quite lucky, majority of the kids in the Eureka batch are girls. The benefit with girls is that they do not create a ruckus like boys do. They will generally sit quietly and pay attention. After the kids' introduction, it was my turn. I introduced myself to the kids and asked them what they did during the summer vacation. Some of the kids raised their hands and I asked them to come on stage one by one. Everybody had an interesting story. If some of them just talked about the good time they had with their grand dad, grand mom and other relatives, others told us how they won a cricket tournament in their village. So, everything was going smoothly and I felt like I am on a roll but suddenly, out came a voice " Sir Khadoss lag rahe hain"( Sir looks like a strict person). After a split second of silence, just enough to realize the innocence in the words of the child, we all started laughing and I recalled my own words: "Himanshu, it will take time to connect with the kids. It will take time".

Overall, it was a good class. I met some wonderful kids: Jainab, Quaish, Gudiya and Gia. Quaish in particular, is a very inquisitive fellow. He wants to know new things. He tries very hard to grasp everything that is said in the class and when he is in doubt, he asks the most basic of questions without any inhibition. It is these instances that make me feel that we can learn a lot from the kids. We take too many things for granted because we know them now. But we forget the time when we did not know much. For e.g: we all know how to tell time on a Wall clock. Try teaching this to a kid. You will use angles, table of five and clock diagrams to teach them the very basic of all things: Telling time.  To summarize, the fundamental concepts are brick walls which need the reinforcement of mortar named “teacher” to build a castle we know as “An Educated Adult”.

This time, the kids are even younger with easy to mould habits and personalities. We need to tread carefully, one kid at a time, because in a very short time the mould will harden and habits crystallize. We at AID Noida have to make sure that no cracks or air pockets go unnoticed. Let us see how it goes.

Cheers!!

Toastmasters Project 5: Power of failure

Last week I gave my project 5: Your Body Speaks.

The aims for this speech project were to complement my message with my body during delivery. Specifically, I needed to be aware of my:

• posture,
• body movement,
• facial expressions, and
• Eye contact.

Power of Failure 

In the 19th century there was a man with some great ideas, and to test his ideas he used to carry out experiments. In fact, he was so much driven to conduct experiments that he intentionally worked during the night shift as a telegraph Operator. Alone at night, he used to conduct experiments and document his research. But one night, one of his clandestine experiments went wrong, and he ended up spilling sulphuric acid on his boss's desk. Next day, he was fired. Fired at the age of 20!!!. Now, this man could have easily sulked and given up, but he persevered. He sold newspapers and chocolates on the train. He even sold vegetables to supplement his income. But he never stopped conducting experiments. Eventually, that man held more than 1000 patents, started world's largest electric company (General Electric) and invented the world's first commercially viable electric bulb. That man was Thomas Alva Edison.

Madam Toastmaster, fellow Toastmaster and dear guests, failure is one bitter pill we all have to swallow some time in our lives. However strong we are, however rich we are, the dreaded bugbear named ‘Failure’ somehow comes out of the shadows and bites us. But you know something, one does not need to lose hope because failure itself does not matter, the way we respond to it does.

In general, there are two ways in which we can respond.

Response number 1: We can hide inside a cocoon of pain and suffering, and constantly punish ourselves.

"Oh my God, I have failed once more. I tried really hard but still it was not enough. What more do I need to do to succeed. I am tired of all this. I cannot take the pain and the humiliation. Look at everybody, all of them are laughing at me. That's it. I have had enough. I give up."

Response number 2: Calm and composed analysis of the outcome.

"Hmm, so it happened again. It does not feel good at all but still I need to analyze what went wrong. I must have done something wrong. I will talk to people who did well. Let me get their feedback. They can help me identify my weak areas. Aahh here you go, may be I should have practiced a little bit more. But, it is OK, this time I will leave no stone unturned and I will succeed. "

Just like Apples and Oranges, there is a stark difference between the two approaches.

One makes us feel miserable and sad. It even makes us doubt our own abilities.

The other calms us down, makes us feel confident and most importantly, it gives us hope.

Actually, it all depends upon how we perceive failure. If we fail, it does not mean that all the hard work we did, all the sacrifice we made and all the long hours we put in have gone down the drain. On the contrary, our each and every attempt leaves a lasting imprint on our personality.

So what, if you did not top your class, the hard work you put in has made you realize the importance of hard work and discipline.

It is OK if you did not win that public speaking competition. Remember the time when you went on stage for the first time, your hands were shaking and your legs were trembling. My dear friend, you have come a long way. Instead of cursing yourself, take heart from the improvement. 

You know, there is one more thing all us learn from failure. Perhaps, it is the most important lesson. We learn to empathize. Earlier, when someone failed, we could have easily ridiculed his effort but now when we found ourselves in the firing line and when we succumbed to the pressure, we realized success never comes easy. Once we fail, we start respecting other person’s efforts. We start showing empathy.

Therefore friends, failure is not that bad a thing after all. In fact, Failure is one of our best teachers. We just have to realize that the ultimate goal is to constantly improve ourselves. All the road blocks on our way symbolize learning opportunities: the bigger the boulder, the better the learning. So get up, flex your muscles and use your failures as the motivational platform to launch your dreams. Do not let people around you judge you. It is not their dream. Is it? It is yours. They do not know how much it means to you. They never will, No one will, except you. Thomas Edison tried 10000 times before discovering the right combination for the electric bulb and you want to say “I QUIT” in just one, two or three attempts. No, do not give up, because there is definitely light at the end of the tunnel. We just have to aim a little bit higher, try a little bit harder and endure a little bit longer. 

After all, men are not defined by just the success they achieve; Men are also defined by the failures they overcome.

Madam Toastmaster.

Body language is definitely my weakest area. I was worried about each and every movement: my stance, my facial expression, my hand movement. Overall, it was a decent project. My evaluator complimented me on the facial expressions and purposeful eye contact, but he advised me to be more formal and composed at the start.

Cheers!!

Wharton Admission Reception: New Delhi

Last Thursday Wharton organized an admission reception at New Delhi. The Wharton panel consisted of one admission committee member, 6 alumni and around 6 to 10 current/admitted students.
The event was a great way to know the "Wharton way" of doing things. The alumni were especially helpful as they gave very practical answers to our( prospective applicants) questions. They answered questions regarding the application procedure, "why Wharton?" and general errors committed by applicants. Here is a brief list:

• Do not obsess with GMAT score. This was repeatedly stated for Indian applicants. In fact, one of alumni said whenever he meets applicants, they ask him about his GMAT score. GMAT score is just a data point. Beyond that your essays and recommendations play the most important role. James, one of the alumni who is a full time entrepreneur based in India,  told us about an instance when he read the file of an applicant with a 790 GMAT. James said "when you see a 790, you expect a lot from an applicant. But when the applicant does not come out as a right person for Wharton through his essays, no score can defend him". Basically, if one has 80% or above in both sections, then you do not need to worry. Focus on the application. But there is a caveat, score above 700 is desirable.
• While defining your long and short term goals do not fall in the trap of "Things might change at School". The admission committee knows that it is natural for applicants to change their goals once they are in the MBA program. But, when you define your short term and long term goals, just focus on what you have done till now because that is what you have with you, rest all is just a wild guess.  Moreover, Long term and short term goals should be unique i.e no one should be able to write exact same long term & short term goals.
• Make your essays personal, one of the current student told me that one of his essay was about how is proposed to his girlfriend!! Through that essay he was able to tell the adcom about his thought process and things that he values.
• One more tip about essays: Try to choose events that are recent ( around 3 years old). The adcom wants to see career progression. They want to see how you developed over a period of time. Therefore, it is great that you have some meaningful leadership stories from your college days but you also need to show that you have continued your development as a leader by taking leadership roles in your organization, community and even your family. This one was emphasized a lot, so I guess many of us commit that mistake.
• For consultants, do not include consulting jargons in your essays. The adcom personnel might find it difficult to comprehend.
• Articleship( residency) is considered full time work experience.
• And finally, Just be yourself. Do not write what you think Adcom wants to hear. They have been reading applications for a long time, it is very easy for them to differentiate marketing statements from real life experiences.

Overall, it was a fantastic event. The humility with which alumni answered all the questions was commendable. They were genuinely trying to relate to our queries and gave very realistic responses. One of alumni told me that he is glad that he is standing on the other side as he knows how emotionally draining the application process is. You know what, with half of June almost through, I am already starting to feel the pressure.

Cheers!!