I am on a Sabbatical since early last year, Feb 2022.

Highlights of Sabbatical (2022 - 23)

• I wanted to take a long break without any commitment.
• I wanted to work on my assumptions and get some mental clarity.
• I wanted to get some rest after years of anxiety, burnout & focus on my mental wellbeing.
• I wanted to try and experiment few things, even if I fail atleast I gave try ✅.
• I wanted to spend some time without any work or expectations.

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Initiatives

I conducted the Missingskill Semester, 5 months of industry-based skill training.

• I decided not to run another batch 🙅🏽‍♂️
• I didn't want to optimize for an interview and job.
• I wanted to optimize for skills.
• 5 months is a long period for an online cohort, 2-3 months should be the max, and kids lose motivation and don’t join the sessions.
• 2 - 3 is a very short time for freshers to learn any meaningful skill.

It was serving neither of us.

Decided to stop 🛑

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I started a small, sustainable skill center in the village, while I was on a few days trip to the village, I met a few driven folks, which led to more students joining.

• The village center is now run by a local guy who is also learning.
• My goal here is to enable them with a basic and right set of digital skills.
• I have no plan to start a paid program in the village.
• Maybe one day I will start something here in the village 🤞.

The overall progress is good. This was unplanned, this just happened.

I am really looking forward to this how this will turn up in couple of years.

Village Center

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I pivoted to a long form mentorship, Missingskill Institute (MI)

• 18 - 24 months slow online plus offline training, this gives enough time to learn, prepare and absorb all the concepts.
• Running this in Jamshedpur (Jharkhand) and Ajodhya, Bagmundi (West Bengal).
• This program is mainly run by Neha (my niece), an MI resident-cum-student and Amit, a student, a local village guy.
• This started as a paid program in Jamshedpur.
• Still we don't have any formal setup.
• I want to continue my MI skill initiative as private tuition only.
• I have no plan to turn this into a company or take any outside funding.

The progress is good, however the result will be out in couple of years.

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Slowly building the Lowcode platform.

This is a generic API product, which help consume other services with a minimal effort.

• This is being built with help from my MI resident contributor Niket (MCA student), Sonali (BCA) & Neha.
• I have not decided yet to run this as a formal company.
• I will hand it over to them in the future.

LowcodeAPI

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I bought a big piece of land in the village, I always wanted my own land.

• This was a long pending in my checklist ✅.
• I will experiment with 🌶️ farming with the help of locals.
• I want to have some income of 2 - 3% from farming, also it will help me connect with roots.
• I will give it to someone to farm and take % of the produce.

I am excited about this, let see how this turns out.

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• I wasn't expecting the covid spillover on health, the fatigue is limiting my movement and initiatives.