Living with Project KHEL

Contributed by: Sheba Siddiqui
Dated: 20th Jan, 2018

As a kid after returning from school, a question asked regularly was “How was school?” .This used to put me in a frenzy to mention each and every thing that made the day so special for me. After my Dad came back from work, I used to ask him the same, “How was work?” and he mostly shrugged his shoulders and said “Like usual”. With a frown on my face I decided there and then I would never take up such a job.

After growing up, I realized most people are frustrated or unhappy with the work they are doing. Some might enjoy perks of their job but they are dissatisfied internally with the kind of work. I also understood how job satisfaction might not always lead to a feeling of fulfillment in life.

So after studying for approximately 20 years, I still wasn’t sure about what kind of work would give me this sense of satisfaction. And then, about a year into my Masters I came to know about Project KHEL and the kind of work they do. The more I read about their work and especially the way they were going about doing it, I realized it was the perfect amalgamation of my interests and college majors, education and psychology.

Project KHEL’s ideology, for me, is the perfect mix of both. They actually put all the best theories of education and psychology in action and once I started working with them, the results of this practice were clearly visible, making me sure of the decision I had taken.

In the last 6 months, with 3 months working as a part-timer and the recent 3 as a full timer, not one day has gone where I haven’t felt satisfied with my choice. There have been days when I have been unwell, or it was just too hard to get out of bed, but just one session with the kids and all the gloominess, dullness goes right out of the mind and body. Each session is not just a happy hour but a new learning experience, with me more than the kids, improving my life skills and knowledge base.

As a full-timer the days got busier, the mind and body got more clustered but the smile got larger. Even with the smallest work I do in office, I know it’s somewhere going to affect the life of the kids we work with and many more we hope to work with. All the hours spent in meetings and staring at my laptop is aimed at enriching the life of hundreds of thousands of kids and thus every tired cell of my body knows it’s all worth it.

I don’t spend every day at work just wishing for it to end; I live every moment of it whole heartedly. So, when someone asks do I enjoy working with Project KHEL, my simple reply is “I enjoy living with Project KHEL.”