Just 17 hours of flights from Phuket to Visakhapatnam and then 30 hours to London was all it took to be able to take part in the incredible event. That and 8 years of friendship, reciprocal growing, learning and enlightenment with Manish, Sanjeev and Rajeev.

I first met the ‘Senta Brothers’ at a SIG Event, so it was very fitting that Dawn Tiura, the CEO & President of SIG and I were both invited to not just witness, but truly be part of this festival to celebrate the positive energy impact that Tekwissen has had on its employees, partners and clients.

The joy commenced as I was met at the airport by an eager group of employees with bouquets to welcome me to their city, a vibrant city that is at the forefront of the ‘Smart City’ movement, with a five-star rating in the theme of urban planning, green cover, and biodiversity.

In no time we arrived at the hotel to be greeted by another group of smiling employees, keen to have photos taken, I was certainly not looking my best after the long travel but I simply didn’t care as I was swept up in the sheer joy of the moment and felt incredibly humbled by the level of excitement to be meeting me, a far cry from the young recruiter starting out in Birmingham, UK 43 years ago!

The next day we went on a shopping trip to be kitted out in incredible traditional attire, which I had the privilege of wearing during a VIP tour of the incredible Varaha Lakshmi Narasimha Temple.

So, onto the day of the OORJA Festival. I can only compare the set up to that of a rock concert, watching the stage and decorations, fairground like stalls alongside selfie and Instagram backdrops (my favorite was the life size three brothers set up) being erected during mini-cyclone like weather, and Rajeev trying not to look panicked knowing that the whole thing might have to be cancelled the last minute was a true example of power of the universe level positive thinking!

There are many highlights of that evening and hard to separate them in terms of memory making joyous moments. The phenomenal singer; Bruce Morthon who ‘volunteered’ a few of us to get up and dance with her in front of please add number people was certainly on the short list! Although, witnessing an old English dude trying to Bhangra might not be on the audience’s ‘moments to cherish’ list 😂. Although they did call me up to the dance floor from 11.00pm to past midnight so perhaps they admired my sheer effort!

The next day we had the honor of visiting the absolutely stunning Tekwissen office that was built from the ground up to such a high level of design and forethought that is very rare indeed and another chance to interact with a highly dedicated team, and even got to have a game of snooker in the floor dedicated to employee wellness and recreation.

But the true highlight was to watch how Manish and Rajeev interacted with their colleagues throughout the evening, and indeed the whole trip. As I said to one of - what seemed like a hundred paparazzi there - when you have smart people working in a smart city, the future is very bright!