Author: akshawrites

Dear Ma’am,

I hope you get my letter in pink of your health. This is an informal letter to you, so not being too much into the format I’ll proceed.

Sometimes we’re forced into writing feedbacks for our teachers, but I never got a chance to write one for you. Too often we progress through the ‘ropes of life,’ and do not invest the time to express our gratitude and authentic value for the support you so eagerly share for our growth. You’re not only one of the best teachers I’ve learned something from but you’re one of best human beings. You’re the mother figure to many of our college students. You stand as a strong woman doing all her deeds with dedication and perseverance yet a tender-hearted person. Directly or indirectly I’ve learned many lessons from you throughout these three years.

My perception of college life was totally different before taking admission to this college. I thought it would be a simple journey of three years, I’ll learn and leave. But inadvertently these three years will be one of the most important years of my life. Say it’s the little conversations, the easily-forgotten asides, the friendly smile or brief compliment that meant the most to me.

I look back upon that time as so important in the development of the person that I am today. You taught me discipline. You taught me dignity. I was a timid child till 12^th standard. After taking admission to this college I realized how much significance hard work plays in an individual’s life. Your teachings about life, about hard work, parents are all the means of my development as a human being today. You taught us how much our parents sacrifice for us and how we should always make sure that we don’t hurt them and always be thankful for them.

I remember you asking us to never forget two things in our lives i.e. our education and our god! You taught us how the only way to success is diligence and hard work. No one can escape from doing the hard work, however, the time period may change. You taught me that I could achieve more than what I or other people thought that I was capable of.  You taught me how much important it is to be independent and strong and how we never know how strong we can be till the only option left is to be strong. You shaped our future by teaching us those valuable lessons of life which would help us in our future. Your teachings prove the existence of “Survival of the fittest” and how everyone should accept this theory and work upon themselves to be better than yesterday.

I’ve never seen you sitting idle. I idolize you for your down-to-earth nature. It’s elating to watch sitting in the lab when you handle all your responsibilities with earnestness. Your busy life inspires me to have one in the future. You have a pragmatic approach towards things and your straight-forwardness and discipline towards your work make you my ideal. I will miss your scolds, the way you smile which is the utmost appreciation for a student’s work. Being a mother and the HOD you’re doing your jobs gracefully. And it inspires me to be a little bit like you someday!

Thank you, ma’am! for being genuine.  Thank you for being you. Thank you for being one of the few great teachers out there.

The 22^nd April Workshop was attended by a plethora of committees and subcommittees of VSM and several topics and concepts were discussed among them. The workshop embarked with breakfast followed by registration. I reached at the venue by 9.20. I was running late!

I rambled around, near the gate of A.P. Shah College looking for any familiar face, but found none. I queried the guard sitting in a small room at the corner about VSM Workshop. I started striding to the first floor and saw people standing in groups munching on their meals. I entered into the crowd looking for Radha Kaku, Radhika Ma’am, Geeta Ma’am or Bharat. And there was Geeta Ma’am! In a white saree (Cotton I think!), her hair loosely clutched with a small clip. She was busy greeting people and attending the members. I waited for a while giving space to the squad of ladies heading towards to entrance.

“Hello Ma’am,” I said being skeptic about her remembrance, *shall I introduce myself to her*, I thought.

“Hello, Akshada! Welcome to VSM Workshop” she said while shaking hands giving me affirmation that I’m a part of VSM.

I headed towards the seminar hall for registration and saw a group of 4-5 ladies sitting on a chair with all id-cards and neck straps. As I told my name to one of the ladies, she asked me to tell it again as to confirm it. She glanced me and told another lady on the opposite side, “This is Akshada” pointing her hand towards me. As I followed her gaze, the other said”Hey! So you are Akshada! Wait for a while, Varsha Ma’am wants to meet you”. I nodded and stood in a corner watching other members talking and welcoming each other. Some of the members were putting up banners and adjusting the mike functioning while some were busy choosing chairs. I discovered some familiar faces from the monthly meeting I had attended; all of them were busy attending the members. I was looking for Radhika Ma’am but found her nowhere. My search was interrupted by a generous lady I had met at the monthly meeting, “You are Akshada, Right?” She had a bright smile! I tried to recall her name but failed.

“I am Swati! It’s Okay, it’s difficult to remember so many names at once” she said tenderly and was called by someone regarding the arrangements.

I was relieved and started fidgeting with my Id-card and found Radha Kaku talking to some ladies. I faltered to her thinking about will she remember me! She gave me a friendly wave and gestured to follow her for the front seats. Radha Kaka loves to talk and that helped me a lot to know more about VSM. After a few minutes, the session started with Varsha Ma’am doing some announcements followed by reports from various branches regarding their wards. I was touched by the stories of Dhondiram, Parasram and the girl who faced failure and was afraid to tell that to her KP. The way her KP narrated the story was overwhelming, one-by-one all the stories brought tears in my eyes followed by a proud feeling of being a member of VSM. The story of Dhondiram’s courage made me realize how much lucky we are. Then two students talked about the “”BE FRANK” initiative for the students and by the students. Then it was Pune’s turn to present themselves with their reports, they had prepared role-plays regarding various concepts like “Shikwa, Kamwa” and “”Zero Suspense Account”. They gave us a brief explanation of how wards are helped financially. I only knew Aditi Ma’am from Pune as she was one of the group members of the focused group discussion. The tea and coffee sessions were on and I saw some youngsters serving all the members patiently with a polite smile. Then the reports were presented from Borivali and Shahpur teams. The Shahpur team narrated their difficulties in a courteous manner asking Thane Team to help them to eradicate those hurdles.

Then Mr.Subodh took the hold introducing us to Mr. Deepak who had a JBIMS degree which was enough for me to hear and jump off my chair as JBIMS is the college every MBA aspirant day-dream about. The topic of his presentation was “Why I am at VSM” through which he explained his thought of KP (Karyakarta Palak) in a unique manner.

It was lunchtime and Varsha Ma’am announced the break asking all the members to return by 30 minutes. (I must say the lunch was simple and delicious at the same time. The boiled potato veggie was flavorsome. Thank you!)

The workshop was supposed to be resumed by a group photo session followed by focused group discussion. Small chits were pinned to the walls of the hall mentioning the group number and the group name. I got to meet the members of the group to whom I had introduced myself through Whatsapp. I met Maya Kaku, Aditi Kaku, Iyengar Kaka, Velankar Kaka, Mr. Joshi, and others. I hoped that I’ll be meeting Radhika Ma’am but again, found her nowhere. I thought she must be busy handling the management and tried to initiate the conversation with others. The timer for 20 minutes had started and we had a healthy discussion on how effectively we can use social media for VSM’s growth, we discussed on various parameters and every group member had their unique ideas such as trending #VSM on twitter and posting an introductory video on VSM’s functioning on the website as well as on Facebook page. As Radhika Ma’am had assigned me the work of TL I started noting down the important points and wrote the crux on the sheet given by the in-charges. The TL’s of each group had to come on the stage summarizing the discussion mentioning the important concepts being discussed.  One-by-one every group’s topic was discussed which gave a much better perception of VSM and its ideology. I was sitting near the podium after I talked for my group and Bharat told me about Saurabh who has been handling the work of VSM’s website and was also preparing for management exams. His witty and humorous presentation made the audience giggle and forget about their fatigue. I saw Geeta Ma’am laughing wholeheartedly for the first time right from the day I met her.  She was beautiful in her own way. The workshop was concluded by Geeta Ma’am’s speech followed by the prayer I used to sing in my childhood days “Tu Buddhi De”(Bless us with Wisdom). I got goosebumps while listening to the song and was overwhelmed by the fact of how this bunch of wonderful people was dedicated to their wards.

I had searched many NGO’s and read about them helping people who are suffering from the financial crisis or any disability. But by helping students to become independent not just by helping them financially but by giving them the care and love as a parent, counseling them, affirming them that they’re there for their respective wards is immense. Not only academically but making them grow as a good and genuine human being is an exceptional thing.

A helping hand caring unconditionally, every child needs this the most. VSM is changing lives for the better and I’m a proud member of this family. Thank you!

Official Website- https://vsmthane.org/

Meeting? Sounds formal. And so I prepared myself. Maybe some questions would be asked. I prepared some of the basic questions. I read the message again sent by Radhika Ma’am to confirm the venue address.  The venue was easy to locate. Being a little anxious and having the will to step into something new I headed towards the school named “Shivsamartha”. I took a look at the school and saw a middle-aged man watering the ground and another near in his sixties sitting on a chair in a corner. I asked him about the VSM meeting and he gestured towards the first floor. He smiled and I smiled back thanking him. I checked the time once, and it was 5 minutes to 5.00 pm. I put my phone on silent mode and headed towards the first floor.

As I reached near the hall, I saw some youngsters talking and exchanging smiles among themselves. I peeked inside the hall and saw a few people in groups of 3 or 4. I was trying to search for Radhika Ma’am. I had seen her facebook profile which I thought would be helpful while looking for her. As I was skeptic about my memory I decided to ask someone for Radhika Ma’am or Geeta Ma’am. One of the youngsters pointed towards a lady saying proudly, “She is the most heightened lady here”. I thanked him and went to greet her. She was in the middle of a conversation with others. They were busy managing the final things before the meeting; I was standing behind her waiting for their conversation to end. Another lady walked out of the chat telling the others that she’ll check the mike connections. As Radhika Ma’am turned I discovered one of the most genuine smiles. I greeted her with my half genuine half anxious smile. She welcomed me in the warmest manner and asked me if I need some water and told me to be comfortable and take a seat.

She made me feel a part of the group instantly through her treatment. I looked out for a vacant seat under a fan. As I sat on the chair, my head started rotating 360 degrees to notice every single person and the interior of the hall. There was a girl sitting next to the vacant chair on my left. I thought about initiating the talk but she was looking exhausted covering her face with one hand, with the head tilted on the other hand. After a while, I saw an old lady searching for a vacant seat under a fan, I offered her mine and she sat beside me. I asked her for water and she refused politely thanking me. Despite being tired she had a sweet smile on her face. I told her it was my first meeting and I’ll be grasping through it how things are done technically. She explained to me everything in a brief manner. We introduced ourselves to each other. “Radha Kaku”. Throughout the meeting, she explained to me how things take place and introduced me with some new faces also telling how those people are contributing to VSM. Due to Radha Kaku, I grasped things easily and in a few minutes, I was comfortable to ask about any confusion to her.

The meeting started with Ganesh Vandana followed by the records of Performance Evaluation. One of the members started explaining how particular things took place. They mentioned a term KP which I wasn’t familiar with. Radha Kaku explained to me how a KP is assigned to a student and how significant is the role of a KP. Then a new concept was introduced “Assessment Evaluation” which was being progressed with the help of an IT company Toolbox. The member who was explaining this concept talked about the VSM website and how his team has improvised the website. It was interesting to me as it was related to my field.

Then all of a sudden a sweet lady talked about the guests at the meeting and she invited me to speak about myself and how I came to know about VSM. I was taken aback, but I managed to utter some sentences. The feeling was good as they made me feel like a part of VSM. Soon Mallika Ma’am took the hold and talked about informal interactions among the members, which is a must. She asked us to write feedbacks about the same and contribute our ideas which may help in interacting activities. Then a student named “Deepali” came and explained to us about Occupational Therapy. I really liked the idea of introducing a new subject. I learned a lot about Occupational therapy and cleared my doubts with Deepali after the meeting was over. Deepali narrated her story about how she used to skip her dinner every day due to the financial crisis and how she suffered while taking a decision about her studies. How VSM helped her to grow. Her story made my eyes wet and forced my lips to smile. I was happy about my decision to be a part of VSM. It’s a great virtue even if a single life is being helped and VSM is helping a great number.

Radha Kaku said how beautiful is the feeling when students narrate their story after being helped. She had tears in her eyes, tears of happiness and content. The whole environment was so positive, it made me feel proud of being a part of it and regret waiting till now. Every member of the meeting was willing to bring a change in society. Then Mallika Ma’am asked everyone to be a part of an activity. We were supposed to change our seats and talk to random people i.e. an ice breaker session. This way the members can interact with new people which I thought was a great idea. Everybody was hesitant at first but soon all the members found new buddies to talk to. I had thought about talking to Mallika Ma’am as it was her second meeting in VSM. We talked for a few minutes and she asked everyone to return to their seats. All of the members were engrossed in the activity and I was noticing every small group exchanging smiles and talks.

Then Radha Kaku introduced me to Bharat, to whom I had talked on call before. I was impressed about how he was a student at VSM and is a volunteer now and is an employee at IBM. He also told me about is the refusal to the offer letter of GOOGLE. I realized how VSM is helping youngsters to attain their goals. We talked for a while at the meeting was over and everyone was involved in talking with others. I had a lot of things in my mind to be written as feedback. I stood up and started searching for Radhika Ma’am to greet her before I leave. She appreciated me for my doodling which made me feel elated.

As a whole, I didn’t expect the meeting to be such a fun and inspiring event. Right from the story of Deepali to the interaction activity, I learned a lot. Being an introvert I never used to take initiative to talk to new people. But just in those two hours, I had talked to several. Radha Kaku and I promised to meet on 22^nd April as if we were friends back from school time. I felt confident and was willing to attend the workshop on 22^nd heartily. Thank you for making me a part of VSM. I will be looking forward to helping some of the other manners. Also, thanks for the photograph. I’ll cherish it.

You have never really lived if you have never done something for someone who can never repay you.

 Vidyadaan Sahayak Mandal