It is a human world and we deal with human beings. Business, like any other relation, depends how much one person trusts the other. Yes, there are organisations and protocols but eventually it all boils down to two persons; their trust and the value proposition.
Kolkata Bloggers: Logo.
“Kolkata Bloggers” has taken a slight edge over my GRE preparation and to me, entrepreneurship seems exciting. While Kolkata Bloggers has, in the last couple of months, grown beyond Kolkata and beyond blogging, the name has become an identity, my identity.
Over this period of time, I’ve met and worked with the good, the not-very-good, the right and the wrong, the funny and the weird ones, every time writing a tale of trust between two people. Be it Mr. Tridib Chatterjee, who treats me like his own son, catering to all my demands or Arkodyuti, who treats me as dearly as his own elder brother. Abhishek Chamaria is an elder brother, the other lady who is like an elder sister guiding me or perhaps the numerous other incidents which weren’t as consequential.
Of the many, is Surya, whom I call my brother. Never vocal about all the considerations he has to make, to be by my side every time either in person or virtually. Or Esha, who is now a dear friend. In either cases, I never knew that the friendships would turn out to be so significant. Surya was the first “student” I tried to teach photography to. Esha was another invited guest to St. Pauls Khiddirpur where I was invited as well. Trust.
Mr. Narayan Debnath (Bengali cartoonist, creator of Batul the great, Nante Fante and Hada Bhoda, to name a few) to the right, Surya Shekhar Chakraborty and me | Shot by Lava Pixel V2 as an exercise for the International Kolkata Book Fair, blogger outreach programme.
Mr. Tridib Chatterjee is Esha’s father. And the secretary of the Publishers and Booksellers Guild, which organises the International Kolkata Book Fair, which is one name every book lover associate themselves with, in this part of the world. I still do not know how, we became a partner to the biggest literary event. A person like me, who has minimal connection with either literature or books would never understand the significance of this association. Apart from being a collaborator for the first Bangla Sahitya Utshob in Kolkata, we planned a couple of products which could help Bengali literature market itself. To me, Tridib kaku matters, Book Fair really doesn’t. Trust.
A groupfie where I managed to sneak into; featuring Esha (to my left), Mr. Tridib Chatterjee ( secretary, Publishers and Booksellers Guild | Owner, Patra Bharati), Mr. Raju Varman (Rupa Publications), Milinda da and Ronit da | Selfie: Arjyak Bhattacharya.
তোমার নাম, আমার নাম, Vietnam, Vietnam | Vietnam Day celebrations during International Kolkata Book Fair 2016
Not too many TCS first timers were invited to an event organised by NASSCOM. When I was invited in 2012, it felt like a joke. Mr. Suparno Moitra who headed NASSCOM East then, is the secretary of BNCCI (Bengal National Chamber of Commerce and Industries). He connected to me after four years and I am not sure if anyone else remembers me with all the intricate details, the way he does. I am humbled by his actions. He has my Trust.
NASSCOM IT Niketan | Photograph: Sayon Kumar Saha
That association with NASSCOM was more of an emotional connect. It continued to 2014 when I supported NASSCOM Product Conclave externally and later in 2015, when Kolkata Bloggers leaders were given an entry to the Conclave. This year, we are there as a partner to the event. I am humbled by Nirupam da’s behaviour. I did not expect so much affection from him. He knows very well that we are not living up to the expectation and I personally need to invest more time. But there is this Trust.
NASSCOM Product Conclave – 15 July 2016 | #NPCKol2016
Talking about the Product Conclave – Surya is coordinating it knowing fully well that he would not be present in Kolkata to attend this. Arkodyuti, has a bouquet of ideas wanting to get implemented might be Kolkata Bloggers’ face along with Ankit. Now here’s another fascinating thing that happened,
Of all the daily inquiries, was that of a college students’, thoroughly professional and direct. A little bit of discussion and I got to know that he hails from Siliguri and studies in a reputed college in Chennai. Not sure of his commitments, I asked him to meet me at 7 AM. The slight conversation led to a series of discussions; instead of being the media partners, Kolkata Bloggers became the title sponsor and I tried getting him connected to as many people for the execution of his project. I asked myself, “Had he been my own brother, would I not have done that?”. Trust.
Arkodyuti Saha teaching in Girls2B Home. #HelloWeb | Photograph: Yours Truly.
When I first met Surya, I never knew he would be an inseparable part of my life. I never knew Esha’s father is influential. I had no clue what a Mozilla Club is or that we would be a discussion topic not only in Kolkata but among key people across the globe. Neither did I inquire where and how they would place our logo nor did I follow up. Trust.
Trust the person you are talking to. You’d be amazed. There’s no better feeling than being trusted. I am not a business guru. I am learning the trade, my own way, in my own pace. This is the first learning.