My Volunteering Journey

I have been volunteering for the last 7+ years. I have lost count of the organisations I have volunteered but it must be more than 30!

The volunteering journey started with iVolunteer. They had an initiative called Whiteboard where an experienced (actually older) volunteer is asked to help an NGO with highfalutin stuff like strategy over a period of 6–8 months. I was a part of two-member team that was supposed to help few NGOs.

The experience was mixed. Out of three I was asked to help, the biggest and oldest organization had so many conflicting requirements that changed more than a few times that we left in frustration after a few months. Fortunately, other two NGOs that were smaller and younger, things worked out beautifully and we were able to help them in achieving what they had set out for themselves. One of them, Booksforall at NOIDA (https://www.booksforall.in) started by a 60+ year old young Pravin Bhasin has been flourishing and I am lucky to be associated with them since then.

So, what worked and what did not.

What worked was high level of clarity in terms of what NGO wishes to achieve, why and how. Second was the passion and the commitment of not only the founders but every member of the organization. Third was willingness to spend time and openness of mind to have a series of engaging conversations. Last but not the least, personal chemistry worked and there was huge reciprocal personal respect and gratitude.

Having an enthusiastic and committed coordinator named Anuradha in iVolunteer, ensured that various coordination issues were quickly ironed out. Without her, we would not have achieved what we did. Unfortunately, she left after a year, and Whiteboard lost most of its vitality.

I learnt a lot from the people at NGO as well as my other team members, some of whom were experienced hands in NGO sector while I had zero knowledge of the same. Overall, it was invigorating and most of my misconceptions about the sector and the people in it underwent a sea change.

I have been subsequently volunteering as a teacher who teaches Maths, Science and Economics in a supplementary school that is run in a garden near our home in Vasant Kunj, New Delhi. It is an initiative run/managed fully by volunteers, all are 60+ and we keep ourselves younger by spending two hours a day with kids. Unfortunately, physical teaching has moved to an online one since last one year thanks to Covid.

I have subsequently volunteered to mentor few NGOs (Alohomora, SRI, Involve, Piramal Foundation, Varitra) and am associated with some of them since last 5+ years. I have also been mentoring college students online in association with organizations like Mentor Together and Udyan Care. Each of these associations have enriched me as an individual.

I am frequently asked why I volunteer. I am also told that it is good that I am giving back to society etc. While these reasons are partly true, I feel that the more important reason for volunteering is that I get more than I give.

All the volunteering I have done is broadly in the field of education which is a subject close to my heart and I thoroughly enjoy it. It gives me an opportunity to learn a number of new things, meet and interact with a large number of amazing persons and derive deep satisfaction.