Humour
January 23, 2023

New year, no new friends

The country is obsessed with Shark Tank India, so are we, and so are our friends.
2 min read

Here’s what it looks like to describe what we do for a living to our non-nonprofit-sector friends, with some help from Shark Tank India memes.

1

You finally decide to explain to your friends what your job is all about.

Your friends:

Anupam Mittal saying "zyada waqt mat lagana"-nonprofit humour

2

You ignore them and start a passionate monologue on programme design and creating impact at scale.

Your friends:

3

But you are in the zone now, talking about problems of international funding and the woes of FCRA.

Your friends:

4

However, what they are really interested in is that one controversial thing they read about in the news (tax raids, anyone?). They want some behind-the-scenes gossip, but you refuse to indulge them.

Your friends trying to convince you:

5

You instead start talking about how your organisation follows a flat reporting structure, and that even your interns weigh in on the organisation’s annual goals.

Your friends:

6

You also express how you’re worried about your organisation’s fundraising efforts for the next financial year.

Your one supportive entrepreneur friend:

7

Meanwhile, another friend joins the conversation, and your supportive friend goes on to tell them what they’ve learned about your ‘volunteer work’.

Supportive friend:

Sceptical new-entrant friend:

You, realising that this conversation has been a waste of time:


ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Cincy Jose
Cincy Jose works at IDR as editor – content and also manages its translation workstream. Prior to this she spent seven years in the publishing industry as senior copy editor at Juggernaut Books and editor at DK Books India. She holds master’s and bachelor’s degrees in English literature from Miranda House and Jesus and Mary College, Delhi University.
Shreya Adhikari
Shreya is an editorial associate at IDR, where she manages podcasts, in addition to writing, editing, sourcing, and publishing content. She has more than seven years of experience as a media and communications professional, and has been involved in the curation and production of various art and culture festivals in India and internationally, including the Jaipur Literature Festival—where she was a core team member.
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