Gratitude diaries- 29

For the almost seven years that I spent in FHI, I was part of a team known as M&E- Monitoring and Evaluation grant. In the last three years, I also became a part of another team simultaneously. But M&E remained my comfort zone. The team composition changed a bit while I was there. Old members went, new ones came in. In the beginning, I was a bit scared of not being accepted, of envy from the older, established team members. But after very few hiccups, I was accepted and fitted right in. Rajat had started this ritual of us having afternoon tea together while I was in Delhi. I tried to adhere to this religiously because it gave me a chance to take a break and also interact with the rest of the team, because they were sitting in another room and I was cut off from them. We also would go to the India Islamic Centre for team lunches once in a while.  We were all foodies and most of us enjoyed non-vegetarian food. When I moved to Mumbai, I made frequent trips to Delhi at first. The Delhi team tried to time the team lunches with my visits. I was always given the task of deciding the restaurants and the menu, and inevitably everyone was pleased with my choices. Once, a team member confessed that they all used to wait for my trips, because they knew I would order the most delicious food! My reputation as a foodie was quite strong. There were hardly any undercurrents of jealousy or negativity in the team- maybe because everyone was in their thirties and mature and confident of their skills and worth. We would work together happily and also never stinted in lending our support to the other members when they were overworked or overburdened. Together, under the leadership of Rajat, we accomplished difficult goals and took pride in our collective work. Even when Rajat left, most of the other team members rallied around Lakshmi, who provided leadership. We enjoyed going on retreats once in a year, when there was budget for it. I feel very lucky to have been part of a supportive and co-operative team like M&E, thinking about who leaves a warm glow in my heart even now. Thank you, M&E team- you were the best!