Evolution of a Being

I have been reflecting on my past and was attempting to identify the moments and contexts which shaped my evolution. Diversity of people(culture/habits) & of thoughts (thinking process/ideation etc), that I was exposed had a big impact on me. Further, Human Process labs I attended in the past, opened newer windows of receiving the world around us and of self introspection.

As a student when I joined REC Warangal on 21st September 1992, I was a typical 'gult', a next door Telugu/Andhraite. With no offense meant to my origins and to other strong cultural communities in India, I suffered the frog in the well syndrome. For instance, the thought that delicious food can also mean Aloo ke paranthe was like asking someone about civilisations, cities and cars on Mars. From being a student who knew just the mother tongue and maybe one more language, I had grown in to a student who was proficient in three languages and managed one more. I became confident about myself and got arguably the best jobs in my final year at Campus on 24th November 1995. I owe my evolution to all the people around me, from awe to jealousy to admiration- I had a potpourri of feelings watching and learning from them. Thus my respect and admiration for the engineering school I had been, has grown multi fold many years after I passed out. This institution didn't just morphed me into a young man, but more importantly it taught me the importance of being in the RIGHT company. Thank you my Alma mater. I joined the organisation I am working for now and am continuing to work for it fundamentally because I love working with the people around me. I am lucky that I work with some of the most amazing minds in this country. I have no doubts about this. I am not going to put a list of all these illustrious people here but would stop by saying some of them have created a niche for themselves in life. One underlying thread whether at REC or at my work place is People Diversity, diversity of cultures, thoughts and ideas. It's amazing to see what diversity can do to our thinking and evolution, leave alone quality of work and job performance.

During 1998, I took part in a process lab. Here, I discovered an environment where people are forced to shed there baggage & defences and explore each other with open minds. It is an intense session, often sapping people mentally & emotionally. The skill of the moderator is very critical to ensure he/she helps the participants to deal with the aftermath of such labs. Recently I have attended one more such lab during September 2005 organised by Sumedhas (http://www.sumedhas.org/). Very similar experience that lasted for 5 days, 15 hours a day ! The key take away is the how differently we can interact with the world around us and the new discoveries one makes about himself. Both these labs have helped me construct my value system over the years. Nothing short of transformational experience !


So, people around us and the pattern of engagement with them could enable us to discover newer 'I's and offer yet another way of looking at the world. IIMA had & has OD wizards such as Indira Parekh, who I had the privilege of listening to once in the past. To learn from teachers of such calibre on human relationships and personalities would be a dream come true. There is a possibility of she taking some electives : ) I am told.

I am looking forward to more Diversity and deep engagement with a group of well read and mature individuals this year, eager to welcome possibilities ...