“Visualizing My Amal Experience”
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Being accepted for Amal has been one of the highlights of 2020 for me. A silver lining among these pressing times of the pandemic. Photography is something that I rarely practice but when I actually do, it makes me realize how many emotions we hide in pictures. The colors depict emotions. When we see a certain picture, and if it is of something or someone close to us, it brings out a lot of emotions.
When I sat back to reflect on the first 2 weeks at Amal, I had some ideas that might be explained best with pictures. Let me show you some of those.
First Ever Interaction:
I was thinking how to describe my first interaction through a picture and then I saw these cheesy keychains and thought, that’s my answer 😂.
Our batch’s WhatsApp group was made before the start of the session and when everyone introduced themselves, I got excited but sad as well. Sad because I realized that our batch was mixed from different cities and it will be difficult to keep up the pace with everyone. But I was absolutely wrong. I actually enjoyed when I got to see Swabi, Lahore and other places. I remember, the monsoon season was on full peak and everyone used to send pictures saying “aaj hmary haan baarish hui hai, kal hmaari haan hui thi 😂”. Every member was so excited about sharing their story and I enjoyed and cherished every single post and picture.
Plus, how can I forget my birthday. I am honestly not a birthday person and like other birthdays I thought this is going to be a normal day too. But the moment the clock struck 12 AM, I was surprised that my phone was constantly buzzing. Curiously, I picked it up and saw messages from the Batch-158 group and my eyes got teary after reading them. I mean, these people don’t even know me much and they are sending me such beautiful birthday wishes. It was the best birthday gift I got. I never felt so much special before and you guys were so genuine in making my day better. This memory is never going to fade away ❤❤❤.
Hiding Behind the Clouds:
The sun wants to shine but is still hiding among the clouds. This is exactly what I was in the very beginning of the fellowship. I really wanted to speak up and get familiar with everyone but I often got nervous and didn’t talk much.
Then I learned about the Principles of Progress and the one that affected me the most is “Khudi”, believing in yourself. I doubted myself so much. Everyone was volunteering in the online sessions and I was nervous that whatever I would say, might not be enough. But after learning about the Principles of Progress, my views changed so much.
I will relate another Principle of Progress with this picture and that is “Amal”. I had to put in practice all the confidence that I gained because that is the only reason to move forward and I tried my best to do that.
Blooming Along with the Fellows:
I was so lucky that I got to be the Group Leader of my 1st ever PW group. It got me out of my comfort zone which I needed the most. I was very anxious at first, leading a group of people I barely even know. But Ohhh.Myyy. God this group! It has been so far, “The Best” group I have been with. This group has been the perfect depiction of the quote, “First impression is the last impression”.
The people who I got to lead for the first time were:
Sehr Alvi: I get so so happy when I meet a fellow Physicist. Sehr, you’ve been a gem of a person and I cannot Thankyou enough for being a genuine and amazing person.
Anum Jamshed: Though you’ve got a quiet nature but your words are so joyful and precious. You’re such a cheerful person with an amazing personality.
Muhammad Umer: I’ll always cherish your insights in the very first meeting that you gave about your future plans. You’re so ambitious and I wish you all the best in life.
Samraiz Mushtaq: A few adjectives cannot describe the level of crazy you are 😄. But people, he is a really genuine person. Maaannn, you’re simply amazing and I’m glad that you were in my very 1st PW group.
P.S. Every word is true (unfortunately :P). I haven’t wasted any butter on you, lol.
Amjad Ali: I don’t know what to say or where to start to be honest. You have always been so supportive. The moment I saw that you are a member of my Mega Project Circle, a wave of relief passed through me to have a familiar person for whom I have massive respect. Your skills and creativity are out of this world. Thankyouu for being so genuine and honest from day 1 till the end.
This reminds me of Ek aur Ek Gyara. I got to learn so much from these guys in the group meeting that we had that it made me bloom just like the flower in the picture I shared above. The best part of the group meetings was when we used to discuss the PW and then gossiped for hours, literally hours. Though we are from different cities but Zoom brought us together 😁.
