The ‘VIP’ Experience at NIHFW & EU Workshop

Recently I participated in a workshop conducted by the National Institute of Health and Family Welfare (NIHFW) in collaboration with the European Union (EU). It was a pre-testing workshop for a new Post Graduate course that the institute plans to start in the coming months. I have participated in various workshops previously but I knew it from the beginning that this was going to be something different- a new experience. Although I had no clue exactly what ‘pre-testing workshop’ meant, I understood this much- we are going to be dignitaries in this workshop and that’s reason enough to be part of it! I was already imagining myself in a post-conference dignitary group photo that I had seen so many times with other people including my father and grandfather.

The NIHFW Campus at New Delhi; Photo Credit: Me (Nokia Lumia 510)
Five of my friends and I reached the venue on the designated date and time. The workshop began. I am not sure what details of the workshop I can/should reveal and so I would limit this post to some incredible moments and experiences my friends and I shared during the four days.


In the very first semester of my BJ (MC) course 3 years back, we had learnt the ‘Communication Theories and Models’. The topic remained one of the most boring and ‘why are we studying this?’ topic till the end of my 3 year course. Well, here at the workshop, we the fresh mass communication graduates, the youngest of the lot, were sitting and discussing topics with health experts, communication specialists, medical PG students from Maulana Azad Medical College, and DTC and BCC officers of the Delhi government (I still don’t understand the two abbreviations! :P) For the first time in 3 years, the theories and models seemed to be making sense to us as we sat their explaining those to everyone else with full confidence. Wow, a moment of pride! Haha…

During the workshop 1; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

During the workshop 2; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR
Group Photo- During the workshop 3; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

During one of the serious 'work' moments; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR
I remember this particular afternoon when there was a power-cut and the air-conditioned room lacked ventilation and so we moved out of the building, made our way to the lawns and continued our work there. Right from Day 1, ‘work’ seemed fun already and we loved it.

Final Day Presentations 1; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

Final Day Presentations 2; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

Final Day Presentations 3; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

Final Day Presentations 4; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

Final Day Presentations 5; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

Final Day Presentations 6; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

The best part of the 4 day experience- I am sure I gained some good number of calories with the amount of food we were provided with each day. A tea break, lunch break and another tea break- all in between 10 AM-5 PM each day and each one with a spread of varied delicacies and choice of sweets. With my irregular food habits since the previous 6 months, this was a delicious welcome and I ate and ate and ate…

During one of the tea breaks; Photo Credit: Me (Nokia Lumia 510)

Samose, dhokla, blah, blah- we loved it all; Photo Credit: Me (Nokia Lumia 510)
By the end of the four day workshop, we were already exchanging contact numbers, email ids, birthdays and facebook profiles. And I was looking forward to that last moment- the special group photo, we had it and I was on cloud 9 (umm…actually Row 2, 2nd from right)!

The post-conference dignitary photograph- my favourite! Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR
When one of my colleagues remarked, “Tum sahi ho, abhi graduate hue ho aur aisa workshop attend karne ka mauka mil gaya” (You guys just graduated and got a chance to be part of a workshop like this one- it’s amazing), my friends and I couldn’t suppress our smiles. Yes, we were actually feeling lucky and proud of having received this kind of an opportunity- something we couldn’t have ever imagined! This makes way to a prominent place in our CVs immediately! Thanks to NIHFW, EU and not to forget, the authorities at my college, MBICEM, who made this possible.

For the 6 of us, this was one last time to work together and have fun while still being connected to MBICEM. We loved each moment we spent there and with each other. :)

Weird faces...eh?; Photo Credit: My Nokia Lumia 510


The light moments; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

The Youth Brigade; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

Walking out after a tiring day's work- doesn't look like it? Well, it wasn't like it! :D; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

The light moments 2; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR

The goodbye time; Photo Courtesy: Kshitiz's DSLR
PS: How could I forget the most important thing? Apparently, this workshop turned out to be my (and I think, of a few of my friends’) first personal hardwork-driven monetary income- a milestone in my career and that’s the reason this post had to make way to my blog! :D

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