Pramod has been a part of Rang De for 9 years now. He shares his journey and how even after multiple opportunities to shift careers, he chose to stick with Rang De. This is the first in the series we call ‘Life at Rang De’ where we introduce you to our teammates and give little insights into what happens inside Rang De.
Pramod during his early days at Rang De
After completing his Masters in Social Work, Pramod was looking for a job. He had developed an interest in the social sector at the time but didn’t know the dirt of it. He took up a fellowship programme which gave him exposure to the field and an idea about the social sector. The fellowship programme, as he says, was rigorous and had modules that challenged him to learn more about rural India.
After completing his fellowship he appeared in many interviews. Out of the many organisations that came, Google Inc, Milaap foundation and Rang De were the ones that piqued his interest. He said he chose Rang De even though it was very new at that time. Only because he liked the idea of how Rang De enables everyone to do good for fellow Indians.
One of the many field trips Pramod has been to
When he joined Rang De back in 2013, the team was quite small. His early workdays were occupied with doing KYC verifications and audits. He soon realised that he could do many more things. Pramod shared he was lacking soft skills at that time and that limited him to a great extent. He wasn’t very fluent in speaking languages either.
He had a word with the cofounders – Ram & Smita about this. They shared with him the experiences from their life. He said that the conversation strengthened his belief that if one has the will to change, he/she definitely can. So he joined online classes and upskilled his way through.
He started reviewing profiles of investees that were to be featured on the website. Proofreading and writing were added to his forte over time. Next, he took on the role of Impact Manager, where he got the opportunity to visit communities on the ground.
This calls for a meeting!
While covering the impact of Rang De’s credit on the ground, he had many vivid experiences. One that is etched in his memory is that of a woman from Manipur. A 22-year-old widow, and mother of a single child who was struggling with life. Rang De in association with Seva Manipur had lent Rs 10,000 to enable her to start a pickle-making business. It was 8 months after her husband’s demise when Pramod visited her home. She was in tears and overwhelmed. She thanked the Rang De for giving her a second chance in life and deemed them to be gods.
The moment that etched the memory of a lifetime
Pramod shared that there have been several instances where he saw this emotional connection with the Rang De community. He has done multiple visits and has met over 300 investees over the years.
‘It is easy to connect when you visit the ground. Working from the office it’s not that evident’ says Pramod.
But Pramod’s journey is one of a kind. The various roles he took at Rang De shows learning knows no boundaries. The next switch he took is truly mind-boggling.
One day, Pramod had enough. Every time he had a campaign to run or do some analysis he had to depend on the Tech team. Which was lean during those days. Pramod knew something had to be done. He asked a teammate if he could learn MySQL and run queries by himself.
Pramod learned tech for two months and was able to fetch queries on his own from the database. The urge to do his work quickly made him learn new things on the way. He soon realised he has a particular interest in technology. He started doing small tasks related to tech, and our co-founders took notice of his curiosity.
‘One fine day, Smita gave me a call and asked me if I wanted to join the tech team’ said Pramod. He was shocked at the offer, but Smita & Ram instilled confidence in him. They asked him to give it a try and if it didn’t work he could always switch back to what he was doing.
Pramod took up courses to learn coding languages. After taking small steps continuously, he joined the tech team on April 1st, 2017 as a front end developer.
I asked him what his motivation was.
How was he able to make those strides in his career?
Pramod says his vision is to be committed to social causes. No matter what work he does, be it auditing, analysis, groundwork or coding as long as he is a part of the process, he is happy to work. Every time he sees our website, he realizes that there are thousands of people who are using Rang De to empower others. The process is taking place and his work is what guarantees a seamless experience on the platform.
Every click that you make on a website and where it leads to is carried out by the front end developer. Pramod makes sure no click leads to an error or bug on Rangde.in
“If you’re making your life better, that alone is not enough. You should also make the lives of others easy, especially those who are underserved or in need.” says Pramod
He found his passion at Rang De, grew both personally and professionally during his 9-year long career. He loves the work he does and is committed to the cause. And to top it all, he also found his soulmate at Rang De. His wife Pooja also worked at Rang De. They share similar ideals and have a mutual vision which got them hitched for life.
“I can say Rang De has given me everything, it is my extended family.”
A – team