A fond farewell, not a goodbye...

After nearly 5 years at The PACT, I feel it’s time for me to step aside and pass the baton to new leadership, fresh ideas and may be, even a new direction.

Starting shortly, I will not be involved – creatively and administratively – with the team’s operations, as I begin a different challenge soon. 

To everyone who believed in me and joined along in celebrating Mediation and Conflict Resolution via The PACT – I remain grateful, always. 

It isn’t easy to travel the road less travelled, to explore Mediation from a perspective beyond law and introduce a reflective approach to conflict resolution. I persevered, because I had a fantastic group of peers and mentors along the way – you know who you are – who whispered constructive criticism and shouted praises, whenever I needed them the most. You will always remain a part of this chapter of my mediation journey. 

My relationship with The PACT will go on through the friendships and working relationships I have built over the last few years – and when the world starts spinning around again, I hope we can all meet for a fun reunion by the beach in Goa! 

I would never abandon what I created, and at the same time, I couldn’t be selfish to not let go. Nothing that we have collectively achieved at The PACT matters more than the sheer thrill of conceptualising a project, announcing it to the world and then working sleepless nights to watch it come to life.

Nisshant Laroia took over from where Gracious Timothy left a few years ago, and together we travelled the length and breadth of India pursuing our mission. Nisshant is now surrounded by talented and resourceful personalities who will together fill in for my responsibilities and breathe renewed energy and purpose to The PACT. 

The PACT was created as a simple, yet ambitious idea to provide a platform for young students to explore Mediation and other allied forms Conflict Resolution. The PACT belongs to everyone who has been a part of this idea since its inception. When people called us “over-ambitious”, we just knew we had to get “over” the pessimism and focus on our strengths. Success is subjective and contingent to the reasonability of the goals you set and I can proudly say that we always chased every dream successfully.

Despite the odds, we prevailed – because of the combined efforts of each person who has joined us at workshops, trainings, boot camps, lectures, conferences, competitions, or the simple food tours we had in your city. The PACT is a dream we all keep alive by continuing to contribute to its projects – to create ambassadors of Mediation that will choose dialogue to resolve disputes. 

To the thousands of students and professionals I have met on the journey, my email address domain may now change for business purposes; but the person signing off the mails will still be me. Got Mediation on your mind? Drop in a line. 

It breaks my heart to call it a day, but I promise, I will be a call away. I will remain an ardent supporter, a committed follower and firm believer in all things The PACT sets to achieve from here on. I’ll be watching, I’ll be around. 

Continue following your fire. Continue chasing your dreams. Continue believing in yourself. Do what thrills you, while you are alive – cause nothin’ else really matters.