My first few days at my job.

Although this is an old piece, but worth sharing. I believe, rather I should say I know, experience is the only thing that enriches a person and am a proof of that. Getting my first job, being exposed to the whims and fancies of the corporate world and an unforgettable manager Dr. Apoorv Bajpai was nothing short of heck of an experience.It may sound a bit cliched, but I have expressed exactly what I was going through then. I have valued the finest of the things in my life, and this was obviously a big one. I have never let myself to be sitting back and elude things especially with respect to my sensitivity towards what is happening around. What surprises me, may not surprise many of us. But that's why am sharing this.

Learning for the lifetime

I am just 50 odd days young in this industry and this so called ruthless competitive milieu. Being a part of this organization was no less than entering a whole new world altogether. I was born here literally and as a matter of fact, the day I came here it was my birthday. Like each and every day after birth, I grew with each passing day. And as we are closing in towards the training sessions, I just want to reiterate my learning and my lessons. Although life never fails to offer you lessons, the times that just passed by offered all of us lessons of a lifetime.

Essentially, it’s the human nature to value those things most that are earned the harder way. I am no exception and I must say that the lessons learnt here were not through the easiest of the ways. The only easier part was that I didn’t have any preconceived notions. That helped me learn and grasp the things over the period. It all started from the subject matter that had to be learnt in the best possible way with a cent percent accuracy. In addition to this, what was there for the taking was the subtle aspects of this whole process of induction. All we do is no mere exercise or an activity, but there is much more to it. That was the core of all that was to be done further.

To start off, it was heck of learning at the end of the day. As I told earlier too, it was not easy. The very first day gave a glimpse of what it is going to be like in days to come. Our foundations were shaken in the very first test which meant there was a lot of hard work to be put in. It continued rigorously through the week at our first stay, and when suddenly we were feeling pressurised and felt bogged down, the first words of wisdom came. It was just before when we were supposed to go to head office. Then, it was a huge respite when we suddenly realised we had nothing to lose but everything to gain. In a way it was a pointer to the days to come where we were going to gain provided we stayed focussed and determined.

The bashings became the order of the day but that brought me close to myself as in a state of meditation where we are open to our inner self. We were exposed to our shortcomings, ways for improvisation were laid. We learnt to be tough and more than that we learnt to deliver even when the chips were down. That diligent spirit of fighting back hard was slowly building inside. We were literally shaken by the words of our guide at times, but all of that trickled down slowly as time passed by and we were stronger. Then we knew the importance of being thrown out of the comfort zone and how to prepare yourself when you are caught off guard. The most dejecting moments were those when I repeated a mistake and whenever our guide looked clueless at our mistakes. It looked as if so much of him was at stake. He was no less than a mirror to me, and that was when slowly the feeling of ownership started coming in. After that, it was not only about meeting his expectations but also standing before our own eyes.

Third phase of the training instilled in all of us what professionalism and maturity was all about. It was when we had our sessions with the seniors. The importance of learning was reinstated. Every moment was to be seized as an opportunity to learn and improve come what may. If at all there is one thing that assumes importance in one’s life, it is learning and only learning.

 All the events had gone by and everybody was back to their work and so were we. Personally, I could see a few changes in myself and in all the work I did. Now it was the turn to “Remember the Titans”. As a movie it was a class act altogether, still greater was the lesson. It was all about having fun and giving sweat and blood to anything that we did afterwards. Time and again, the message got clearer and louder. It was not just about surviving, but much more than that. It was about living and living it to the fullest, making every moment count. It was all about taking the criticisms and failures into the stride and moving along with head held high. Another very important aspect of the process was learning to get the objective of the activity concerned. To get the objective right, we had our real friends, the questions we needed to ask before setting out to a job.

 Attached to the objective was a still deeper purpose, the ultimate purpose of one’s existence, the bliss. It was like a practical to what I knew, I must say in theory and tried to inculcate. I always expressed gratitude to the being for having instilled in me the awareness and consciousness to live every moment to its fullest. Of course that included our all the daily activities. So what happened ultimately from that moment onwards was that every activity was a potential source of the utmost contentment. At least that is the motive of whatever I do from here.

Dr. Apoorv Bajpai, as a manager and professional guide kept pushing us in our endeavour. This doesn’t just end here at the work front, it goes a long way and beyond. Without any second thoughts to it I can say, whatever I could learn was courtesy Apoorv Sir. With his occasional outbursts on our mistakes that would send everybody to frenzy and an almost regular friendly demeanour along with his spontaneous comments all over, he has been the most difficult person to judge. I must confess this, even if we try to avoid it we end up being judgmental. But we failed badly and could never come to a conclusion. He looked the toughest of the persons around and at times the coolest buddy around. Along came another lesson for the lifetime, world is the most beautiful place to live only when you stop judging. And that’s when life is wonderful, a perfect blend of everything.

Still greater was the insight which prompted me to know that spontaneity is one aspect we need to understand. Apoorv Sir as ever was instrumental in this too, him actually being spot on with that spontaneity. But for that we again needed to be clear about the objective. An essential add-on to this point was of course the preparation and the rehearsals. We could perceive that fine thin line between preparedness and spontaneity. What we sought was striking a balance between the two. Not only here, I learnt that alchemy of balance with life which is the most important thing. What I got to do was set the record straight, live everything to its merit as it came, sans the presumptions and assumptions. What would follow eventually would be a calm body and a relaxed soul.

Our words should account for our actions. So, it’s time for actions to emerge out of these words.

“Learning that delves deep into soul and comes out as a deed or a work is absolutely unparalleled in terms of the contentment it generates.”