When Deepak joined our team at office, we were not at all confident of his capabilities. However, he was well recommended by one of our colleagues and hence he was recruited.
And right from day one ,all we saw were faults in his work. It seemed that he knew less than most of the people of his age. And , his body language never showed any confidence. He almost lost his job twice or thrice. He survived because he was willing to work any where in the world and in a xx construction company we seldom find people willing to work in difficult terrains. Thus, he had the worst postings ever. None of us at office thought much of him, but since he was an ever smiling ,polite and a hardcore honest person, he was not put up on the “Termination” list.
I free lance as a Coach and take weekend sessions. I started off with free sessions for my work force to help them battle their mental unrests. To be honest, along with helping them, I also hoped that their performance would improve. Once day I received a call from Deepak.
“Mam, good evening. I want to do a few sessions with you” he said. We agreed on a date and time and for some reason or other I was not able to give him time that day. He patiently waited till I could give him time.
We had our first session. It was an online one, so while I was comfortably sited in a warm and cozy room in Mumbai, he was in his camp accommodation at site in a freezing -14 deg temperature. That did not freeze the warm smile on his face though. And we got talking.
As we talked , we got to know more about him. Before working in a Corporate, he has a successful transport business. He owned and operated trucks. His fleet was less but they were enough to provide for him and his family. And then one day disaster struck In a months time he lost two of his trucks in bad road accident and few of his operating crew too. His insurance was not enough to cover for the loss and after compensating the truck operators families, he hardly had anything left to provide for his family's security. That’s when he decided to take up a job. He worked in contractual employment as an accountant in a few companies. Then he got a job in our company.
He knew that he had to survive at all costs. That’s why he kept a positive attitude and smiled always.
“You know madam, I believe that when you wear a smile, you slowly start believing that all is well. And then things really fall in place “ he said.
I did not have to do much as a coach. It was as if universe had sent him to me to learn some lessons . So I learnt from him with profound gratitude.
Now, when I see him, I do not see a man whose accounting skills are lesser than those of his peers but I see a man whose life skills are superior than all of us. And whoever I see now, I see heroes , heroes fighting battles, saving lives, winning vices and above all showing that life is worth living.
Thank you Deepak.
Orpita
7.1.2025
