Once upon a time

Last evening I was sitting in a bar sipping a few handcrafted beers at Bangalore's new microbrewery Toit in Indranagar. Right next to my table was a large group of employees from Intuit enjoying a company outing. I happened to see one of my high school buddies (after 15 or so years) and we exchanged hugs and numbers.

As the beers went down, this friend of mine was narrating a Recognition story - I overheard it (was too close to their table).

While in college, this friend of mine was a computer whiz. About 15 individuals who were giving their Chartered Accountancy (CA) exams were baffled by the introduction of a computer science test as part of their CA exams. They approached a professor at the college for help and the professor connected them with this young friend of mine, who was at home on a summer break from college. He helped them with the exams and all the 15 folks cleared the bar. The day after the results were announced, all the 15 individuals came to their young tutor's house with a gift.

This friend of mine, who is now a accomplished software project lead at Intuit today with over 15 years of global corporate work experience in blue chip companies was narrating this story as one of the greatest Recognitions he has received till date. Why?

It is apparent that the genuine, spontaneous nature of the gift giving exercise and the physical involvement of all the 15 individuals is the reason for this. The guy was narrating about the gift he had got, it was all about the Recognition.