Aah I am back at this place after more than an year. Had never imagined that will get Goosebumps when I will read my earlier posts. A lot has changed since January 2015. From being a first year rookie to being called as ‘Sir’ , the 1.5 years has shown me a glimpse for the years ahead. A time probably where I had made more friends than I lost (probably I lost none, a remarkable achievement considering the past).The fast moving life doesn’t give you time to reflect back in time but today I have got a chance to reflect back on what all I have gone through in the past year.
VANIJYA 2015
My first college fest (academic or cultural) and I had the opportunity to be in the organising team. The team being the best in the college (so getting into the team itself was very satisfying) added upto the expectations. We all did fairly well in organising the event and it was a success as evident by the quality of events and footfall. The heartiest thing to be seen for me was how everyone helped each other and contributed towards the success of the event. The teamwork was the foundation of the society and it was good to see it coming that well. But for me one thing that will always be edged in my memory of this event will be the chance to be the auctioneer at an event where I wasn’t supposed to do.This out of turn gesture by my team head Aman (name changed), who next year went on to become the president of the society, had earned him a respect above everyone in the society. Many can argue that I must have got this chance because none of the seniors would have agreed to do the auctioneer role but I being a firm believer of ‘What you sough is what you reap’ knew that somewhere it was the hardwork I put in before the event that had landed me at this place. My confidence level at that time was sky high. I did a mistake in my initial round but the confidence in me during that time helped me to overcome that and deep inside I told myself that CHIRAG YOUR HARDWORK HAS PAID OFF. And for this the credit goes to Aman for showing faith in me.
FIRST YEAR ENDS
1 year = 365 days is what my teachers told me in school but the 1 year in college seemed like it had just 100 days. The time flew by. I was soon going to become a senior, Huhh time travels faster than light. The second semester got over and as usual we all partied after the last exam as if we had studied rigorously for them :P (thanks to SHIVDAS and SONS – a book which every DU student knows) but the bigger battle had just started for me.
My IPCC attempt was now less than a year away and I was in full coaching mode. Leaving home early (8 AM) for college attending 2 lectures (I love being in the college), leaving college early (10:30 AM) to attend my class 10 kms away (thanks to metro it never seemed 10 kms until I checked in Google maps) and then attending it for 4.5 hours with a break of hardly 15 minutes. Then leaving for the second class as soon as the first got over (generally around 4:15 PM) and changing 3 metros to reach a place outside which one of the most inspiring person sells tea ! (Mr. Laxman Rao, MA in Hindi Delhi University is the author of over 24 books successfully selling on Amazon and Flipkart) . I used to reach a good 45 minutes before the class timings (not because I like being everywhere well before time but because I had no other place to go (can’t go back home as it would take a lot of time)). The 45 minutes were utilised for eating my snacks which mum had prepared early morning fully dishearteningly (not because she didn’t want to cook or she was lazy to wake up, well she is the earliest riser in our house, but because she didn’t want me to eat cold food with possible chances of spoilage by the time I used to eat it. But she didn’t have any other option as daily eating from street vendors could be more hazardous. Moms can never be satisfied until and unless they offer you hot home cooked food). After attending the class I used to take the long travel back to home (changing 3 metros is itself a testimony to it). Finally reaching home at 9:30 PM seemed like I have reached heaven. A day lasting over 12 hours , involving travelling to different parts of delhi by public conveyance and carrying weight as if I am going to represent India in Olympics next time was my routine for 3 days in a week(well the other 4 consisted only the first class).
What I just described is the schedule of almost all CA aspirants (talking about IPCC level only).
To be honest it does scare a hell out of a person when he firsts read into this but trust me this is the time when I got evolved as a person. Away from your parents for over half a day, wandering in different parts of the city in public transport, tackling the small problems on your own, managing your college studies and assignments while on the move, controlling yourself for the delicious food items you come across - makes you grow as a person, makes you a tough person, makes you feel responsible, shows you what hardwork is called and believe it or not I enjoyed every bit of it. Had it been not for this schedule I would have not been such an independent person that I am today.
The coachings went about every month till February.
Managing the society work along with coachings was becoming difficult, the fact that I couldn’t have delegated much of the work so that made it even tougher. Attending calls while in classes and managing the work from there was a bit disturbing but thanks to my friends (I got some really good friends there which I didn’t expect) I was able to cover up.
1 year = 365 days is what my teachers told me in school but the 1 year in college seemed like it had just 100 days. The time flew by. I was soon going to become a senior, Huhh time travels faster than light. The second semester got over and as usual we all partied after the last exam as if we had studied rigorously for them :P (thanks to SHIVDAS and SONS – a book which every DU student knows) but the bigger battle had just started for me.
My IPCC attempt was now less than a year away and I was in full coaching mode. Leaving home early (8 AM) for college attending 2 lectures (I love being in the college), leaving college early (10:30 AM) to attend my class 10 kms away (thanks to metro it never seemed 10 kms until I checked in Google maps) and then attending it for 4.5 hours with a break of hardly 15 minutes. Then leaving for the second class as soon as the first got over (generally around 4:15 PM) and changing 3 metros to reach a place outside which one of the most inspiring person sells tea ! (Mr. Laxman Rao, MA in Hindi Delhi University is the author of over 24 books successfully selling on Amazon and Flipkart) . I used to reach a good 45 minutes before the class timings (not because I like being everywhere well before time but because I had no other place to go (can’t go back home as it would take a lot of time)). The 45 minutes were utilised for eating my snacks which mum had prepared early morning fully dishearteningly (not because she didn’t want to cook or she was lazy to wake up, well she is the earliest riser in our house, but because she didn’t want me to eat cold food with possible chances of spoilage by the time I used to eat it. But she didn’t have any other option as daily eating from street vendors could be more hazardous. Moms can never be satisfied until and unless they offer you hot home cooked food). After attending the class I used to take the long travel back to home (changing 3 metros is itself a testimony to it). Finally reaching home at 9:30 PM seemed like I have reached heaven. A day lasting over 12 hours , involving travelling to different parts of delhi by public conveyance and carrying weight as if I am going to represent India in Olympics next time was my routine for 3 days in a week(well the other 4 consisted only the first class).
What I just described is the schedule of almost all CA aspirants (talking about IPCC level only).
To be honest it does scare a hell out of a person when he firsts read into this but trust me this is the time when I got evolved as a person. Away from your parents for over half a day, wandering in different parts of the city in public transport, tackling the small problems on your own, managing your college studies and assignments while on the move, controlling yourself for the delicious food items you come across - makes you grow as a person, makes you a tough person, makes you feel responsible, shows you what hardwork is called and believe it or not I enjoyed every bit of it. Had it been not for this schedule I would have not been such an independent person that I am today.
The coachings went about every month till February.
Managing the society work along with coachings was becoming difficult, the fact that I couldn’t have delegated much of the work so that made it even tougher. Attending calls while in classes and managing the work from there was a bit disturbing but thanks to my friends (I got some really good friends there which I didn’t expect) I was able to cover up.
THE TURNING POINT
Sitting in my law class I got the surprise of the year. I was appointed as the head of the Entrepreneurship Cell. My friend called me to inform this and I ignored it stating it to be one of the pranks pulled on me. When I reached home in the evening I checked the results (interview results for entry in the commerce society) and found my name as the head. I literally cross checked that 10 times because it was one thing I least expected. At first place I hadn’t applied for the post and secondly I wasn’t even a member last time. Again the theory of hardwork held well over here. This was a huge jump for me, from a volunteer a few months back I was part of the core team now!
The following day when I met the presi he bestowed a lot of confidence on me and was sure that I could take the cell to a higher level. That filled me with an unmatchable confidence level. I started chalking out plans from day 1 itself (formal meetings were not officially called yet). Call it the excitement level or the responsibility I did not waste a single day till 31st August (first meeting day and incidentally my birthday)
31st August – A special day indeed. It was my 19th this time around, last year I celebrated my 18th with a great pomp n show but I expected this to be a very normal one. But I was in for a big surprise in the meeting. All my fellow colleagues had arranged for a cake. The gesture shown by all of them literally made me cry in joy. It was just the moment to savour for the coming years. This first meeting till date remains my best meeting I have attended.
E-TALK
We (Me and my e cell team) had to make a report on our plans for the future and what events we are going to organise this semester. One event I always wanted to conduct was a talk show type wherein the entrepreneurs of the start-up world will tell their inspiring stories. There were some who were against this idea as this hasn’t happened in the college earlier but I was adamant to the fact that I want this to happen and if possible increase the reputation of Hansraj further. Amidst concerns being raised by some members over the event the presi gave the nod for the event. Initially, we were slow on getting the famous personalities as we had no clue how to go about it. We tried to find the best possible contacts of the officials and dealt accordingly but we weren’t getting any positives from there. 1-2 weeks had been passed since the first meeting and we weren’t able to find a single panellist (E-Talk was a panel discussion). There were concerns raised by few members whether we will be able to arrange the required personnel. But these concerns further strengthened our spirits and we decided to randomly visit the start-up offices requesting them to come to the college for such event. We got a mixed response but were able to tap the CFO of yatra.com Mr. Alok Vaish (a Hans Raj alumnus) and also we were able to build few connections for future purpose. Although the day was a fruitful one but the evening proved to be a disaster as my one silly mistake forced us to be caught in Gurgaon for extra 4-5 hours. But as we say all is well that ends well !
Finally with the help of our visits to offices and with the help of seniors working in the start-ups we were able to manage 3 good panellists. We had lost few of the panellists just because we wanted high profile personalities. I was against this ideology but the senior members were of the view that we want to do something big. It’s a debatable point since everyone will have a view of their own. We had a ready panellist but we refused it as she was the founder of a newly launched start-up. I was very upset over losing a panellist in such a way and had a few arguments related to this. But leaving this behind we focused on the task on hand. Now with panellists having been finalised we started preparing the itinerary for the event and the questions which we will ask.
Another challenge we faced was the requirement of a moderator who would put up the questions to the guests. We contacted for correspondents of some business magazines and newspapers but due to the paucity of funds we couldn’t afford them so it had to be one of us who had to take this responsibility. I personally didn’t want to take up this responsibility (Firstly I was the head so I had to manage the whole event, secondly had no experience of hosting such an event and I wanted a third year to take up this responsibility.) I was adamant for a third year hosting this but the presi wanted to have a first or a second year for it. I didn’t like the idea that time but post event I was happy tat we stick to it. It was a first year who hosted it. It wasn’t the perfect hosting but yes a very good one as I had expected (4-5 days before the event was the day when I had scolded this person who hosted the talk and it was the first time I was talking tpo a society member in such pitch, it must have been scary for that guy, I would have left the society If I had to face such a wrath but he stuck to it and delivered an excellent performance- one which raised his bar in the society) .
19th October
Sitting in my law class I got the surprise of the year. I was appointed as the head of the Entrepreneurship Cell. My friend called me to inform this and I ignored it stating it to be one of the pranks pulled on me. When I reached home in the evening I checked the results (interview results for entry in the commerce society) and found my name as the head. I literally cross checked that 10 times because it was one thing I least expected. At first place I hadn’t applied for the post and secondly I wasn’t even a member last time. Again the theory of hardwork held well over here. This was a huge jump for me, from a volunteer a few months back I was part of the core team now!
The following day when I met the presi he bestowed a lot of confidence on me and was sure that I could take the cell to a higher level. That filled me with an unmatchable confidence level. I started chalking out plans from day 1 itself (formal meetings were not officially called yet). Call it the excitement level or the responsibility I did not waste a single day till 31st August (first meeting day and incidentally my birthday)
31st August – A special day indeed. It was my 19th this time around, last year I celebrated my 18th with a great pomp n show but I expected this to be a very normal one. But I was in for a big surprise in the meeting. All my fellow colleagues had arranged for a cake. The gesture shown by all of them literally made me cry in joy. It was just the moment to savour for the coming years. This first meeting till date remains my best meeting I have attended.
E-TALK
We (Me and my e cell team) had to make a report on our plans for the future and what events we are going to organise this semester. One event I always wanted to conduct was a talk show type wherein the entrepreneurs of the start-up world will tell their inspiring stories. There were some who were against this idea as this hasn’t happened in the college earlier but I was adamant to the fact that I want this to happen and if possible increase the reputation of Hansraj further. Amidst concerns being raised by some members over the event the presi gave the nod for the event. Initially, we were slow on getting the famous personalities as we had no clue how to go about it. We tried to find the best possible contacts of the officials and dealt accordingly but we weren’t getting any positives from there. 1-2 weeks had been passed since the first meeting and we weren’t able to find a single panellist (E-Talk was a panel discussion). There were concerns raised by few members whether we will be able to arrange the required personnel. But these concerns further strengthened our spirits and we decided to randomly visit the start-up offices requesting them to come to the college for such event. We got a mixed response but were able to tap the CFO of yatra.com Mr. Alok Vaish (a Hans Raj alumnus) and also we were able to build few connections for future purpose. Although the day was a fruitful one but the evening proved to be a disaster as my one silly mistake forced us to be caught in Gurgaon for extra 4-5 hours. But as we say all is well that ends well !
Finally with the help of our visits to offices and with the help of seniors working in the start-ups we were able to manage 3 good panellists. We had lost few of the panellists just because we wanted high profile personalities. I was against this ideology but the senior members were of the view that we want to do something big. It’s a debatable point since everyone will have a view of their own. We had a ready panellist but we refused it as she was the founder of a newly launched start-up. I was very upset over losing a panellist in such a way and had a few arguments related to this. But leaving this behind we focused on the task on hand. Now with panellists having been finalised we started preparing the itinerary for the event and the questions which we will ask.
Another challenge we faced was the requirement of a moderator who would put up the questions to the guests. We contacted for correspondents of some business magazines and newspapers but due to the paucity of funds we couldn’t afford them so it had to be one of us who had to take this responsibility. I personally didn’t want to take up this responsibility (Firstly I was the head so I had to manage the whole event, secondly had no experience of hosting such an event and I wanted a third year to take up this responsibility.) I was adamant for a third year hosting this but the presi wanted to have a first or a second year for it. I didn’t like the idea that time but post event I was happy tat we stick to it. It was a first year who hosted it. It wasn’t the perfect hosting but yes a very good one as I had expected (4-5 days before the event was the day when I had scolded this person who hosted the talk and it was the first time I was talking tpo a society member in such pitch, it must have been scary for that guy, I would have left the society If I had to face such a wrath but he stuck to it and delivered an excellent performance- one which raised his bar in the society) .
19th October
With all the enthusiasm, zeal, arguments, attractive offers
and above all the hardwork put in the day has come for the action. We expected
to start by 12:30 The panellists had arrived and all preparations had been done
but only one thing was missing and that was AUDIENCE (imagine an audi of
capacity if 200-250 people being filled by only 50 people). The site was heart
breakening to the least. For a minute I was blank, I was like now what. It
wasn’t just my societys stake at hand but colleges too and exactly reverse was
happening of what I had thought. We left repenting for another day and thought
what we could do the best at this stage. We started calling our friends in
hostel, sitting in canteen, attending classes (we had to convince a teacher to
cancel her class and make students sit for the event). We literally begged in
front of the strangers at LP to come and attend the talk. We had to kick-start
things as the present audience was getting restless. We managed to half fill
the audi. There were various reasons for the low attendance : the fact that
date was mid October so many students had left for their hometowns and that was
a setback for us, the fact that we were not able to get any other date and a
similar event was held before our event and personal promotion was lacking.
Anyways these shortcomings are something which we thought in hindsight only. But
the people who attended the session were full of praises for the session. We
had managed to keep the quality at the highest level. It was a great learning
curve for me as it was one event I had envisioned and to see it becoming successful
(purely on the quality side) was satisfactory.
