Gratitude Note: Acumen - A Journey for Life!

Contributor: Shashank Kalra

2016 was an important year for me. Because that year I became an Acumen Fellow, but only in matter. Because I am still learning to be the spirit of what it means to be an Acumen Fellow. Thinking of the program year, I felt not just comfortable but challenged - to be a better version of myself. To let myself open and accept the multitude of perspectives yet get more rooted in mine. And grow from there and that too at my own pace. I say at my own pace is because some of the relationships that began during the year are only beginning to become nourishing ones that may last a lifetime, I say that also because some of the concepts and ideas that we were introduced to in 2016, are beginning to make sense now. 

One of the several key moments was when right in the first seminar I shared about my discomfort of using plastic water bottles during the seminar and requested the group to respond by not using them. We stopped using them right from the next day. In the next seminar - Acumen team gifted us all steel bottles too. Amazing! And I heard several stories of a co-fellow chasing to not use bottles in one of their big events and several others being aware of minimising its use. My own practice and awareness around that grew. It is such an important example in my mind of what it takes to create space where we listen to each other's truth and create a greater collective intelligence.

Another key realization that I had after 2016 due to the fellowship process was my relationship with (perceived) authority. I for the first time, saw that I have always been a first bencher person in classrooms in school - which meant I was teachers' favorite and unconsciously kept reporting to the whims of the authority figures. This meant I would like to appear good in their eyes and had the sharp discomfort of being otherwise. This realization in the path of finding my own voice came as a heartbreak. But it is one of the most important things to really find/create my own voice. 

At Acumen, we would say its a fellowship for life. I sometimes find it an aberration. But I guess slowly we are together living into that reality. And nothing demonstrates that better than the fellows community. From so many cross-pollinations to deeper friendships to peer consulting across projects - indicate this. It was such an enriching experience for Youth Alliance team to do a Leadership Development Program at Shiksharth (Sukma) and i-Saksham (Jamui). Neel at Gramya Manthan added so much value with Design Thinking approaches to Service Learning phase. 

This New Year as another cohort begins its fellowship journey, I am so grateful to be part of this community. And I hope its intensity grows with time. 

(Gratitude Note by Shashank, team member of Youth Alliance. He was selected for Acumen Fellowship in 2016.)