It was the first week of February and I was in a meeting with our sales team to plan our strategy for the domestic market. To have a better foothold in the domestic market, one important point suggested was to apply for an Award which has a strong National presence. Sujit suggested the name of Skoch Award. Immediately I searched for the same and found that the last day of application was 15th February. 

We got into work immediately. There were few big forms to be filled in along with submitting financial data of the last 3 years. Thanks to the finance team for the quick turnaround, we were able to submit all the required documents on 14th February. 

On 18th February, we received an email from Skoch Group informing us that our nomination has been accepted and as a next step we were invited to Delhi on 26th February to give a presentation about our company and the uniqueness of our business and why we should be considered for the awards.

With the help of Anindo, Bikash and specially Mithun we created a crisp and “to the point” presentation. It’s important to note that we were informed that each participant would be given 15 minutes and hence no more than 10 slides should be there in the presentation. Anyways, I reached New Delhi on the morning of 26th February and reached The Constitution Club of India well before time. My presentation was scheduled around 2 PM.

 The jury included recently Retired IAS officers who were either part of NIC or Niti Aayog in the recent past. It was a fabulous experience to not only interact with many fellow professionals but to hear the insights from the judges as well. The questions were crisp and to the point and it was quite understood that each one of them had done a thorough study of the submitted documents.

 Our presentation focussed on mainly our USP and our “People First” policies. We focussed on our strengths which related to open & honest communication with all stakeholders, our Life Time FREE support to all our clients, being a virtual debt free company along with our unique employee engagement policies like GEM (Going the Extra Mile) Awards. I need to add here that we were the only presenting company who was not prompted by the judging panel to close the presentation because we finished the presentation within the stipulated time of 15 minutes.

 After the presentation was over, all the participants were asked to give points to each other based on the presentation. We were then informed that there will be a 15% weightage on an online poll, where we have to garner votes from our friends, clients, colleagues etc. The weightage to reach the next stage (semi finals) was as follows:

1. Nominated Documents: 10%
2. Financials: 15%
3. Presentation: 15%
4. Peer review: 10%
5. Online Voting: 15%
6. Judges: 35%

 The very next day, voting lines opened and with a 48 hour window in hand, we got together to garner votes for our company. We were delighted to find many of our clients wilfully coming forward and voting for us. All Brainites came together and voted as did many of our friends and colleagues. By the time voting closed Brainium was more than 40% ahead than the next competitor. 

 On 2nd March, we received the next email from Skoch Group informing us that we have qualified for the Semi Finals and all Semi Finalists will be presented Skoch Order of Merit Certificate on 14th March during the 65th Skoch Summit to be held at Delhi.

 To qualify for the finals and the chance to win the Skoch Award would be based on the final voting that would happen among all delegates who would be present at the Summit. We booked the tickets for Delhi on that very day itself but as the saying goes, “Man proposes – God Disposes”, COVID 19 took over and with the rising number of cases across the country, Skoch Group informed us on 12th March that the Summit is being postponed.

 Towards the end of March as Covid-19 became a focal point with the country going into a complete lockdown, Awards & Summits became the least important thing on everyone’s minds including ours. The most of April and May went in ensuring Business Continuity plans and thanks to the super enthusiastic Brainites and very emphatic clients we were able to execute most of our plans effectively.

 As the growth rate of Covid-19 reduced, the Indian Government started Unlocking the country in a phased manner from 1st June. On 3rd June, we received an email from Skoch Group that the 65th Skoch Summit (with the theme Atmanirbhar Bharat) would be now held digitally and Order of Merit Certificates along with the Awards would be given on 20th June.

 We were also told that 15% weightage would be given to the votes collected among the registered delegates. With no chance of physical interaction, we were quite clear on our minds that winning the award was a difficult task if not impossible. Most of the delegates won’t know us and with no physical interaction we won’t be able to talk with any delegate during the e-summit.

Anyways, we logged in to the e-summit on the morning of 20th June and our name was called for the Order of Merit Certificate around 10 AM. I thanked the organiser for providing the platform and accepted the certificate (al-beit virtually) on behalf of Brainium. The final awards ceremony was scheduled at 5.15 PM. We were quite happy with the Order-Of-Merit certificate but my son kept pestering me that I should log in at 5 PM to check if we have qualified for the finals. I personally didn’t give much importance and I tried to logically explain him why the numbers don’t add up for us to qualify.

 You know, how Children are and right from 4.30 PM, he was behind my back to log back in to the e-summit. Finally, I thought, what the heck, let me join and see who all won the award. I also thought that probably by watching the show, I will get a bigger motivation to win the award next time.

 I logged in to hear the final valedictory address by Dr. M. Ramachandran which was the last speech before the awards ceremony.

The ceremony started with the Achievers Awards section for Private SME Companies and I was astonished to see our name as the Silver Award Winner. So stunned was I to see our name that when the organiser focussed the live video on me, I completely lost myself on what to say and just blabbered a short Thank You message.

 So that’s the story of Brainium winning its first Skoch Award and that too after participating for the very first time. A Big Thank You to all Brainites who have been working relentlessly for the company’s growth, to all our clients who keep giving us the opportunity to serve and an opportunity to “Wow”, to all our friends and family members whose love & affection keeps us going. No better example than my son, Neel, who just kept believing that we would win when I didn’t believe it.

 I hope we participate again next year and go one step further and win the Gold!

 Till then, keep safe and God Bless!