Month: December 2016

This was the second time that a MUN was happening in the school. After listening to the experiences from my fellow friends regarding the first MUN, I was keen to participate in the second MUN ‘FSMUN 2.0′. I was really excited, however, I have stage fear, therefore public speaking was never my cup of tea. I decided to be a part of the organizing committee. My role in the FSMUN organization committee was that of the head of the logistics and the finance department. In both the departments I had partners to share my workload and hence I was able to give justice to all my duties, hence, have a balanced plan.

My goal was to understand the process of how the departments run and by the end of the event acquire knowledge about technical details. In the finance department I was responsible for keeping a record of the payments made by the delegates (cash inflow) and to coordinate with other departments and to make the payments of all the expenses done (cash outflow). In the logistics department I had to ensure that, on the day of the event everything is working smoothly and had to monitor the work done by the other team members. Working with people, being a manager, taking responsibility, making other people work is something that I can do, hence, I applied for the head position of the logistics department. After interview and the completion of the whole process, we were allotted our duties. I was quite satisfied with what was given to me. But there was not much scope to explore in that department. Later, due to some issues, they needed someone to take over the finance department, I was offered to do so, and I accepted it. I being passionate to learn something new and explore how the way things work at a major level, was very curious. To some level I love math and management both, therefore finance department was an appropriate option for me. I had to learn the how the account system works, because out of city delegates made their payments through bank transfers, keeping the tally of each payment, contacting each delegate was a challenge for me. Simultaneously, I also had to keep a track of the cheque payments (submit those cheques) and handle the cash payments of the in city delegates. It was chaotic and tiring, because a lot of delegates had queries regarding the payment method and they used to even call at night. I ad to cater to each call. I took a little time to understand the process and the working already happening, because I joined this department halfway through and had to first understand the work already done. But the people with whom I was working were really cooperative, they gave me time and made me understood everything. The earlier finance department head was also very helpful, she forwarded me all the mails a and provided me with all the necessary information. Effective communication skills is something that I developed through this learning process. I had to do all the logistics work on the day of the event. I also won the best OC award for this. Overall, I was an amazing experience.

Garba Fest

Garba and Dandiya are the popular traditional dance forms that are performed during the festival of Navratri. By taking an advantage of the festival time, a dance competition was arranged. It was conducted to raise funds for charity.  To contribute to overcome with one of the significant globe issue, ‘POVERTY’. I have a keen interest in math and accounting. I was the head of the finance department for the event, where my goal was to make maximum profit, so that more money is donated. I took this opportunity because I thought it is a good platform for me to demonstrate my leadership and management skills, also this was a good opportunity to work for a good cause. This event helped me learn the technicals of finance and I also gained an experience of finance management for a big event like this.

It was for the first time that I was handling finance department for an event. I was very nervous, because not only did I had to handle the payments of the participants and stalls, but I also had to plan and take care of the budgeting with keeping tally of the cash flow and thereby also managing the expenses of all the other departments. Maintaining the coordination between all the departments was essential. I faced challenges during the process regarding the budget allotment. As the number of participants were changing and we were unable to predict the accurate participants the budget allotment process was getting delayed and I had to redo it many times. It was tiring as well as time consuming, but success comes with sweat. The heads of the other departments were patient and cooperative, ence, making the whole process work smoothly. At the end due to time constraints and with fluctuations we had to rush to get the things done, but it was possible with everyone’s support (including the school, teachers, support staff, etc.). On the day of the event, there were instant participants and therefore I also had to take care of their payment. Also ensuring that were was no one in the event who has not made the payment, as it will be unfair to the other participants. Ethics had to be maintained. Taking attendance by tallying each individual was a tedious task.  

I learnt a lot of things from this event, mainly how to manage with unexpected issues and to deal with last minute crisis. I also learnt a lot regarding the practical process of budgeting, payments and cash-flow. I think this has added a new column in my learning sheet and has helps me grow a lot as a person, this as well has given a satisfaction of positively contributing to the society.

CAS PROFILE – HETVI SHAH

My real name is Hetvi Ladhani, but after shifting to Surat, Gujarat, the family name has been changed to ‘Shah’.  We basically belong to Rajasthan and therefore I know the cultural language ‘Marwari’. I am brought up in this city of diamonds, ‘Surat’ and after spending years over here, I have developed a fluency in the local language ‘Gujarati’ too. In the city of Mumbai, on 15th of July, 1999 (last year of the 19th century), I was brought into this world. I consider myself lucky enough to have had the chance of witnessing both the 19th and the 20th century.

Who am I? Well, that’s a secret I’ll never tell. However, I will always want to be a person my parents want me to be. I believe that nobody is an open book, because even the books have some hidden messages that we may not be able to decode, and after all, nobody is like a clear water reflecting a face, the remains of the small pores can be skipped by a human eye. My debris speak a lot about me, they are the hints to the world about me. In my perspective, we all are magicians. Don’t we manipulate things for our benefit? The echo of the phrase ‘work out of your comfort zone to gain success’ remains in the back of our minds. I oppose this popular advice, as for me, working in my comfort zone motivates me to work harder, it provides me the atmosphere that suits me and allows me to be in my space. I just need to push myself, and not behave like I am on a Hawaiian beach. People who know me well, say I am always on my power saving mode. But folks, “Laziness is the first step towards efficiency”, says Patrick Bennett. One of my weaknesses are ‘hygiene factors’, their under maintenance affect me a lot, and I get irritated at the speed of light, like, if they are not maintained to an extent, it will make me feel really uncomfortable.  

I hate majority of the people I meet. I just don’t like meeting strangers, I don’t feel comfortable around the people who don’t know me well. Surprisingly, I have good coordination with the all my batch mates. On the surface, I may seem like a boring person to many, however, I feel that my pals cherish the time they spend with me. Family is very important to me and friends too.  “Be yourself, but always your better self” said by Karl G. Maeser, is a motto that my friends and I wish to follow. I don’t give myself too much liberty to judge people, however it is a human tendency to make judgments, and therefore before making an eye contact with a person, I always make a shoe contact. I have a weird habit of judging people based on their footwear.

Water is the substance that I adore the most. Its qualities personally teach me a lot, and may be therefore, I connect a lot to water. I want to be like water, people have no expectations from water, its existence reveals its importance. Why don’t we flow without any burden? Like in water the heavy substances settle down and it keeps flowing. Why are our shoulders so heavy? I am afraid of all the rides in the amusement/theme parks, but water rides attract me towards them. A few years back, I went to a water safari and that experience is something that I’ll never ever forget. I only felt the pressure of water pouring down from the waterfall on my shoulders, I heard the loud thundering of water and I stood there while the water coated my body, it was serene.

I have a penchant for knowing things, especially the details of situations and stories. I like travelling, watching movies/tv shows, reading, which has developed my little spark for writing. One day I will be an author, I claim! Hahahaha! My areas of focus are Math and Business management. Leadership and management skills are something that I have developed over the years. Since childhood I am involved in doing social work by taking part in various events. I am rigid, as well as emotional. Whenever I see a living creature suffering, my emotional ability overpowers my analytical ability. But as Mahatma Gandhi says, “The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.” I have tried to help a number of people in various ways, however, a selfish reason for doing so has always been in existence. My part time favorite activity is drawing (doodling). Time management has become a barrier of my life, but studies have always been my priority. Prioritizing my work has always helped me in achieving the goals I aimed for. I would like to end with a quote which reads “Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself”, by George Bernard Shaw.

P.S. I like quotes.