On what we do and why we do it

To whosoever reading this, 

I hail from a background where I was protected to my very core. Never in the sixteen years of my school life had I ever stayed away from my family, let alone the possibility of traveling the world alone, boarding a public transport system so utterly crowded, or setting up professional meetings with complete strangers. 

In my freshman year of college, I was six hours away from home. Each passing day in the initial few months, I either Skyped or called my parents and cribbed about how I had to handle things all alone. Each time on the phone, my tone conveyed to them that I had been thrown into the big, bad world, and their little girl couldn’t help but just curl up in a little block in the corner reaching out to her parents and sibling to just take her back home. 

However, somewhere deep inside, a voice whispered that I needed nurturing, I needed to shell out of my comfort zone. How I was supposed to do that, I had no clue. 

One day in the second month at college, I remember the guy who stood up for elections in our year walk up to our little batch at the Co-op area (as part of his solemn election public relations and vote-gathering duty) and talk about the Life on Wheels Project by Enactus SRCC. I was so drawn to this idea of helping rickshaw-walas earn a better living, that I began inquiring more about the societies in college to look forward to be a member of and particularly began reading up more about Enactus SRCC through their social media accounts.

The D-Day arrived and life just somehow turned tables. I got through the gruelling recruitment process of Enactus and was invited to the induction meeting!

I have been both shattered and transformed during my Enactus journey, and today I stand so proud for having been a part of this organisation. As I was preparing for what I knew would be a spectacular first year here at SRCC, I experienced the largest crisis of my life. Blaring differences in the way people function in this society can be daunting for a happy-go-lucky kid like me. “Too much of professionalism in Enactus”, I complained.. After two months of getting habituated to using no emoticons and disparately typing ‘Me’ or Okay.’ on the WhatsApp group, I thought I’d lost my ability to smile so wide or laugh so loud, at random situations.

We had an Enactus Marathon at Raahgiri, Inner Circle at Connaught Place in our first year. Some trained dancers were performing Zumba on stage and I felt the urge to just go join them. What kept stopping me from even looking towards the stage was the Enactus T-Shirt that I had donned. Enactus SRCC members must always be professional-  I thought, even at the most vibrant marathon. However, heavens struck loose when one of the seniors patted me, asking me to actually step ahead and join the stage. I had so much fun that day, I relived the times back in school when I used to extensively take part in dance and theatre activities. After this incident, I realised that Enactus SRCC has a human side for its team members as well, and not only for the communities it endeavors to empower!

I have visited almost all five-star hotels and covered almost all slums in Delhi, being a team member at this organization, happily leaving behind some malls still left to be discovered. My friends back at my accommodation used to “chill” at South Delhi, while I used to finish the research which the Project Director wanted 'without fail' by 11:59 pm that night. Having said that, I loved the work we all did. Although I haven't been able to go to Nekpur even a single time, I am very passionate about the cause that our Project Azmat worked for. At Karnal for Project Sattva, for the first time in life again I vigorously knocked on doors of houses, hopping from one sector to another sector, carrying a demand assessment sheet and wearing an Enactus SRCC hoodie, convincing the villagers to buy milk products from our beloved community members- more lovingly called Didis- at Amritpur Kalan. 
                                  
Moving ahead to take the role of Project Director of Kayakalp in my second year, knowingly or unknowingly Kathputli Colony just become my second home. During my summer internship as well, I remember sneaking out for Kaya meetings during the lunch breaks at office. This time has been the most phenomenal one, it literally has been a ride. There was a point in my life where my mom convinced me to take a hostel near Shadipur instead of the current Shakti Nagar accommodation. 

Three years. I didn’t know that three years is all it takes to explore, learn, discover your passion- or pursue the one you have had your entire life, make lasting friendships, try new things, grow, and most importantly, learn so much more about yourself. As I reach the helm of my final year at SRCC, I am fortunate to say that I have accomplished all of these things.

My education here at this institution has taken me within the walls of the most reputed Government Ministries, halfway around the world to the infamous Netherlands, the gorgeous North-East, mind-blowing Sabarmati Ashram, busy Mumbai (of course) and to numerous conceptual and intellectual locations. My mentor at Kayakalp today is a man who runs a multi-billion dollar company. When I first met him, I thought that I'll probably faint or something, let alone having the courage to present an elevator pitch for Kayakalp in front of 2500 people at Ahmedabad. All of these are simply a small subset of the opportunities I have partaken of in my time here. All of these have profoundly impacted my learning, changed my view of the world I live in every day, and improved my self-confidence—and I have certainly forged many friendships and mentorships along the way.

Prior to my time here I looked at the world as a series of events that were, to a great extent, not connected. Now, with the intellectual exercises that all of my professors, our Faculty Advisor, seniors, colleagues and juniors at Enactus SRCC have taught me, I see the world inversely. It is not a conglomeration of mutually exclusive events, people, and concepts, but it is a beautiful interconnected community possessing within it many unseen values, traditions, and things that I can surely learn from. These intellectual thoughts that I have come to know and love at SRCC that have truly shattered and transformed me into who I am today and I am so sure they will endure in perpetuity into my future.

The twenty year old me is not sure of much, but I do know this: I was not letting the efforts of the past four batches go to drain in the projects we do and the communities we empower. 

From my time here, I have learnt that a thought, even a possibility can shatter or transform us. It is these moments that we will cherish throughout the rest of our lives which lie ahead of us, I think (not exaggerating here) until the moment we articulate our last words. 

We should be willing and able to shatter and transform. Only then we can truly enjoy this experience called Enactus SRCC.

Written by Ria Golecha

Stirring The Change Within

I belong to a school with service flowing through its veins. The first headmaster set forth his vision as follows- "The boys should leave The Doon School as members of an aristocracy, but it must be an aristocracy of service inspired by the ideas of unselfishness, not one of privilege, wealth or position." The foundation of Enactus echoed with the same principle, and the sentiment deep within me curdled over my time in school, motivating me to sit through the gruelling recruitment process of Enactus SRCC. It’s been a little over a semester since I joined college and Enactus SRCC. Of late, I have been having endearing dates with myself over hot chocolates. We talk a lot and if someone were to pen down our conversation in real time, we’d end up with a new novel every single time we sat down. Thank God for that though, I don’t intend on indulging in plagiarism lawsuits as I have a lot of deadlines to meet!

As young adults all of us are going through a lot of tumult - we desperately crave contentment, something to tell us that our actions amount to something, that we are doing what is right and that we aren’t as incompetent as we think we are. Here is where Enactus steps in. What I am going to be talking about is how the organisation has been a therapy in times of self-doubt and a distraction in times of distress and a teacher in fits of naivety. We evolve through the semesters. I see our seniors in the organisation as the next step of our transformation, future leaders being moulded in their nascent stages.

We are very prone to succumb into euphoria as well as into trances of train spotting where we are completely still, almost like a patient in a comatose state aware of everything, not acting. This is when we need to take a step back, look away from the Gogh-like landscape and introspect, anchor ourselves to one train. This train for me is Enactus. I know that momentary lapses of judgment instigated by my youth won’t affect me as bad now as I am flowing in a stream that will lead me to the ocean eventually.

Very often we are told that we have a lot of potential and are really capable. However, it is useless unless we streamline our efforts in sync towards something we are potentially good at. Recently I was exposed to such an opportunity and throughout this journey, I stumbled several times and almost gave in to the pressure, but I was surrounded by likeminded individuals and we motivated and carried each other forward in tough times. And before we knew it, we were on the stage, the final round, presenting our brainchild to a jury of experts. And we went on to eventually achieve what we had set out for. It was an overwhelming moment; I distinctly remember a tear drop which was instantaneously soaked into oblivion by my sleeve. All of this was possible only because of me being in the organisation.

One of the biggest problems with thinking so much is that you never truly do justice to a feeling, triumph and disaster alike. I was talking to a friend just twenty minutes after and she was surprised as to how quickly I had broken down this feat into a list of pros and cons. It felt good, but I was already evaluating everything that had come our way and what difference it would make to all three of us now.

I’ve been told that I am not interesting to talk to anymore because my entire conversation spirals into something ultimately related to Enactus SRCC. I agree that I am guilty of this.

Here's why, I have always believed that every human is born intelligent. We all possess a treasure trove of philosophies and thoughts that are ingenious. But what makes the difference is that how well someone turns these unintelligible assets into real processes that make a worthwhile difference. The heaviest pro is that Enactus has been a whetstone, sharpening my ability to bring about the potential that's inside of me, outside and make a difference in people's lives. To be honest, though, my biggest motivator for continuing in the organisation, for as long as I can is that I care about myself the most. Enactus is more about me than it is about anyone else.

Written by Arunabh Uttkarsh
Edited by Sudhrit Banerjee and Arshita Malhotra