Gautam, a Star from Paharganj Life Project Center, shares his story and tells us more about his job at Decathlon and how he could inspire the Youth from the Green Village and the TDC Kathmandu in Nepal.
Gautam Mishra, LPC Pahar Ganj, Delhi, India
Hello,
My name is Gautam Mishra. I am 22 years old and I was born in Gurauwajot Grant (Uttar Pradesh). I have been living in Delhi for the last 21 years, where I also studied. Before joining LP4Y, I was working in a local shop as a salesman. Now I am pursuing a Bachelor of Arts at Delhi University and I am working at Decathlon as a sport leader in the fitness department.
My experience at LP4Y
Before LP4Y, I did not speak English at all. For a few weeks, the other Youth made fun of me, but I started to understand, “slowly slowly”! And then I started to feel very good. I was making small sentences in my mind every day. I have learnt so much this way. I used to come by walk everyday, it is about 4/5 kilometers from my house. Since I started working in Decathlon, I often think about what my coaches taught me, because lots of things in Decathlon are related to LP4Y like: always come on time, work together, respect each other, help each other, trust each other, etc.
My job at Decathlon
I joined Decathlon two and a half years ago as an intern. I was coming to the store only to unload the truck and tidy up the clothes but slowly I started to help the customers, by listening and learning from other teammates. I also started to read more information about the products and ask more questions to my colleagues. To pursue my dream job (Indian Army), I asked for a part-time job but after a few months I got a permanent full-time job with more responsibilities. I got multiple job experiences in different departments like:
Cardio
Cycle
GYM & Pilates
Yoga
Cross training bodybuilding
Now, I am a sport leader for cross training bodybuilding (team level as equipment referent and store level as User Happiness Care chat referent).
Lately, I did a digital company visit of Decathlon to the Youth of Paharganj Center. It was very good and now some of the Youth want to join Decathlon as well.
From Delhi to Kathmandu
I came to Nepal for a Pooja, a hindu ritual, that was promised by my maternal grandfather for me to grow safely when I was born. He did this big Pooja for me in Nepal close to the India border. So I took the opportunity to visit my former coaches in Kathmandu. As I had never been to Kathmandu before, it was a great time for me: I got a good experience, meeting new people, Youths, coaches and discovering new places! Everything was very good!
I also visited the Green Village where I did computer training and testimony to the Youth. Those were good moments. They asked many questions. It was very interesting to see the different pedagogy: there are different departments where they work, it’s making them more responsible. I would like to say thank you to all the restaurant Youth who are cooking very delicious food.
In the Training and Development Centre, I have seen the Little Angels Academy (nursery for the babies of Young Women who come to the center during the day). It was the first time for me because in Delhi, we don’t have this. I liked to work with all the Youth in the center and it was a funny moment when I was trying to speak in Nepali with them.
And yes I tried ginger water for the first time. I learned many things new during my journey.