India won 1st Cricket World Cup in 1983 under the great leader and captain of Indian Cricket Team, Kapil Dev. Why it was important to Rajeev who had passed Board examination of 10th from a very small village, Torpa of Ranchi district. He moved to Ranchi for further study and to fulfill his dreams. What was his dream? His dream was not to become a cricket player but there was fire in his belly to stand on his feet and then to contribute to society. Initially, he wanted to be an engineer but he was very consistent in failing all the entrance examinations of engineering and so his first dream got shattered.
Fortunately, it didn’t let him down and he accepted it as one of the barriers of life. When everyone had lost faith and confidence in him, his acceptance of failure and cool mindedness, he qualified and became the youngest finance officer of the undivided state of Bihar in 1993.
Two learning: Be consistent from failure and never give up when you are at a cross-road with no clue where to go. To be a good bureaucrat, it is important to be approachable and always have a helping attitude.
He made it a strong tool in tax administration and so he became popular in the department and among tax-payers. It helped him in expanding his horizon and canvas of surroundings which triggered him to keep upgrading on personal and professional level. While in service he always acted and completed his assignment as per the expectation of the department, but his quest to upgrade himself allowed him to do law and then MBA from IIM Ranchi. IIM Ranchi awarded him with Gold Medal as the Best Outgoing Student in 2013. It actually shows his inner strength and capability to challenge himself even after completion of 20 years in Government service.
This gave him a boost and it was like opening the door of an uncertain word. He found himself very fortunate to have full support of family and kids and took voluntary retirement from service (VRS) in 2014 and entered into a new world where performance and uncertainty was parallel to each other.
It was a brave decision but his quest was to explore and to make a new path that allowed him to ride on the roller coaster of his life. This was the time when he was on a journey to create the footprints.
Having professional experience of more than 27 years in government and private sectors, he was introduced to an inspiring platform ie TED (www.ted.com) . TED is a global non-profit organisation whose mission is to bring the best ideas and spread it all across the globe.
The mission is to inspire the world by connecting those new ideas. Law of attraction was happening and he found himself totally aligned with this idea platform. To organise a similar program in the city of Ranchi was not easy as the process to get a license from TED was cumbersome.
Once again, he experienced many rejection for the TEDx license but finally he got the license in the name of TEDxKanke (www.tedxkanke.com) for Ranchi city.
The excitement was like a ‘Big Bang Theory’ of the universe. The law of attraction and the power of idea had started working. He formed a small team to execute his vision and to fulfil his dream.
TEDxKanke was organised in Ranchi on ‘23rd of February 2020’ where speakers from outside India and pan-India had assembled to share their ideas on the theme, ”THE BREAKING BARRIERS”. The local community experienced this great event and interacted with 13+ speakers from a diversified field.
What next? Just after the program a very unusual and uncertain news broke out i.e. spread of ‘COVID-19’ virus. Everything was locked, each activity was on a standstill and people were caged into their own campuses or houses.
The crisis was huge and no one was clear what was going to happen. In these uncertain times, a new idea emerged and so ‘webinar series’ with the theme, “THE RISE OF A NEW WORLD” was started on a virtual platform to connect with the people.
There is no doubt that people will ever forget 2020 and this crisis has created a permanent mark on this generation. This crisis has brought the whole human being closer and given a lesson that any misdeed of the human race will not be spared.
This was the time to act and contribute to society as possible as one can. TEDxKanke made it possible and 25 webinars were organised. More than 50 speakers, those who are great thought provoking leaders addressed to the whole participant on a virtual platform.
During this time, leap of faith and confidence was the key to deliver and leaders from government and corporates showed the right path.
He is a firm believer that Idea has an electrifying impact and TEDx is the best platform to infuse a leap of faith and confidence in everyone. He is keen to make the City, Ranchi an Idea Hub.
The writer is Curator, TEDxKanke and a former state finance officer.