The road less taken

Today evening talked to a friend after a long time. It'd been almost a month since we talked, and just thought I'd catch up on how things were going. This friend of mine is a really special person. No, I don't mean special to me (which he is!), but a special human being. Brilliant in academics right from the school days, he completed his Engineering degree from one of the most prestigious colleges. He was picked up by Infosys as part of their campus recruitment programme. He could have gone places, with his intelligence. But my friend was slightly different. He did excel at work, no doubt. The awards that he won (and I'm sure he hasn't told us about all of them) prove it. But he wanted to do more. More for society, more for those who aspired, but their conditions held them back. Right from the time he joined Infosys, he spent a lot of time volunteering to teach kids from the slums, the backward areas. It gave him a special joy, something much more than excelling at work. It gave him a sense of fulfillment. Every weekend he used to come to Mumbai from Pune (where he worked), and Saturday evenings and Sunday mornings were spent teaching slum kids. Ditto with festivals like Holi, Diwali, and important occasions like Independence Day. But it was not enough. He knew that he had more to give. So one day, he just decided to give up his job in Infosys, and pursue his passion, his dream full-time. All of us who knew him, though not shocked, were a little surprised. Full-time social service?! But fortune favors the brave, and he was offered a full-time position by the Akanksha Foundation, an NGO working in the field of education for the under-privileged. He now 'works' in a special school, where he conducts classroom and other activities for kids. We've talked a few times about his 'day at work', and all that it involves. Teaching kids is no child's play (no pun intended)!! The kids have boundless energy, and it is us volunteers who find catching up with them difficult, he said once. At the end of your day at work, you're totally tired. But it's a sweet tiredness. And with that tiredness comes a feeling of satisfaction. And to see a kid's smile... Well, it definitely makes it worth it.
Today he was talking about preparations that he does every evening for the next day's 'classroom'. It's difficult to hold the kids' attention for a long time (well, the adults don't do too better ;) ), so Akanksha has devised short activities, spanning not more than 20 minutes. Unless it is an activity like drawing, or coloring sketches. Or crafting something. And so, he spends about an hour to an hour and a half for each such 20 minute activity. Planning about what to capture in that 20 minutes, how to present it. And then making photocopies of the material to be distributed to the kids. There's a lot of planning and skill involved. And committment. To your dream, to your passion. It's not something for the casual altruist. Early next year he'll assume charge of a school in Pune, that Akanksha Foundation plans to manage. Assuming charge of a school!! That sounds like a Herculean responsibility. But we know he'll do it just fine. It couldn't have a better 'headmaster' ;) at the helm of affairs. When we heard that he's been given the responsibility, we were very happy for him. He'd always wanted to do this. Finally, he'd found his true calling.
My friend found very early on in life what his passion was. He found and worked hard towards pursuing his passion, his goal, his dream. Well, as he'd say, he's only started working on fulfilling his dream. But he's started. How many of us can say confidently that we've found our calling? To begin with, your's truly can't. But that requires listening to your inner voice. And daring to listen to it. Not be swayed by family, friends, society. Just pursue your heart. And being sure that it's leading you the right way. My friend dared to take the road less taken. He'll celebrate his 26th birthday in a few days. Here's wishing him in advance, that he sees his dream being fulfilled. Here's wishing you the very best in Life, now and always, Chikka. Here's wishing your kids that they achieve their dreams. For that is his only dream...