We recently volunteered at an outdoor CSR event organised by IBM in partnership with an NGO. Our destination was a government school in Kochi.
Being a Saturday, student attendance was sparse. When my ‘best friend cum wife cum guide‘, child, few other IBM benevity members, NGO member and I arrived, a teacher greeted us with a gentle reminder: “There are only a few students available today—maybe eleven or twelve. You’ll have to adjust accordingly.”
The event’s objective was clear: empower these young minds to step forward and showcase their talents. Students were shuffled into teams of three or four, each guided by one of us volunteers. My team consisted of two boys and two girls, all from classes 8 and 9—pulled together from different sections for this special occasion.
The Challenge Begins
Through a lucky draw, they selected their theme: a TV advertisement about helmet safety. They planned to dramatize an accident scene and even branded their prop as “Sujata Helmet” during final rehearsals. Our role? To empower them, improve their teamwork, and help them present with confidence.
“What’s your plan to implement this?” I asked.
Silence. Hesitation hung in the air.
“Who’s best at creating a script from this plot?” I probed.
Pin-drop silence. This prompted me to deploy one of my favorite strategies—what I call “ignite, fire, and escape.”
Finding the Spark
Nobody seemed ready to take initiative. Then I noticed him—a naughty boy making funny, interesting comments throughout our introduction and discussions. I remembered the words of Dananjaya Hettiarachchi, World Champion of Public Speaking 2014: “I see something in you, but I don’t know what it is. If you decide to work with me, I can help you find that something.”
I had found my ignition point.
This boy could be the spark we needed. I decided to prompt him to ignite the show, let it fire up, and then gracefully step back—my usual approach.
As my internal agents began philosophizing about lighting yourself first to benefit others, the more you light and the count increases, about giving back to society, about how creative expression can help your survival during tough times—my ‘best friend cum wife cum guide’s’ voice cut through: “Shut your mouth and concentrate on what you do! We’re fed up with your philosophy!”
Thankfully, her reality check brought me back on track.
It worked! I didn’t even need to push hard. The boy ignited instantly, creating a screenplay right before our eyes:
A couple travels on a bike, both wearing helmets. Suddenly, a guy with a stylish hairstyle rides toward them without a helmet, constantly saying “Hey! Bro! Yo, yo!” He nearly collides with them, then abuses them despite his reckless driving.
At the next turn, karma catches up through his screenplay. He collides with a vehicle and suffers severe trauma. The helmet-wearing couple rushes to help, taking him to the hospital together.
The doctor examines him gravely: “He’s already dead due to head injury.”
As the final message, the doctor turns away from the body, faces the audience, and declares: “If he had been wearing an ISI-marked helmet—especially a Sujata helmet—he could have been saved!”
The naughty boy discussed his initial vision with his teammates, incorporated their suggestions, and refined the script. They barely needed my guidance. They had taken ownership.
A Moment of Reflection
Meanwhile, I lost track of my own child—something I usually complain about. I often tell my kid: “You should update yourself before asking doubts. Ask the right questions to the right people.”
Imagine sitting with someone who has fifteen years of research experience at an MNC. Would you ask them, “Hey, bro! What’s the difference between a million and a billion?” Questions you could easily answer yourself?
It’s crucial to update your context to ask relevant queries at the right time.
“Stop this philosophy again! Actually, we don’t even consider these as philosophies!” My ‘best friend cum wife cum guide’s’ voice pulled me back to reality once more.
The Performance
After multiple rehearsals, when the team shouted “Pack up!” together, I knew they were ready. And they delivered—brilliantly, in every aspect.
A final analogy
The idli-sambar-chutney combination my ‘best friend cum wife cum guide’ makes is the best in the world. (Sorry, Michelin-starred Chef Vikas Khanna—you can’t compete in this race!) I consider myself a key contributor: I smell the boiling sambar first, see the steam rising from the idli pot first, and taste the final creation first—that cake-like idli swimming in a lake of sambar and chutney on my plate. Though she waits for my reaction, I know what it will always be: pure delight.
In the same way, even though that naughty boy was the key contributor to our team’s success, I somehow managed to convince myself that I was also part of that show—by remembering Hettiarachchi’s words:
“I see something in you, naughty, but I don’t know what it is.”
And now, perhaps, he does too.
Sometimes, the most extraordinary transformations happen in the most ordinary moments—when we believe in the spark we see in others, even before they see it themselves.
Collaborative agents:
Core: The Naughty Boy
Ignition: Vineesh or Naughty himself? (LLM hallucination)
Summarisation: Vineesh
Bug fix, Model, Support for ReAct loop: LangGraph (Planner, Writer, Critic, Coordinator), Claude sonnet 4.5
