Ramesh

About Me

I am a Law Graduate from India with an extensive experience in promoting Youth Entrepreneurship and youth volunteerism. Presently I am a Consultant (Outgoing Programmes) for Inter Cultural Dialogue and Exchange India (ICDE - India), Bengaluru for five years. In my position as Consultant for Outgoing Programmes at ICDE India during this period, my roles and responsibilities include Preparation of Volunteer Recruitment Plan, Identifying and conducting outreach at potential partners, Interview, recruit and Orientation of volunteers and Conduct and compile annual volunteer satisfaction survey.

Through ICDE India, in 2008, I was a youth volunteer to Germany for one year and had a nice experience of voluntary work in a multiple disabilities project in the host country.

About me : I am an outgoing and happy person who has a varied interest and skill set. I love to learn new things in life through the streams of experiences.
My strengths are that I have good leadership qualities; I am a team facilitator, compassionate to the people and environment around me, and a go-getter.

I grew up in Warangal (India) - colloquially known as Historical City, it’s a playground of traditions, history and modernity. As much as I have benefited from my professional exposure I have also learnt a great deal from my roots.
After migrating from a small farming village, my father started his own civil construction business and my mother supported through small tailoring assignments in Warangal. For most of my time at home, I only saw my parents working hard to make ends meet. Growing up with those challenges and a consistent tussle to move up the social ladder made me sensitive about basic necessities at a rather early stage.
The interplay of social differences became clear to me when I attended St. Mathew ’s School. Run by the Jesuits, the school reserved a sizeable of seats for students from lower income families. This is where the foundation of my values was laid. The school made me ambitious yet humble, focused yet sensitive and creative yet responsible. It was through the school song here that I learned the one of the key lessons of my life – “Fight for right and do your best, for god and your land”
Studying at Kakatiya University on the other hand exposed me to vast cultural and ideological diversity. It also provided a platform to explore various musical forms and instruments. It was during the daily jamming sessions I conducted, that I realised how much I had in common with fellow students coming from North Eastern parts of India, by way of the regional disparity and scarcity of basic necessities that they also grew up with. We discussed to the hilt the issues of development and lack of opportunities which forced them to migrate just like my own family did, and brain-stormed about the solutions. It was through such discussions that my limited mind expanded and I learnt to focus on the big picture.
Ironically, this big picture focus led to a tendency to overlook minute details which were nevertheless important. Over time I have learned from my mistakes and continuously sought feedback from my superiors and colleagues. It has made me cautious, sometimes resulting in extra time in fine tuning my work.
On my last trip to Germany as an International Volunteer, a colleague there remarked that I have a "universal comfort zone" as I never seem to be fazed by the vast cultural and ideological differences that we're constantly exposed to. That too holds roots in my childhood - I lived in an eight-member joint family. Yet the focus was never on the differences, but the similarities - things that kept us were scarce yet everything was shared and every celebration multiplied.
Experiences from those years made me more accommodative as I stepped out and I found it easy to bond with people with diverse backgrounds and skills gained through professional exposure helped greatly when I conceptualised Sing A Smile. Starting merely with three people, I was able to mobilize others and increase the team size to 50 volunteers.
High energy levels have often led me to take emotional decisions, especially if decisions involved impacting people. I have sometimes also found it difficult to deal with situations,at work and at a personal level, which tended to develop at a relatively slower pace. However, I believe that through working longer years, with more diverse teams and conscious efforts I would be able to evolve as more decisive and less emotional.
At this juncture of my life, with diverse professional and personal experiences, I feel like a bird that has stretched its wings and can't wait to explore the vast sky.

My Hobbies and Interests:
Music is one of my greatest passions. I am a self-trained multi-instrumentalist and can play the guitar, drums. I have tried to use these skills productively at various levels – from freelancing as a musician in college to founding Sing A Smile. I also enjoy outdoor sports (such as cricket, running and swimming), socialising and participating in discussions / debates over various local and global issues.

My Understanding about Voluntary Work : Voluntary work to me is an assignment which one takes up on their free will as it does not ask for a specific skill set but only asks for passion and keen desire in the applicants to do certain job for a good social or environmental cause. It is something which might not have a rigid structure, hierarchy to go with it, nor a fat industrial salary but what it offers is a sense of contentment in doing something which pleases us and in turn is for the betterment of the society.

My reasons to go abroad for volunteering : I am extremely passionate about travelling, meeting new people, sharing of culture and experiencing various traditions. I am also an ardent travel photographer. However, all the travel that I have done so far in my life has been restricted to my native country, India. I therefore want to go abroad and experience what is in stored there!

My expectations and hopes from the volunteering program abroad : I look at this programme as an opportunity to work on an important social cause, travel abroad which I am very keen to do, learn something new which I will cherish all my life and share some useful insights in different cultures with people around me (abroad and back home) who share the same zeal and passion like me!

Challenges I may face during my volunteering period and how I can cope up:
I am a highly adaptable person and very confident in not having much challenges in living in a new society/culture. Language might be a slight challenge in a non-English speaking country which also, given my flair for languages, I may overcome with time!

My Future Plans:
I want to serve people, because I feel I am a chosen child of God, to bring changes & improvements among weaker sections of the society through my knowledge, skills and strengths, where I can bring smiles on people’s face. It’s a small contribution from my side to the people who are in need and who really want to help themselves. I want to mainly focus on rural poverty where still people are not aware of many facilities provided by our government, and other sources, especially education facility.



Self References:
Yes.
I Worked as International Practickan (International Volunteer) for Mariaberg Heimes, Gammertingen, Germany for five months September 2007 to January 2008. My services are mainly included in the department of Administration for manual routine works.
Mariaberger Heimes is a registered association working for the rights of the people with disabilities in Germany and an institution for Promotion, consultation, treatment and company for people with disadvantages - in particular with handicaps. It offers consultation services for all age groups, personal care and assistance, diagnostics, therapy, promotion, support and care as well as vocational and scholastic training in different occupations to the people with disabilities.

Reference :
Mr Thomas Poreski MdL
Fraktion GRÜNE im Landtag
Haus der Abgeordneten, Konrad-Adenauer-Str. 12, 70173 Stuttgart
. 0711/2063-650, Fax. 0711/2063-660, Mobil: +49 (172) - 4056424