A memorable journey with friends, old and new

The PSG Tech Alumni Association of North America had its largest gathering of alumni outside India, Music4Museum (M4M) on the 8th of February, 2014 at India Community Center in Milpitas, CA. I was privileged to be part of the event organizing team and wanted to share my experiences about it here.Today, the 9th of February is the day after the event. There has been a huge void in the past 16 hours since I got back home from ICC. As one of our team members aptly put it, we are all going through major withdrawal symptoms. After months of emails and phone calls and visits and practice, there is a huge vacuum. We are relieved, thrilled and thankful for all that happened yesterday. But now that its all over, it feels like it should have never ended.Last summer, our local alumni association called for a picnic in a local State park and after a lot of thought, I agreed to go. I have very fond memories of my time in college and figured it might be a good idea to meet some folks from other batches. Going to the picnic was one of the best things that happened to me in hindsight. I got to meet a bunch of folks some of whom I had never met before and had graduated years before or after I did and others who I had met briefly in past occasions. The idea for the Feb 8th event had been hatched prior to the picnic and some of the leaders of the organizing committee were looking for event team members to help pull it off. I signed up for it, hoping to make new friends. Boy, was that a smart decision or what.Over the past four months, I have gotten to know the dozen odd event team members very well. We have worked through challenges big and small. We did not always agree on everything. But we did not quarrel. In fact, I learn some big life lessons from putting this event together with this fantastic team.--- It is not always about you. It is about something much bigger. The moment you commit to a cause, it is the cause and the team that really matters. So many folks worked hours together in making M4M what it was yesterday. And they did not ask or in some cases receive public recognition for it. They did it because they wanted to. And that was such a humbling experience to see and learn from.--- The entire event was put together in a very professional manner. At the risk of sounding biased, it felt like it was engineered to succeed. Yesterday, when someone who flew into town specifically for the event asked me if things could go wrong, I simply said No. After all the preparation that went into every minor detail, almost obsessively so, it felt like it was meant to go well. I am not saying this to come across as over-confident. But when solid planning goes into something, the results show. And having a ringside view of that professional thinking and planning was a great lesson.--- PSG Tech gave me the foundation for a good career. It is where I first met my wife. Inspite of that, I had never felt compelled to give anything back or that I owed something to the college. I took my association and benefits of being a part of a privileged community for granted. To me, the event was an eye opener in that regard. I saw very many people putting their alma mater on a much higher pedestal. And how much they did and continue to do for that PSG family. What I did for the event and for the PSG alumni community was but a little of what I can and should do over the next few decades of my life. I found that calling working side by side with the event team.--- The event team leadership defined the concept of commitment to me. For every task I stepped up to do, they did four. And at no point did I feel that I was doing more. I always got the feeling that I could do even more. The leadership team led by example and I am proud of being associated with them. Logu, Aras and Akila are leaders worth emulating in every way possible. They brought different skillsets to the table and made all the difference. And the entire event team took ownership to a new level. Every team member completely embraced their responsibility and drove it to completion. There were folks who helped organize the event who were from out of town. With them, the geographical distance between us was insignificant when it stood up against the ties that bound us together.--- I learnt through this event that PSG Tech is not just about its alumni, but also its extended community of the families of the alumni. I am fortunate to be married to a PSG Tech alumni who understood my commitment to the effort. But to see the families of others in the event team, TekMusic and so many others who stepped up to help us in so many different ways was a revelation. It has made the PSG family so much bigger and richer.--- An alumni organization is nothing without the support of the alma mater. To that effect, it was a truly great gesture for the PSG leadership to fly in from India specifically for the event. For them to fly for 20 hours to attend an event and then fly back speaks volumes of the relationship we share. My respect for them grew phenomenally after this.--- The camaraderie and sheer talent that our TekMusic put on display was utterly remarkable. The artists who came in from all over the country just for this event put on a show for the ages. And their chemistry was a joy to behold. One of those rare times when I wish I had the talent to be part of such a cool set of folks who are truly blessed and have put those blessings to the best use possible.There is so much more that I want to write about the experiences of the past four months in putting this event together. But I will stop with this one last acknowledgement. We owe the event's success to the PSG alumni family. They stepped up in a way that zoomed past my wildest dreams. They are why we put together this event and they made it worth all the effort and so much more. What an awesome group of people to be a part of. You rock folks. Totally!