Unexpected gifts, unannounced good news, a word of comfort, some support, some encouragement. Doesn’t, all of this add a fresh spark in life? Pushes you to do more, to walk an extra mile and be grateful for what you have.

I felt the same when Sarthak connected with me recently. Sarthak Mahopatra is a software enthusiast and an old friend that I had not spoken since ages, so receiving his phone call was a surprise. What added more to my astonishment was that it was 11 in the morning on a weekday. (Sarthak is known for being a workaholic and is usually not on the radar).

I picked up the call and after a couple of pleasantries and quick recaps, Sarthak mentioned that he called to know about CodeTrek. Okay, now you should have seen my face when I heard the question! Why? I’ll explain.

Back then we had just launched CodeTrek. The initiative was only for hills and though till then we had conducted three boot camps, we had shared very little information on our social media handles. So someone asking about CodeTrek from the other part of the country did come as a surprise.

What added more to the entire state was Sarthak’s reaction. Knowing that the initiative was being run for free to help in skilling students, he came forward to volunteer for the program as a mentor. Not just he but a couple of his friends also wanted to participate and share their learnings for free.

It wouldn’t have impacted really if he would have just said that he wants to help. What made the difference was the passion with which he went ahead to write down and share the topics he can teach to students. And the way he connected with more people to talk about CodeTrek.

Before this interaction, we did not think of inviting other people to join in for mentorship. Being from the place CodeTrek was just our way of giving back to these hilly terrains and contributing to its growth. With people coming forward voluntarily to contribute, it feels good that we are on the right path. Thank you Sarthak for adding a new chapter to CodeTrek. The more people we have the more we can make a difference together.