ENACTUS INDIA NATIONALS 2013

Hardik and Jyotsna, as they complete their first year in college, talk about their first nationals experience. Hardik talks about the preparation time madness, while Jyotsna shares the after-nationals feeling. 

Before the nationals

Our alarm clock still rang at 7 in the morning. Yes, despite exams being over, we still went to college. All of us woke up to the dawn with the hope of a successful show and a victory in the regionals and the nationals. Even the unbearable heat wave failed to deter us in this objective. Almost the entire team gathered in college and set down to work, to present the entire year’s hard work in a few words, images and videos. Scripting was one activity in which every member contributed, through wise ideas and healthy criticism. Just as a loud voice would call out, “This sounds perfect”, a mellow voice would be heard, “I think it sounds better the other way”! And once again, umm sorry, for the tenth or the twentieth time, we would put on our thinking caps! Rounds of editing the scripts were fun and there was a lot to learn. When many heads met, we made sure that we selected the best.

Designing the presentation was yet another enjoyable activity. Looking for suitable videos and voice notes, editing the sound effects, making the power point look impactful – our creative team gave its best.

The most happening event was the launch of our website – www.enactussrcc.org. Surfing through it lends immense pride and a feeling of making an impact.

As our seniors always say, “Project work should never stop”, we made sure that it continued. And what lends a sense of fulfilment to the hard work is the realization that it is the society that reaps the benefits.

While all the Enactus teams prepared for the competition that was to be held in Bombay, the upliftment of the target communities also took place. Every day we moved towards the basic objective of empowering the society through social entrepreneurship; and healthy, constructive competition through the Regionals and Nationals served as the most effective incentive for Enactus-ites to strive hard.

But there’s more to Enactus than work. Spending seven-eight hours together every day helps kindle new friendships. Interacting amicably with one another, having many hands on a few tiffins, sharing light moments, wandering for food in Kamla Nagar and Hudson Line – these memories would linger on for a long time to come. The two weeks of preparation have made us experience a mix of emotions – of laughter, joy, tiredness, exhaustion, encouragement, support, inspiration. Life is not just about taking pride in a few special moments, it’s about cherishing those seconds which pass by unnoticed and leave a smile on our faces.

And as we all geared up for the Regionals and the Nationals, we believed in ourselves that we can go there with our heads held high and reap the rewards of the hard work put in through the years.

After the nationals

As we reminisce over Enactus nationals 2013, we cherish every moment spent there. It was a realisation of a collective good that all the teams work towards. It was an emotional roller coaster, which strengthened our team spirit. Enactus SRCC placed 2^nd at Enactus nationals 2013- it taught us to stay humble in our victory. Those 2 days taught us lessons for life. We feel honoured to have been a part of such an extraordinary event. It enabled us to network with many like-minded people from all over the country. The feeling is of enthusiasm and motivation after having seen so many presentations.

 

We will soon cushion our feet into our seniors’ shoes. As our seniors always emphasized, Enactus is not just a learning experience for us, but a better life for numerous communities; a ray of hope that opens possibilities and enables progress. The great leaders we looked up to till now, will now leave everything to us, and for the love of our communities we will take our projects to greater heights.

We hope for another year of great work, another year of impacting lives and being the change that we want to see.

- Hardik and Jyotsna

Priyanka Ravishankar, Public Relations Head, Enactus SRCC shares her Enactus experience!

Ms. PR (Priyanka Ravishankar) with a flair for words was destined to be the Public Relations (PR) head. She has been one of the most admired seniors who has the ability to amalgamate any task with fun. The seniors find her innocently hopeless in making jokes and wonder whether to laugh at her jokes or glare at her.

She shares how the meaning of Enactus has changed from, just a name of a society to a lifetime experience for her.  She expresses how Enactus has given a lot more to her than what she has given to it.

Out of school, fresh into college, with enthusiasm brimming as much as expectations. It is but natural to eagerly look forward to college, a new world after a 12 year stint at school. The first day began with meeting new people, discussing the overhyped 100% cut-off, talking to some teachers.
The second day dawned and a plethora of societies began their recruitment drives - each talking about how they're the best and why we should 'so-totally' apply for them. Amongst the bazillion societies that SRCC boasts of, is SIFE - it is however not a society, but an 'international organisation that does social entrepreneurship' - 'Whoa, big words. Must be something cool' - I thought to myself - that's human psychology at work by the way - anything with big words tends to appeal to people's intellect. However, some Googling, and some talking around made me realise that the work done by SIFE was much bigger and much more meaningful than the initial big words that had attracted me to it. After attending the orientation, I was certain that this was something that I wanted to be a part of - because what's more to life than enabling the society to progress, what's more to life than putting a smile on the faces of people and ensuring that it stays on and what's more to life than enabling others to live a dignified and independent life?
I applied, went through the various stages of recruitment, and thank my stars, was selected to be a part of it, selected to be part of a journey that would not only enable me to contribute to change lives, but one, that would change my life as well.
I still remember vividly how our SIFE SRCC seniors had very animatedly proclaimed 'You are in for the best three years of your lives'; and having completed almost 2/3rd of the aforementioned 3 years and drawing a little from my basic econometric knowledge of extrapolation and forecasting, I too can proclaim that being a part of this organisation has been the most fulfilling experience ever - one that would stay with me throughout life!
Working with varied communities - rickshaw pullers, underprivileged women, manual scavengers, puppeteers– the first year in SIFE SRCC had been a wonderful experience of team work. With the second year in Enactus SRCC, came leadership, in addition to the teamwork. Donning the shoes of our Seniors and becoming people that our freshers would (hopefully :P) look up to. The second year has made me more organised, systematic and has given me valuable lessons on leadership – how to lead from the front, from within and from behind; and how to constantly give the juniors that sphere of independence because they are the ones that would lead in the year ahead. And I’m sure my batch mates would agree with me when I say that the process of leading a team has also given us an opportunity to learn from ourselves, our fellow team mates and our juniors – life is a process of continual learning after all.

With SIFE/Enactus, you receive more than you give. Now, being a person with a tendency to reduce everything to points (:-p), here's a kind of What-you-give –What-you-get analysis of being a part of Enactus:

What you give/do

What you get/receive

1. Facilitate the further development of skills in people/ facilitate the imparting of new skills in people. 2. Give time to your community to gain their trust, motivate them and ensure smooth progress of training and the business – numerous field visits and community interaction sessions. 3. Design a business model – Hours are expended on utilizing the mental faculty - brainstorming, ideating and analysing various possible business models – periodic changes in model based on market research and market response. 4. Learn and understand procedural formalities involved in setting up a business and entering into partnerships, you interact with varied kinds of people from the corporate world and the government. 5. It is year round work. Even during exam time, work goes on because communities are real and their life can’t stop because you have a hectic two months academically.

1. The happiness of witnessing the sparkle in the community’s eyes when they hold in their hands, their ‘apni kamai’. 2. The satisfaction of having been instrumental in changing the world by moving from being a problem-stater to a problem solver - if the world is a better place ten years hence, you know that you have contributed to that. 3. A sharper brain as a result of the continuous work-out, which reflects not only in better Projects but also better analytical capabilities, widening of perspectives while looking at any situation/problem – with applications in many spheres of life. 4. Gain business and practical knowledge that is extremely essential to work efficiently in any field that you decide to pursue in life. 5. Soft skills such as the ability to interact with various kinds of people, the ability to effectively work in a team, organise events successfully; effective leadership skills. 6. Application of classroom knowledge to real cases, increasing the value of college education. 7. Good appeal to potential employers due to the meaningful work done and because you know how to interact with varied kinds of people. 8. Access to a huge network of people in companies that are partners and mentors, the media, NGOs and NPOs. 9. The fun of working with a group of like-minded people, some of whom you get so close to that you know you are going to stay in touch with them for many years to come. (There’s much more, but I have to consider the length of this article, before I go on :p)

Ah, what you get back is so much more than what you give. And this, among other things, pushes you further, to contribute even more, only to kick off a virtuous cycle of development of the society and the self. As an Enactus student, I often say “From SIFE to Enactus, it is just a change in nomenclature”; however, having spent two years with this organisation that had very initially appealed to my penchant for big words, I can proclaim that this entire journey - through SIFE and through Enactus – for me, has been a transformation, a metamorphosis of many lives, including my own.