Week of July 17th & July 23rd — Never Give Up!
Growing up in India one often heard the expression, “Man proposes, God disposes”. Being a glass half full type and a believer that one can do anything one sets their mind to — this never quite sat well with me. But with the computers being “dead” for two weeks and my sabbatical time running out — I was starting to feel like this would not end well and some not so helpful force was coming in my way. I was also certain the students had forgotten all that had learned so far.
I decided to channel the energy from my growing anxiety productively.
Sindhu had sent me over their written stories as pictures. I created a word document and red lined them for grammar and spelling corrections and intended to share them with the students so they could learn. My plan was that when we did get to use the computers, we would have all the materials we needed to create our stories.
I also asked the Adobe team to create Adobe IDs for all the kids, so when I was back they could create their stories and start building their Creative Identity.
I was in touch with the lab regularly and each time I got variants of the same answer. It is raining, there is no electricity in the school, the computers are still not working, the lab technician has left the school, we are trying….but nothing is working ..
After many calls to Rakesh (the tech guy), I asked Sindhu if I should ask the school principal (head mistress) for help. I got a resounding — “Yes, please!”. After a brief exchange on WhatsApp she said it will be all set up by Saturday, July 29th (a week before I was due to head back to San Francisco). I thanked her profusely…and crossed my fingers that the Bombay Monsoons wouldn’t wreck havoc again.
Day 11 Saturday July 29th — Every Cloud has a Silver Lining
It was 5:30 a.m. My mother woke me up and said“Wake up and take your bed tea Malkin” (some of us Indian’s still maintain customs we learned from the British over 150 years ago). “It’s your last day with the students, you should get going” (we were taking a family vacation to Lonavala, a hill station in western India, the next day).
I looked out the window of their 11th floor apartment. It was raining lightly. Seeing the look of concern on my face my mother reassured me, “Papa says it is a passing shower. The school’s will remain open today.”
I was at the school by 7:25 a.m. I hurried to the computer lab to look for signs of life. It was closed as the lab opens at 9 a.m. So I ran up to the classroom and peeked in silently as class had begun. The teacher was distributing books so things were in disarray.
Some of the students noticed me. Mohsin jumped out of his seat immediately! Farhan and Muskan’s smiling faces and eyes made my heart melt. Their unbounded love and joy from seeing me was all the encouragement I needed to do whatever it would take to make my lesson plans work that day.
Since the students hadn’t taken a computer class in two weeks, I did a quick refresher of the basics about how to use Adobe Spark by asking them questions: “How do you start a project?” “How do we add music?” “How do you find a photo?” “What is a layout?”
Their enthusiastic and correct responses made me realize all my worries were for naught. The students had learned and retained a lot.
I decided to take the students down to the computer lab in small groups so we would have one student per desk (I had learned my lesson from the chaos that ensued when I had three students per computer). I had so wanted to use Adobe IDs for each of student — but they were not ready (yet). I was not going to let anything distract me from my goal. (Note to self: share feedback with the product team — we need to enable Adobe ID creation with just a phone number — as most people in India don’t have email IDs — but they all have a phone number!).
I used the three Adobe IDs I have (remember I could sign in on multiple machines with the same ID) and we got started!
The students were creating their stories and having fun. I was full of joy! (Below are a few samples of their work. As they were using my Adobe ID, I asked them to write their names in their creations).
As I was wrapping up the class, a senior member of the school administration came to the lab to thank me. I was touched by their sweet gesture of presenting me with flowers. I thanked him for letting me come and teach at the school in spite of the disruption to the usual routine and curriculum. He said in Hindi, “Nahim, nahin. Dhandyavad aapko dena chahie. Aapki wajeh se hamare bachon ne bahut kuch seekha hai aur hamara computer lab bhi ache se chal raha hai.” (No, no. We should be thanking you. Because of your efforts our children have learned a lot and our computer lab is working so well).
Some of the kid’s parents also came to see all the excitement around Adobe Spark. The expression of pride and surprise on their faces as their kids hit the play button and shared their videos was priceless. Adobe had touched the lives of these kids meaningfully and the parents could see this too.
Monday, August 6th My Last Day in India
It was my father’s birthday — the main reason for timing my sabbatical during this time.
It was a happy day, yet I was sad. I would be leaving today after this amazing vacation. The sabbatical was everything I imagined and more — a heartwarming time with my parents, a heart-wrenching and incredibly inspiring experience with the students of Teach for India. All in all, I could not have asked for anything more, except for maybe another visit with the students.
I could not forget their sad faces from Saturday, when we said our goodbyes. My sweet and perceptive mother who is a retired teacher said, “Do you want to go to the school?” Somewhat hesitantly I said, “Yes but...it is papa’s birthday.” She said, “You should go Malkin, the kids will be so happy.”
I dashed off to the school and it was the best decision I made. The students’ unbounded love was exactly what my soul needed. It happened to be Friendship Day and several of the students tied friendship bands on my wrist. I was overjoyed and came home my heart full of hope.
As I explained in my first Medium post, the goal of my sabbatical was to give back to the community and bring new learnings and insights back to Adobe. I feel blessed I was able to accomplish both.
First and foremost, my sabbatical experience reinforced my belief in Adobe’s mission of enabling creativity for all, and the latent need in every one of us for creative expression. During my time in the classroom, I saw firsthand how accessible technology can cut through seemingly insurmountable socio-economic and religious differences. Technology has the power to create a level playing field for everyone who has a story to tell. The impact Adobe Spark had on my students was thrilling to watch — giving them instant gratification, confidence and a desire to be creative.
Part of our mission at Adobe involves inspiring the next generation to be lifelong creators, and it was gratifying to help these students start to realize their creative potential.
Having an opportunity to spend time in the classroom only underscored how important it is for executives to get out of the office and into the field. As we work toward delivering on the vision of enabling creativity for all, it is critical to see firsthand how products are used as well as the operational challenges they face in adoption at scale.
In the end, the most fulfilling aspect of this experience was witnessing the hope and desire of these students to rise above their conditions and create a better opportunity for themselves — in spite of all odds. Their vulnerability, tenacity, hope and curiosity will forever inspire me to continue working towards making a difference in their lives.
