That's a Goal!!!

With my eyes towards the ball midway in air, I clumsily moved ahead crossing half a dozen kids when somehow, someone wearing a blue jersey pushed the ball towards me with a forceful effect of his right foot and I miraculously turned the ball in the right direction, one kick and it was right inside the post, keeper's foot missed it with just about two inches and it was just this easy for me to score the first goal of my life. All I had to do was to be at the right place.

This made me think how was I at that place or what inspired me to be there. This was in the first minute of the second half of the football match between dream a dream kids and nike employees.

Minutes before this all I was doing was watching them all play from a distant and when Pooja asked me why am I not playing all I could say was "I'll go in for the second match", well, there was no second match..Rakesh knew it and he literally pushed me into the game with a few other kids who could not play in the first half as substitutes for the players who were really tired...That one little push made a difference to me, I scored the first Goal of my life, that's big..at least for me..And the truth is that it'll be big and important for anyone...Think of the kids who were playing there first match, who were competing against each other and against their own selves, their own limitations for the first time, who were experiencing the spirit of the game and togetherness of the team and more than anything they were experiencing the human will to WIN. They all wanted to WIN and not as an individual but as a TEAM. They were pushing themselves, running from one side of the ground to another.

And how did this all happen?...with the efforts of a few individuals in the Dream Team and Nike.

That's what the Dream Team strives to do, they work to push people to their best. They strive to make kids aware of their potential, they are trying to give them dreams, aims and GOALS. Now, that's a GOAL!!!

Today, I made a difference

Here's one of my post on the dream blog.

Today.

Teach For India

Sometimes connecting the dots, as Steve Jobs puts it, becomes so easy. Somehow someday I started with this idea of joining Abhigyaan, then starting a blog where everyone associated with Abhigyaan can share there thoughts and experiences and then someone posting stuff about Teach For India on it.

The very first moment I saw that something like this exists I called up Ravi and Abhishek and told them that WE can DO something. Something significant and something that resonates with our thoughts and plans.

Everything about Teach For India excited me, the content on its website, the people associated with it, the methodology, the subtlety with which the biggest of all dreams has been shared, the straightforward way in which the problems our country is facing and solutions to them are mentioned, everything caught hold of my imagination.
The most amazing thing was thrown at me when I checked out the application procedure, The biggest application I had ever seen, it has some 6 pages and comprises of almost everything anyone can know about you. The minutest of the details. Writing those essays was overwhelming. Looking back at everything you have done in your life and how it has shaped you, the way you are now....It was too good and in a way it helped me understand the significance of everything that we do in life and how it affects our persona.
But, this was just the beginning of an awe-inspiring process. Application submission was followed by telephonic interviews and then a looooong assessment center. Although I was directly called to the assessment center..yay!!! a lot of guys had to go through the telephonic interview which again was grueling to them...

It will take another looonnng post to describe the assessment center. For now I will let you know the final result...I GOT IN...I have been offered admission to the fellowship 2010. yoyoyoyoyo
But the process has just begun..making THE DECISION...and getting family and friends to accept and believe in THE DECISION...

Too many people know what is wrong with the world. Their knowledge and intensity do not matter. What matters is making a small but real difference.
----Subroto Bagchi


Founded in 1999, Dream A Dream is a trust working to empower children from vulnerable backgrounds currently making a difference in the lives of about 1500 underprivileged children.

Over years Dream a Dream has evolved into a self governing, self sustainable body with the professionalism of a modern day corporate house. Currently it has 20 employees and hundreds of Volunteers working with and towards the goal of developing life skills in kids and to help them build a future for themselves and their community. There are various different programs being run simultaneously in numerous underprivileged communities of Bangalore ranging from Learn IT - an initiative to accustom kids with the world of computers, to arts, sports and a lot of Fun. There are Fun days and Adventure camps being organized at regular intervals to help these kids see the life and nature from a view they have never enjoyed before and would make them not only aware of their surroundings but also infest in them a desire to have a better life, be more responsible to their environment and above all Be Happy!!

For more information on Dream a Dream click here.

Cypress....

The logo says everything they stand for...Just Perform..
This is where I am doing my PS2, for the uninitiated this is a part of BITS curriculum where we have to do a six months internship in our fourth year.
I joined here on 2nd of July and now the internship is about to get over and I can say that it was exhilarating. An amazing experience so far with people doing nothing but working all the time..apart from the team outings, the part I liked the most.

Although I haven't been in any other organization for such a long time, NTPC, my PS1 was just a 2 months thing and that too it was total LITE..So I can't really compare the work here to any other place but seriously it's a large corporation with so many organizational and structural levels that I am totally delighted by the dedication with which people work and the way the management painstakingly persevere to organize the entire organization.

Recently PSoC3 and PSoC5 were launched with a massive add campaign and although I can't really see the bigger picture from my position I am pretty sure that it's going great.

More than that the people here can even close their eyes and answer all your questions regarding any experiment you would have ever done or will be doing...cool people who have put in endless hours learning and doing stuff.

Just a few words about PS2, it was amazing until my PS instructor got changed, the new one just loves shouting at people and scolding them for no reason in particular, its like her favorite sport. Anyways the important part is that I have enjoyed the past few months here in bangalore and particularly Cypress. The thing that I admire the most now in BITS is this unique curriculum which we follow and the practice schools are definitely the best things that any college can provide its students with. I am thankful not just to BITS but the corporate houses who are coming forward to accept interns, the BITS PS division and everyone else who is in anyway associated with the system to make these practice schools happen and not just happen but to run successfully and in a magnificent way altogether.

Of Pseudonyms and other generalities

For the past Three months although this blog was dormant, I wasn't, Blogosphere doesn't let you live without it. I was only living a disguised life, writing somewhere with a pseudonym, following all those whom I have always loved and have admired their writing skills and styles in every post.

There is one thing I must tell you living a life where no one knows you as in no one knows who you are, and there is absolutely no one who can judge you for what you say or write or do or think is just amazing..its sensational..its thrilling and its so much fun...until you take LITE...

Anyways I had a lot of fun and I PLAN to continue with both my lives i.e. clark kent as well as superman...For now I am bored with such a powerful life and have returned back to earth to be among the humans and live a peaceful life which is obviously so humanly...with soo many likes and dislikes and all other random things which all of you do...

So as a part of this endeavor of mine I am living a simple life in Bangalore and just for the sake of grades and ofcourse money I am doing an internship here at Cypress Semiconductors..oh by the way for those who dont know me...PSOC turns me on!!!
The hardware lab here is so much fun...ofcourse the analog labs in college were fun too but this is just awesome...even though I miss my lab partners here(not ARC he has upgraded from my lab partner to my room partner).

So here in Bangalore I met a lot of people, worked with a lot of really really cool people at Cypress and Dream a Dream an NGO I am working with.

Will keep updating you..