I have wanted to pen my thoughts for quite sometime now but just wasn’t getting the flow so decided to just write it out as the thoughts flow. Its been on my mind to reflect on how 2011 was and the big changes it brought into my life and at Dream A Dream.
As I look back, 2011 has been a fascinating year of surprises and contrasts for me but most importantly the one word that definitely describes it was “Reflective”. It was a year that has challenged me to go deep within myself and find my inner core of strength, faith and belief in myself.
From the initial months where I went through days of self-doubt on my abilities as a leader to the high of the year-end where I was respected and appreciated for the way I handled the year at Dream A Dream. The loss of faith at the beginning of the year, paved the way for a more strengthened sense of self by the end of the year and an almost undefinable calm and peace in my mind and heart.
After having built the organization over the last 9-11 years, I felt for the first time, I didn’t know what to do in the crisis of trust that emerged from within the ranks of the organization. In retrospect, I know now that the winds of change had gathered speed and had even picked me up in their stride. What happened was meant to happen. The change was finally happening, the seeds of which, I had sowed when I first started articulating the vision of the world for myself as a young 21-year old. I realized for the first time, late last year, that I had never wanted to built an institution, that I had always wanted the change to come from within people and the innate courage that each one of us hold within us. I had always believed in people and wanted to build a vision on ownership, vision and accountability. I had lost track of this vision in the years when building an institution became more important.
As I started sharing the vision of a Dream A Dream which is a “Community of Changemakers” – I didn’t realize that any change is gut-wrenching and difficult and I was caught in its storm too.
The imagery that has struck in my head and heart from this experience in early 2011 has been the immense support I received from my loved ones and people who cared for me – people in the team who stood by the organization in arguably one of its most difficult phases and people who stood by me and continued to trust me. Coupled with the crisis of trust was the huge financial crunch that the organization also underwent during those times. We had wiped out our entire corpus built painstakingly over 7 years and we were staring at a bankruptcy in less than 2-months.
In this crisis, I found the opportunity to restore faith and trust in the organization and its integrity, reputation and faith built over the years. We managed to raise Rs. 1.3 Crores (USD 290,000) in 6 weeks reaching out to the faith that our supporters had in us and more importantly believing in the work we do. There has been no looking back since then. The team stood by solidly believing in the dream and the organization and we slowly started the process of rebuilding the organization with a new vision of “Scaling our Impact” to thousands more children and truly believing that our existence was important. What emerged was the leadership of every single person within the team and most importantly the leadership of Bobbymon and Suchetha who took on the bigger challenges of building and holding the team together, giving me the space to bring in the supporters and rebuild the tainted reputation of the organization.
And, what a phenomenal team has emerged from this experience.
Today, as I walk into office every single day I see an unprecedented energy and passion in the team. I feel honoured and proud to be working with this team as they challenge and support and scale new heights every single day. Today, the vision of building a “Community of Changemakers” is well on its course as each of us believe that “We are the change we wish to see in the world!”. The energy and enthusiasm is palpable, the drive to achieve is visible, the belief that this is my vision, my idea and my cause can be seen in how the team rallies behind each other and gives it all with passion and commitment. The accountability to goals is unrelenting and the passion for excellence is truly inspiring. It’s a team that is willing to challenge convention and believes everything is possible. It’s a team that is unafraid and ready to explore the unknown. It’s a team that is commitment to creating a world where each individual is respected & appreciated for who they are.
For me, Its been an year that I would not substitute for anything else in my life as it has restored my faith in myself, my dream, my vision and in the innate humaneness in all of us.
