2010–2020: Gratitude Diaries — On my Journey, I met these people who lifted me

And this is my gratitude diary for the decade!

I have been fortunate to come across these people who lifted me personally and professionally.

These are the very wonderful people who have made my decade! They are unnamed but I believe each of you have had similar regular everyday people lifting you. Who are they?

My parents! — Oh the ever smiling Dad and Mum. Thanks for everything not just in this decade but forever!

2010 — I, for the first time had an opportunity to travel outside my home country along with one of my best friends and colleagues. I am grateful for that opportunity.

2010 — The cars were large, the Coke even larger, the food portions were big and everyone whom I met in the US had even bigger hearts and were super kind to me. They taught me over a month long period. All the knowledge they learnt over their long careers, they taught me without hoarding any information. This helped me become a better ‘Configuration Management’, aka, Build and Release Engineer’!

2010 — This friend on mine, who was on his first visit outside the country as well, was so helpful.

2010–2012 — My friend whom I reported into was such a positive person to work for. Always smiling, working as hard as any of us, and he built a 5 person team! A wonderful bunch of folks! Eight years after we last worked with each other, we are still in touch and have the same camaraderie amongst us

2010–2012 — The Configuration Management (CM) Team….you all are fabulous! Pleasant, kind, super fun human beings to work along side, to talk to, to just be around you was my privilege!

2012 — I met a colleague (now a wonderful friend) who inspired me to do better. Who inspired me to think beyond my existing roles and brought the idea of Product Management as a career into my head.

2012 — Hmm, Product Management! Where to do I start? I reach out to one of the wisest and most experienced Product Leaders. He is super accessible, coaches me for over a year on the aspects of Product Management. Where many would say a no to me, he (despite not knowing me), taught me, took time out from his busy schedule week after week, advised me, guided me.

2012 — I get hired as a Product Manager. The first person to hire me in his team could have easily rejected me on the grounds that I had no prior Product Management Experience. He didn’t. Instead he further coached me, taught me nuances of the role specific to the context of the team over countless 1:1s. He never hoarded information. A rank junior PM like me knew everything that any other PM knew and there was no discrimination given my new comer status. This one switch to PM, has made a bitcoin like growth to me in my career this decade.

2014 -Somebody picks a rookie PM like me with a relocation offer. He saw something in me that I may not have been aware of myself and gave me this offer. Not many would have done that. Thank you very much for having faith in me. A life altering phase. I arrive in this new country in a different continent with two bags, some dreams and temporarily leaving behind my wife and just born child

2014-I get to work with fabulous set of peers from the Product Management space. All having way much experience then me but all super courteous to give me their time and teach me further.

2015–2017 — A great bunch of leadership folks, I get to work for. One of them was super kind, took me out for walks, dinners and taught me humility, the Product and its technical aspects, created courses that inspired me to know the product inside out. The courses he created were crisp and told in such simple language that anybody without any prior experience of the product could have become a master. He never hoarded information and his knowledge!
Another of them, was a master communicator. A great story teller with an infectious positive energy. I simply learnt so much by observing him as I was granted the opportunity to shadow him on Business Trips. In my initial days, I simply Ctrl C + Ctrl V his presentation style ;-)
And another of them! A master innovator with about 16 patents in that product space! Kind, gentle, intelligent and a great seeker of deep impactful questions. I learnt searching for great questions from this person!

2015–2017
A great person who was the engineering manager for the Product who I was the PM for. He made life easier for me. He has such huge levels of patience, immense knowledge of the product and humility to just let me be and drive things. He is not just a colleague, he is my friend too!

2018-Till date
Gym owners and Fitness coaches. They invested their time on me. They taught me what fitness means in the actual sense. Got me in touch with all the right people and boy do I say, the increase in my fitness levels has taken me to the next level in terms of the energy I bring into any situation. This has been another huge high in my life.

2019-Till date
The nutritionist who taught me what it means to have a healthy diet. It augmented my already superlative journey towards physical fitness which inturn helped increased mental awareness and agility.

2019-Till Date

A very kind colleague. A very very kind colleague. Can’t say enough of how good a human being he is. Though we have never worked together, he is my lunch buddy and my goto for any Translation to English. Always smiling, calm and just kind.

My helpful and funny colleagues. Thanks for teaching me so many good things about life and work!!

My developer, my freelancer friend in Barcelona who develops the iOS application for me

Fellow colleagues from other companies in the IT space. Each of you have given me your time and presence sharing so much knowledge, accommodating me, making me feel welcome and extending me help with jobs.

Teachers for imparting the valuable gift of education to my child. After almost two decades, I had the extreme pleasure of meeting most of them under one roof at a lunch they all graciously agreed to come to, to bless me with their presence.

Family, Friends, Ex-Colleagues. Each of you made a difference in positive ways. Be it sharing your own life journey with me or listening to mine. Each time I learnt something new from you.

My wife and child for tolerating my inefficiencies as a human being and travelling on this roller coaster of a life that I have chosen for myself.

2020
My inspiring colleagues whom I work with closely or once in a while. Thank you very much!

Random strangers, humble people at restaurants, departmental stores who have touched me with their kindness, patience or smiles. I am grateful to you all.

Which people have lifted you? On whose giant shoulders have you stood upon? Somebody has helped you reach where you are today. Reach out, thank them. Whom will you lift today? Whose life will you make better today?