Happy achievement
Never before have I enumerated my own achievements for an award, so when Prerna from Ladies Who Lead asked me to propose myself for an award, I was hesitant – until she spoke to me about it. Listing down all I’d done in 2024 felt fabulous.
Recounting the work and the wins kind of takes the edge off that persistent anxiety about “am I doing enough in life” that I seem to constantly wrestle with. Even more exhilarating was attending the intimate award ceremony hosted by Abha Bakaya. Abha has been a friend for years, and she was equally delighted to award me the Fearless Achiever Trophy. Meeting some lovely achievers from myriad fields motivated me and I’m revving to go this 2025 wishing for a stress free year of joie de vivre and happy achievements.
These awards work for me as a reminder that every step — whether marked by triumph or failure — pave the way toward greater learnings, a deeper desire to mentor more students, and achieve more successes. It is not the absence of challenges but the courage to rise above them that defines what I stand for. Let me tell you, I’ve had many hurdles and obstacles I’ve overcome, not to mention situations where everything seems to come at once, and I have to attend to everything at a firefighting pace overwhelming me and at that time it is that fearlessness that sees me through.
Success is not final, failure is not fatal: It is the courage to continue that counts. – Winston Churchill
Stamp stories
Seems like yesterday we went to our school “social” from Loreto Convent with Mount Saint Mary’s, where we were meant to dance with the boys and hone our social skills with the opposite sex.
The only and most important question that every boy asked as they danced was, “What is your hobby?” Invariably, and humorously so- their hobby was always and only “collecting stamps”. I think that was predominantly the main hobby that people had at the time. These memories came flooding back as I attended the historic Mahapex 2025 inauguration at World Trade Center as a delegate and in that serious ceremony I was beaming away at my funny memory.
It was a remarkable morning with Shri C. P. Radhakrishnan, Governor of Maharashtra, who unveiled this prestigious state-level philatelic exhibition. Chief Postmaster General Amitabh Singh spoke engagingly about his five-day philatelic exhibition curated by the entire GPO team to engage Mumbai in historic and current stamps, as well as the stories behind some of the showstopper stamps. My one thought was that our governors and other statesmen may want to make their speeches less studied and more spontaneous and engaging. Speaking from the heart always makes for more memorable speeches than speaking staccato from a script, isn’t it?
In contrast, the highlight was a fun talk by my good friend Postmaster General Amitabh Singh and the coffee morning hosted by him and WTC Director Rupa Naik as we celebrated the launch of the new Mahapex logo and Special Cover featuring WTC Mumbai.
The cover beautifully incorporates Braille script and the innovative Dak Seva e-bicycle expedition — a perfect blend of tradition, progress, and philatelic excellence. I walked around fascinated, seeing rare stamps alongside contemporary postal innovations, while cultural performances added soul to this celebration of India’s rich postal heritage. The convergence of consulates, collectors, and culture made this morning truly memorable.
Silver Jubilee
Kudos to Sarayu Doshi, Brinda Miller, Rohini Ramnathan, Shirin Barucha, actor Vrajesh Harjee and the entire Kala Ghoda team for clocking twenty five successful years of the festival. The opening night and celebration for the grand successes at rooftop rendezvous at the Taj had the arterrati of Mumbai in full attendance looking ‘like a wow’!
Until next week then.
(Write to Nisha JamVwal at [email protected])
