It gives me an immense pleasure to share my experiences that I had with TATA JAGRITI YATRA 2008, a social Drive with a Noble cause By Jagriti Seva Sansthan.
This event is one of the many Corporate Social Responsibilities initiatives that TATA group had taken to “Awaken the entrepreneurial spirit”
As we all are aware that TATA, being the largest Conglomerate in world, have always shown their sincerity, vision, integrity towards our nation.
I am very much obliged and thankful to TATA group for providing me an opportunity to be a part of this Journey and giving me a way to explore rich diversity that we had in India.
I also pay my sincere thanks to TATA Group for sponsoring me for the journey.
TATA JAGRITI YATRA – “yaaron chalo…”
As the Chinese proverb says “the faintest ink is stronger than the strongest memory”, I am penning down my thoughts of the unforgettable journey of my life time.
The journey actually began from Bombay central, 12 in the midnight on the eve of christmas doubling the excitement running through my body. Ready to unfurl another exciting phase of my life…when I said exciting, I had no clue to what extent it was gonna be exhilarating, and thrilling. and hence it was most awaited journey of my life. the 18 day train journey which was one of its kind, showed us various cultural as well as scenic beauty of india.
I am so thankful to god, for giving me such an opportunity, maybe my luck in that too; for I fortunately turned eighteen on October ‘08(the age range was between 18yrs to 25yrs). Then the yatra which was gonna be in May 2008, for some reasons got postponed to December 2008. And I got selected from over ten thousand applications all over the country, which they had chosen meticulously. With me were other 350 youths, extremely talented, from all across the country, some were intercontinental participants and from all walks of life- teachers, engineers, medicos, social workers, some people working in NGOs, C.As, enterprisers, and what not! The train was the perfect venue for cultural blend as well as consideration of 350 different views. incase you are wondering what on earth i am talking about, lemme enlighten you more on this...
The TATA JAGRITI YATRA was an event orchestrated by Jagriti Sewa Sansthan and supported by the TATA group to promote enterprise led development in India.
Its motto was ‘awakening the entrepreneurial spirit.’ The journey and event was based on a similar event organised by the management of Jagriti Sewa Sansthan in 1997. This time journey aimed to impart an experiential learning opportunity to 350 selected youths on board. Projecting the event through press and media sources, televised debates around the event, the message of enterprise led development- a model where the seeding and scaling up of enterprises can create sustainable development in emerging economies like India, will gradually be multiplied through individual influences.
Who would have thought that you would be discussing, reflecting your thoughts, meeting role models and making presentations on case studies, listening to the radio station ’bindaas bol’ which two yatris had started on train...from taking baths in shaky cubicles constructed or in the waiting room at 3 in the morning on a station in Trivandrum
called Kocchuvelli?! We did it all. And that’s not it. From buffets arranged on platforms, to sleeping in the dead of the night at Bhubaneshwar station like beggars, and then too discussing on the up lift of them…these were experiences to cherish. I guess this little poem can consolidate what I mean to say…here it goes…
I step out of the train, not knowing what lies ahead,trusting my fellow buddies, I accompany them.
The station seems unfamiliar, but I don't have any fear,
there's anxiety, there's curiousness, there's also eagerness.
Life’s strange, and a mystery I tell you,
let it be like that, no fun in predicting fate.
Life’s good, experience the happiness,
because we have to move from sadness.
We ate, we slept, we sung, we hymned,
We bathed, we roamed, we yelled, we roared.
The station was our home I felt,
never ever had I dreamt.
The fun we had cannot be described
chatting with friends, opening up...soaking in
the essence of the show, the camaraderie and the glow
the innocence of it all, the discomfiture of them all.
With thrill we looked at our destiny,
our time, patience and life were under scrutiny
those speechless times...our words uttered in silence.
It was life of "I" till time
now, I understood its "WE"...
joy of life in eternity!
So there we were, doing all sorts of unimagined things…but it was pure joy. Getting up in the morning to the tune of our jagriti song ‘yaaron chalo’, trying to catch up with the breakfast. Or sometimes just enjoying the breathtaking views on the beaches in kerala or just standing at the peak of vivekananda rock and silently enjoy the "mindblowing" wind, filled with so much of
energy...or watching the indian culture blossom at tiloniya through "small wonders" or sitting in one of the lavish hotels in india-the TAJ PALACE-DELHI...
Apart from having a total blast on board, we did stick to our basic purpose of meeting role models and sought to understand how they have built their social or economic enterprises and learnt business expertise as how they faced their dark nights. The absolute essence of any enterprise is the clear identification of need, which may be internal or external and followed by the personal conviction and dedication to service this right up to the end. Remember-enterprise is a necessity, not luxury.
The following ten themes are extrapolated from the individual case studies that were assembled from each of 18 role model visit. These themes unanimously agree that there were certain common principles and strategies applied by the role models in building their respective institutions. The key take aways are:-
DEFINED BY NEED, ALIGNED WITH PASSION, DRIVEN BY DISCIPLINE:
Each of the enterprises targeted a need which was localized and often immediate. The enterprise carefully planned their endeavors and there was strict adherence to the vision and mission through execution. For e.g. : Arvind eye care was among the best ophthalmologic teams in India at its inception, completely focused on eye care with much required gentle but firm focus on financial stability.
SERVICE IS A CHOICE, NOT SACRIFICE:
It was repeatedly emphasized that each entrepreneur made a conscious choice in his life to do the work he does. They chose to make social change their priority. Role model like Joe Madiath made a willful choice to work in social sector with a sense of ambition to foster social transformation. Even if the organization was as highly structured as Tata steel or doing integrated development in a village like gram vikas, it was founded with a simple philosophy of harnessing social impact while building and scaling enterprises.
FOCUS ON SOLVING THE WHOLE PROBLRM (VERTICAL INTEGRATION):
Solving one or two components does not necessarily solve the entire problem, which is crucial to the success of many enterprises. Arvind eye care went through the exercise of setting up aurolab as a production arm to make eye care more affordable for the providing free eye care to the poor. Even SELCO, solved the perception problem, the repair and maintenance network problem, as well as
The financing problem to make solar energy a success in rural areas.
RESOURCE MANAGEMENT TO CREATE SUSTAINABLE ENTERPRISE:
This has focus on development through optimum and optimal use of resources. While goonj reuses old cloth to create sanitary pads, groups of women from thanal reuse coconut shells, waste paper and cloth to create beautiful jewellery and other products. Arvind eye care has revolutionized eye care by establishing an efficient and improved process using the existing resources as optimally as possible.
PEOPLE MATTER:
The people, the community, the populace have formed the base of each organization and this essential forms the crux of all decision-making and practices.
STRONG COLLABORATION GENE WITH STAKEHOLDERS:
Enterprises have chosen to collaborate successfully with stakeholders as well as external agencies. Techno Park takes this concept forward by collaborating with its customers. Auroville, responsible community building formed the base of institution. TIDE collaborates with its partners to permit local resources and building local capacity.
PERSONAL CONVICTION AND STAYING POWER:
Most of the enterprises are built on the ability of the founders and owners to inspire leadership through their own personal commitment to their project. We need marathon runners, not sprinters. Without janagraha’s innate dedication, the jaagore campaign would have never been the inspirational success that it is. Enterprises require grittiness to face daily adversity and challenges and it is only long term pledge that can ensure success.
NEED OF ZEAL, VALUES OR INNER UNKNOWN:
One intangible, but consistently visible characteristic among many successful enterprises was a zeal that came from the values and core mission of shri mahila gram udyog lijjat papad, or from a quiet but deep sense of spirituality of auroville. The impact of such determination in an organization is hard to measure, yet impossible to ignore when evaluating success. This ethereal quality of Indian enterprises which leads them to have an inbuilt value system was felt in more than one instance. It is defining feature that often determines the success of Indian enterprises the world over.
PROCESSES AND SCALE:
India is a country of variegated aspects. Organizing critical tasks into processes is important as it allows for replicable, methodical, and optimized utilization of available resources. Scale is crucial especially in the enterprises where the need is immense and target markets are very price sensitive. Both scale and process are demonstrated by success stories like the Naandi Foundation and Lijjat Papad.
SERVICING GOVERNMENT:
The government has programs as well as resources that provide ample opportunity for enterprises. It has established networks and has database of information required. To waste away these resources is a tremendous loss of opportunity for business. Having a collaborative effort with government for funds and geographical access has been a productive strategy. Public-private partnerships have also been a dominant model to achieve commercial diplomacy and working around the limitations that a government partnership brought. Techno Park, Naandi Foundation and Janagraha are an excellent example of commercial diplomacy involving the bureaucracy to build superlative infrastructure.
We had CNBC panel discussions at various places as follows:
Panel Discussion - YES WE CAN! Replicating national success stories.
Venue : Kanyakumari – Vivekananda Kendra
Date : 28th December 2008
Panellists: Dr R A Mashelkar , Mr Kishor Chukar
Synthesis: There is a fashionable view amongst India's chattering classes that the problems of India cannot be solved under a liberal democratic regime. The arguments range from the ubiquitous ness of corruption and lack of political integrity to citizen apathy and the fact that we're a poor country. This range of arguments seems to explain everything from why we have potholes on our best roads to why we struggle to win a single medal at the Olympics. Yet in this self same system we have people who have proved time and again that change is possible and possible within the so called "confines" of a liberal democratic system. Examples of people who have brought about radical transformations abound all around us. The Konkan Railway, The Mumbai-Pune Expressway, The Self assessment property tax system in Patna, The Indian Election Commission, The Amul Project, The work done by CSIR in geographic patents, ISRO, Reliance, Infosys and the Tata Nano are but a few examples of how spectacular results can be achieved within our legislative and administrative framework. However experience shows us that while positive change is possible within the system, its certainly not easy. Corruption and bad governance aside, the biggest stumbling block seems to be the continuous cynicism and negativity that we as a country seem to have internalized. How then can we approach the next 40 years of our democracy differently? How can we create a generation of Indians who believe in the idea of "Yes We Can"?
Panel Discussion – From Poverty to Self-help
Venue : Chennai – Chinmoya Centre Auditorium
Date : 30th December 2008
Panellists: Mr Ramaswamy Elango, Dr Priyadarshini Karve, Mr Paul Basil, Mr Sean Balqscedt
Synthesis: Fighting Poverty has been on top of the Government’s agenda ever since independence. Indeed, fighting poverty is a challenge not just for the government, but for every Indian citizen. Experience has shown us that populist measures, subsidies and industrial sector reservations have had at best, a mixed impact on poverty alleviation. The green revolution was a watershed event in the history of modern India. The Green revolution showed how governmental action combined with scientific advances can actually lead the nation from a cycle of poverty and victim hood to one of empowerment and self help. It literally sowed the seeds of entrepreneurial action in the minds of India’s agrarian community. The next big thrust in this direction was sadly, not to come for another 25 long years.
Economic Liberalization that started in the early 90s continues to this day and is probably the most effective weapon against poverty. Critics would argue that 20 years of liberalization
has made the rich richer and the poor poorer. But there’s no denying that the reforms that unleashed India’s potential also opened the floodgates for India’s entrepreneurial talent. From rural telephony to e-choupals to drip irrigation to easy access to capital, advances in science, financial engineering, logistics and communication have dramatically improved the lot of India’s poor and middle class. But many questions remain?
Panel Discussion – Making healthcare affordable to every Indian
Venue : Hyderabad -
Date : 05th January 2009
Panellists: Mr R Gopalkrishan, Dr Ashwin Naik, Dr Karkala Subba Rao, Dr N Prasad,
Mr Venkat Changavalli
Synthesis: Health care is the perfect sector for social entrepreneurship. In what other area can you do social good and yet make a profit from doing it? Healthcare in India has a long way to go. And clearly it is not a task for the government to do alone. While the government is a key player in formulating strategy and delivering affordable healthcare, experience has shown us that private enterprise has delivered the most effective healthcare across the country. We are a country that’s massively under insured, that needs a dramatic revolution in the quality and quantity of healthcare and a country that’s tasting economic success for the first time. Opportunities for health care entrepreneurs abound in every piece of the health value chain. From manufacturing cheaper drugs, to community insurance to health maintenance organizations to delivering health care to the over 6 lac villages in India, there are innumerable business propositions. Panel Discussion – India’s civic challenges, Solution that work!
Venue : Jamshedpur – Roosy Mooy Centre
Date : 07th January 2009
Panellists: Mr Partho Sengupta, Mr Madanmohan Rao, Mr M B Nirmal
Synthesis: The end of garbage, bad roads, urban poverty, water shortages… For 60 years now we have been wringing our hands in desperation and blaming the government for failing us.
Two possible models have shown us that private enterprises can engage with government to solve some of these problems – the PPP approach like Sulabh Shauchalaya, Janagraha, Exnora or the for profit private companies such Onyx in Chennai. The key is to create an approach that is sustainable and cost effective. While the PPP approach is built on the back of demonstrable innovations, there are challenges of scalability and cost effectiveness. The for‐profit approach on the other hand may appear cost effective on the face of the approach, but the sustainability is open challenged by the profit motive of the private enterprises.
However when it comes to action, be it voting or participating in the process of civic administration, we citizens of India’s cities are open found wanting. What is the way forward for India? Which model delivers best value and results for us the citizen?
Panel Discussion – The Power of one
Venue : New Delhi – Hotel Taj Palace
Date : 08th January 2009
Panellists: Mr Bindeshwar Pathak, Mr Arbind Singh, Mr Rajdeep Sardesai
Synthesis: The story of India’s development, industrially, culturally, technologically and socially hasn’t been a smooth upward curve. It has been characterized by long flat periods with sudden unpredictable spikes. Behind these spikes of development, there’s usually one man or woman with an incredible level of commitment, vision and passion. People like Mahatma Gandhi, Kiran Bedi, Bunker Roy, E Sreedharan, PV Narasimha Rao, Sam Pitroda, TN Seshan, Narayanamurthy and Sheila Dixit. These are but few of the people who had the guts and gumption to singly take on entire systems and governments to bring about positive change. Be it reforming India’s seemingly impossible election process or cleaning up the city of New Delhi. Be it sharing wealth with thousand of your employees or building India’s first world class metro train system… its usually been a one woman/man effort against a system. Complaining and whining about the “system” and how it can never be changed is India’s most popular spectator sport. But these few people took on impossible challenges and proved every naysayer wrong.
Panel Discussion – Unleashing India’s Entrepreneurs
Venue : Anand – Sardar Vallabhai Memorial Trust Auditorium - Karmsad
Date : 10th January 2009
Panellists: Mr Homi Khusrokhan, Mr Suhel Seth, Mr Navin Thanhaiah
Synthesis: In the 70s and part of the 80s India's entrepreneurs were actually punished for being successful! With peak tax rates hovering around 90% of incomes, incentives for entrepreneurs to fail were greater than those for success. Twenty years later, things have changed dramatically. India's entrepreneurs were like caged tigers for a large part Independent India's history. The fury and vigour with which they have gone on to conquer the world. Who would have imagined 30 years ago that Indians would be buying a company like Corus Steel? It would have ridiculous to even suggest such an idea. And yet it has happened. But many would argue that India's entrepreneurs succeed in spite of the government, not because of it. It seems that government after government is trying to stifle entrepreneurship instead of seeing it grow. Be it an Infosys or Bajaj, it seems that entrepreneurs have to battle an army of bureaucrats and politicians, navigate through a maze of archaic laws and then face flak from all around for bending the law to set up a business. Combine this with the traditional Indian belief that a job is always "better" and that being an entrepreneur is too risky. The result could be a stifling of thousands of potential entrepreneurs
The post liberalization era is seeing Indian entrepreneurship explode on the global scene. This has brought with it massive employment, foreign exchange, GDP growth and exposure opportunities. But it has also brought with it calls for protectionism, labour unionism and price controls.
These were the basic findings which I consolidated from 18days of learning. I tried to make the article as short as I can but don’t think I succeeded in doing that. It’s just not possible to merge all 18 days experience in this much short article specially when you have done so many of things back to back.
The yatra had a tremendous effect on me actually. It has enriched my life with knowledge and experience. Interactions with so many people from small towns to urban area have taught me about different cultures and customs prevailing in India as well as outside India. It has changed my personality in all. Now I wake up in the morning hoping to listen yaaron chalo while having my breakfast. frankly speaking I am still in the feel of yatra…its 8'o' clock in the morning and pat comes IIT Powai campus in front of me from where it all started…350 people, strangers but now like a family. I am missing all that...I am missing those "bhaiyya chai" yellings and variety of food... and also the tym i spent in those AC chair cars at wee hours trying to understand what my future will be like or just dancing the night on the last day of yatra.
I told my friends, my relatives about our experience, our fun. But when I see the expressions on their face...I know they can't feel like what we felt...it was all different in the train, no worries, no pain...I felt as if I am somewhere else from this world, laughs everywhere, joy in every eye...and a sense of belongingness...now when I am back to my routine, into this world moving with it, trying to know what all happened with satyam and how is the stock market going, I still feel somewhere deep inside my heart, that some part of my soul is still in that train, in the bathrooms, in those laughs with friends…hoping to reliving the experience, making friends from all across India ...hoping to have that kind of fun again and hoping to be yatri again...!
For me the Journey continues…
-Wildheartbeats
