"Perfection is not the result, but the process” - Kalamwali
I wrote this quote on a day I was extremely exhausted. I was somewhere between feeling sorry for myself and giving myself some benefit of the doubt. 3 months into starting Kalamwali, almost everything was in a nascent stage, including me as a founder. Kalamwali had set off; left the shores, but we could neither spot another coast nor were we in absolute depths to take a call on whether to just float or drown. To keep flapping vigorously looked like the only option. I would like to believe we were moving, but it could also be my optimistic delusion. However, that’s when the wisdom came gushing into the most aware part of my brain.
When I was heavily pregnant, I thought, let me pop this child and life will be perfect. I’ll be calm. The day I delivered and saw my near perfect bundle of joy, I knew it was going to be far from calm and my life, nowhere near perfect. Then I told myself, let her turn a year old and I’ll feel accomplished. Let her learn to walk, talk, eat on her own, sleep through the night and it’ll be perfect. And through this journey of six and a half years of periodically reassuring myself, I came to realise that it’s never really a job that can be done or done perfectly. It’s a process; an extremely fulfilling one, where perfection is in the moments of her growing up and not in what she’ll finally achieve.
I learnt this once again. The wisdom that found me unaware was, Kalamwali is my second baby. I conceived it and now I am nurturing it. There are going to be days it’s going to give me toothless dribbled smiles that’ll make my heart flutter and there will be days when all I’ll be doing is cleaning mucus, saliva, and poop. But isn’t that a part of parenting?
Today, as Kalamwali turns 1, I feel euphoric as it stands on its own and takes baby steps (literally). I can account for innumerable moments when we achieved perfection; like our first workshop, our first 100 registrations, holding the first copy of ‘The Best of Kalamwali 2016’ at the printer with moist eyelashes and each brilliant piece of literature that has been uploaded. These milestones and moments, along with each and every one of you associated with us, have nurtured us and helped us grow.
On this day, the mother of Kalamwali, wishes her baby, ‘Kalamwali’, Team Kalamwali and each and every one of you a Happy First Birthday.
May we grow healthily and steadily.
- Kalamwali
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