Of Aspirations, Originality and Hope

This picture may look like an ordinary piece of art but it does have some stories intertwined that I wished to share.

As a part of the Global Day of Impact event, the API Platform team at @Citrix went to "Namma Mane", the home to under-privileged girl children. One of the collaborative activity we did with kids was painting. Before leaving for the place, we selected a thumb painting of a peacock as a theme.

Renuka was one of the kids (in 5th standard) in the group I was a part of. I am assuming she would get excited seeing the theme but instead she said-

"Anna I don't like the peacock, Anna"

After cajoling for a bit, I had to give into her insistence and she went ahead and chose a different drawing.

That moment, I realized I was with an INDEPENDENT THINKER who was crystal clear in what she wanted. We were the only team who were using out of themed drawing, everyone else complied with what was told.

Sometime later, when we started drawing, one part of the new drawing required that we use a pink paint. But only problem was that we didn't have a pink paint, among the 6 we had.

Without blinking an eye-lid, she said "Wait Anna, I will tell you a trick".

After that she simply took the red paint and white paint and mixed it on the color palette. After a few moments, we had a pink looking color.

That moment, I realized I was with an INNOVATIVE THINKER who knew how to make most of her constraints.

After the painting was done, without me telling her anything, she copied the text from our T-Shirts "Making Change Happen" (part of our Corporate Citizenship slogan) and preceded that with "I Love".

One gets inspiration from unexpected sources and today was my day to get inspired by this little girl who not only knew what she wanted but also how to get there when faced with constraints, just by keeping things simple.

On speaking to her later, she said she wanted to become a Doctor. If this small observation was anything to go by, she had all the ingredients in her to reach the goal she had set.

#Citrix is one place I know that has it's priorities right- when it comes to products, customers and making the world a better place.

Thank you #Citrix for letting employees experience such moments that not only inspiring, but also broadens our horizons.