KYS Retreat – Time Flies When You’re Doing What You Love
Anjali, our Chief Content Officer, gives us an insight into the latest KYS retreat.
Have you heard the phrase “time flies when you’re having fun”? If you haven’t, let me assure you that it’s absolutely true! It doesn’t feel like a month has passed since we sat under the beautiful trees at Lal Bagh and discussed April. And if we thought that April was full, May proved us completely wrong. We’ve had a crazy, revelatory and interesting month and I can’t wait to tell you about it.
The Most Important Meal Of The Day
If you’ve read any of our previous KYS retreat blogs, you may have noticed that we always start the day with a hot meal. Jaideep, our Chief Talking Officer, is a big believer in the importance of breakfast. We’ve slowly adopted his enthusiasm – at least with regard to our retreats. It’s a wonderful way to start the day. Sharing good food is one of the small joys of life and having breakfast with your colleagues (and family!) always sets a positive tone for the day. After some delicious dosas and puris at Samrat (Hotel Chalukya), we set off on our monthly adventure.
We didn’t have to go far. Jaideep led us to the Jawaharlal Nehru Planetarium, which was only a few yards away. This lovely building is surrounded by greenery and even has a small educational playground for kids (and adults!). After indulging our inner children for a bit, we found a shady spot and sat down for our first circle of the day.
It’s In The Stars (And We Know Our Stars!)
Usually, our check-in circles are like warm ups, we are gearing up for a day of marathon discussions and sharing. But this time, we opened it with questions. Everything that we do depends on our vision for KnowYourStar and Mentor India. However, over time that mission has evolved and though we love the new steps we were taking, the path hardly resembles the one we started on. So, during this circle, we took the opportunity to sit down and discuss our plans for the year as well as the exciting new projects on the horizon.
Once we had clarified all our doubts, and given each other a lot to think about (as we always do), it was time to explore the universe! For all the Bangaloreans (and visitors to the city) who haven’t visited the Planetarium before, you’re in for a treat. The show was fantastic, and it was a great reminder that we’re all only a small part of the whole. It’s humbling and magnificent at the same time. The universe, like our ideas, is ever expanding. There’s so much that we have yet to uncover!
A Little Piece Of History
Hotel Chandrika, our next stop, is a well known Bangalore eatery that has been in the business for over thirty years. We love whetting our appetites with good food and it’s even more satisfying if we’re taking in a bit of history too. While we gorged ourselves on kulchas and biryani, we found ourselves discussing our evolution as an organisation. It’s been a tumultuous six months and we have a lot to show for it. Each of us has been on a personal and professional journey and though we’ve each grown as individuals, it’s also important for us to reflect on how much we’ve grown as a team.
When we started out on this road, Knowyourstar.com was a side project that Jaideep and Pranita began in order to explore their passion for storytelling and service. Today, we have published almost three hundred stories about ‘stars’ who are not only forging their own way but creating new avenues for those who come after them. And most importantly, we are helping children in underprivileged and rural schools realise their dreams and make them a reality.
Our Cup Of Tea
Still full from lunch, we wandered down Cunningham Road and decided that we needed some caffeine. But the eternal question arose – tea or coffee? As the only coffee lover, I drew the short straw and we ended up at Infinitea. Thankfully, there wasn’t much of a crowd and we settled down for our second circle with pots of hot fragrant tea and some decadent chocolate pie.
Our second circle is always fun because we pose interesting seed questions to kickstart the sharing process. This time we had a twist – none of us could give the same answers – we had to be totally unique! Jaideep asked us each to talk about the highlights of the last six months. As usual, we deviated from the topic but it did give us plenty to talk about!
Nandini shared how Volunesia has not only touched our lives but the lives of those who attended the event, she also mentioned how important our Thursday emails are to her (and how the ripples created by those emails have changed our lives) and how meeting Pranav made her realise how much of a difference our work actually makes.
Pranita made us all happy by talking about how each of us brought something unique to the table and have helped shape the way KYS and Mentor India have grown. Jaideep shared his feelings about our journey from a private company to a registered NGO and the changes we’ve experienced along the way.
I was happy to be able to share my feelings about the faith that Pranita and Jaideep had in me, and their willingness to trust me with the KYS website and all the content. I also spoke a little about how inspired I have been by the reactions to the content we put out. As storytellers, there’s nothing more rewarding than changing someone’s life with our words. Thank you all for listening in your own ways!
After that, we had a bit of a ‘popcorn’ session, where each of us could ‘pop up’ with our feelings and observations in no particular order. It’s a cathartic process and we learn so much from each other during these sessions. Pranita shared a lovely story about her parents and how much she feels that they have absorbed from her work at KYS. The students have outstripped the master and she’s thrilled that they are more open to the ideas that drive us.
Nandini spoke about how she wants to be stronger and better at what she does. I opened up about how I want to be more disciplined and allow myself to contemplate new opportunities. Jaideep, who is usually the most upbeat of us all, shared that sometimes even he feels low, but he feels rejuvenated and reenergized by looking at all of us and the work we accomplish together.
The New Additions
The newest additions to the KYS family, our summer interns, joined us on a Skype call after that. It was a great chance for us to interact with them outside of their projects and our professional personas. We loved chatting with them about their interests and lives outside of KYS. We’re definitely planning a trip to Manipal soon to have a proper circle with them!
It was amazing to have all of team KYS in one place (at least virtually) for a little bit. It was the perfect way to wrap up the retreat. After posing for our customary selfie and retrieving our phones from Jaideep, we each headed home feeling more at peace for having taken some time for ourselves, away from overflowing inboxes, phone calls, and text messages.
Before we sign off, we’d like to give a very special shout-out to all of our readers. There is no KnowYourStar without you! Your interest and encouragement are the currency that keeps us going. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts!
If there’s any story that needs to be told, we will tell it. Write to us at contact@knowyourstar.com with your story lead, or contact us on Facebook or Twitter.
