It was with the Bahubali movie that most of us got acquainted with the name Shivagami. Her character had an arc of being very sensitive in private, but extremely confident and fierce in terms of leadership. None of us who have watched the movie can forget her rocksteady gaze followed by her dialogue “ये मेरा वचन है, और मेरा वचन ही है शासन”.
Why I discuss the movie character here is because in real life also I know a Shivakami. She is our office intern.
In terms of her physical appearance, she is the opposite of Shivagami the ruler. Shivakami is a young, smiling, sincere, slim girl. You ask for any work, and she will make sure that she does that. Shivakami joined our office in April 2022. It was almost the same time when I joined the Institute as well. As any new person in an environment, things can get overwhelming and difficult to understand. For me, I will frankly agree that it was. Filling up the indent forms, deciding about consumables and non-consumables for lab, and shifting the perception from being a student to a guide, all of these things were major new activities for me.
Similar to my case, I am assuming the work here may have been new for Shivakami as well. She is a fresh civil engineering graduate, has been sincere with her studies, and most likely may have had little experience with the work we gave her. And to our utter surprise, she learned the things at rocket speed. Having her around made office work simpler. You could give her the duly filled forms, and rely on her abilities thereafter.
For me personally, she was like my own student, apart from being the department’s office staff. Despite her schedule, she actively worked on a research article with me, shared sweets that she got from home, once in a while was my mess partner, and also shared my rejoicing when I recently got felicitated from IIT Delhi. That 15 minutes of spending in the office while having tea, immediately after lectures were lovely.
Only yesterday she said some great words to me, “Mam when I joined IIT Jodhpur, I was initially nervous. But then I thought if not anything else I will learn new things. Even if that doesn’t happen I will at least have a hostel living experience. And even if that is not satisfying I will at least earn my own money”. I then realized that this girl has so much clarity. She may look as timid to somebody for being so humble, but she definitely is no less than Shivagami the Queen, in terms of her sense of judgment and attitude. Good luck to you SK. We all are glad that you are jumping onto a new wagon to encounter new milestones. Wishing you an eventful life ahead.
P.S. Thanks for the gift, and for encouraging me to continue to write.
Aali Pant 