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An Ambitious Balance

GDL Admin — Mon, 17 May 2010 19:06:11 +0000

Pulkit Agrawal was an Indicorps 08-09 fellow, based at GDL in Bagar, where he spent time trying to reduce unemployment by encouraging entrepreneurship through business teaching, awareness generation and bespoke consulting. Now back at home in London he reflects on some of the differences in life between then and now. He blogs at www.pulkitindindia.blogspot.com.

It’s been a while since I left GDL but another ex-volunteer who I spoke to over the weekend inspired this post (both the act and the content)…. as we were contemplating the differences between life at GDL and now in London / Toronto we almost decided that simplicity made for happier living; aside from the obvious rhetoric- having a tight group of friends, with few organised social activities, in a small place kept us stimulated and entertained for a year! As much as I believe I have a strong preference for city living, I came to the realization that rural life may actually be more fulfilling… and its to do with ambition; a double-edged sword if ever there was one!

Whilst trying to encourage entrepreneurship as part of my Indicorps project I was regularly anguished at the lack of desire from the people to better themselves. Why did no-one see the opportunities that existed and why did no-one want to put the effort in to change their lifestyle, situation and mindset?! Maybe it was laziness but more fundamental than that was a deep contentment with life that seemed to exist. As long as things didn’t get worse, people were not too bothered about them getting better (although of course people complained, as they seem to do everywhere!). And on some level I was quite impressed at this attitude and sometimes wondered whether trying to encourage growth and ‘development’ was actually leading people on a wild-goose chase! At the time I made peace by deciding that the ambition to pursue something is important as often it can transcend materialism and lead people to pursue peace, understanding and openness..

Yet now when I consider my ambition and that of those I left behind I wonder whether my ambition is actually constructive and positive… Does having too many options lead us to confusion, dissatisfaction and unhappiness? Or do we need a basic level of discontentment to provide us motivation to continue living in pursuit of happiness? Is it worth striving for this ambition when the clear danger of over-ambition is around us to see – whether in the workplace or even in our social lives? How do we balance useful, constructive ambition with dangerous, negative ambition???

Life is Dramatic

GDL Admin — Thu, 01 Apr 2010 18:23:00 +0000

Life as a human being is dramatic. It’s dramatic because of choice. As a human being you are given a set number of years to live. Every choice we make, we sacrifice what we don’t do for something we do. Since our time is limited, there are a limited number of choices we can make. Each choice is powerful and has real consequences for our lives and for the lives of those to whom we are connected. As I listened to the personal stories of my community members, I started to appreciate that this is our struggle as human beings: to make the right choices for ourselves without knowing where we are going or when our time will be up. This is the drama in which we must all take part; we must make choices knowing that we know nothing and that each choice could lead us to a better or worse state.

At the start of my fellowship year in Bagar, I felt like I could not connect to my community members on a meaningful level. I felt like I was pretending, instead of actually sharing emotions with them. Our conversations felt empty, because it seemed to me that our exposure was just too different. But now, I empathize with my community because I know that although our circumstances are different, we all make choices to make our lives what we want them to be. This perspective has enabled me to love my community on a real level. Now when I exchange stories with my community members, I love them because in their stories I see our shared human struggle.

This year I started a youth group focused on cultivating leadership called the Community Leadership Team. Last week, in our Community Leadership Team meeting, I asked each of our team members to tell me the dreams they have for their lives and what they are willing to do to make them reality. At first they didn’t understand what I was asking and many team members told me they had never been asked such question(s) before. I then told them I would film each of them saying their dreams and promised that I wouldn’t show it to anyone else.

I called the first team member up to state his dream on camera and he was hesitant to come. No one wanted to be first. But after being filmed for the first time, each of them asked to redo their dream statement at least three or four times. The first take for each team member was short and emotionless. But in the second, third, and fourth take, you could see the ambition in their eyes and hear the pride in their voices. In those moments on camera, I was pushing them to make a choice about their lives and there it was – the drama.

In their articulation of their dreams, there was hope for what could be and sacrifice for the paths they were giving up in the same moment. And that is from where the love comes. Because when I listened to my team member’s dream, he was no longer an Indian farmer’s son from Ratansher and I was no longer an Indian American from L.A. In that moment, he was one human telling another human that amidst this chaos and confusion that is the world, we can make choices to make life what we want it to be. In that moment. our differences melted away. My heart connected with him because I know that I have that courageous irrational hope too. I too believe that my dreams can become reality, that my choices can make life better. It was in that moment that my heart resonated with assurance; yes, the world is ours, we don’t have to be a product of it, we can make the world a product of us.

Starting the Community Leadership Team has given me an avenue to experience the drama of life. The world is created by the choices of human beings. Investing time in people makes me a part of their drama, it makes me a factor in their choices and if I encourage people to discover themselves and make positive choices I can make the world a better place. Through this leadership team, I have learned that investing in people is something about which I am passionate. Investing in people is something I love, I’m addicted to it, and I’m going to create opportunities for myself to invest in people for the rest of my life wherever I go and whatever I do. That is dramatic. And that is life.

Sahil Chaudry, 2009-2010 Indicorps Fellow

Source for Change speaks at TEDxShekhavati

GDL Admin — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 12:04:07 +0000

Shrot Katewa, the co-founder and COO of Source for Change recently spoke at TEDxShekhavati in Fatehpur, Rajasthan. Even more exciting is the fact that Shobha Sharma, an SFC Business Process Associate, joined Shrot on stage. Please see them both here:

TED is a global conference which attracts some of the sharpest, best known minds on the planet. TEDxShekhavati, an offshoot of this larger movement, was located in the small town of Fatehpur in the Shekhavati region not far from our home base of Bagar. It attracted over 1,000 local attendees which makes it the largest venue at which Source for Change has been able to present its business and development model. In order to align with the value of elucidating new ideas to the Shekhavati community, all the speeches were conducted in Hindi. Topics ranged from photography, health, women’s empowerment, and of course to rural outsourcing.

The story which led up to TEDxShekhavati and the associated struggles can be read on the link below. It’s written by the organiser, Masarat Daud:

http://tedchris.posterous.com/private/HgICHbwrhA

One of the most inspiring bits of feedback at the end of the event was “You have raised the bar for all the girls. Now, the women community is very inspired and parents will educate their girls.”

We hope many such similar events will occur all over the world!

Happy Holi!

GDL Admin — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 11:47:04 +0000

The GDL Team celebrated Holi or होली in Bagar this past Monday. We enjoyed visiting friends in the community, throwing colored powder or rang at each other, eating sweets, and watching Holika being burned.

Please learn more about Holi here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holi

Source for Change Completes Web Research / Data Entry Work for US-based Real Estate Firm

GDL Admin — Thu, 31 Dec 2009 07:33:08 +0000

BAGAR, RAJASTHAN, INDIA (24 December 2009) – Source for Change (SFC), a company established through the Ajay G. Piramal Foundation, completes the 17^th IT-based project in the company’s history. The most recent project was for UrboCorp, a real estate firm based in Houston, Texas, USA. The client needed comprehensive research from multiple websites regarding 1800 acres of residential properties located in Houston, Texas to be compiled into a central informational database.

“We were extremely excited to execute on a project that required detailed web research. As always, we applied our rigorous quality checking procedures and delivered a high quality product to the client.” says Shrot Katewa, co-founder and Chief Operating Officer of Source for Change.

SFC saved UrboCorp hundreds of hours allowing the company to focus on its core competencies. According to Mr. Tom McCasland, the owner of UrboCorp, his company benefited financially due to the reduced cost of the project. A similar project completed in a major Indian metro costs 30-40% more. Mr. McCasland was pleasantly surprised by both the quality and the cost of the project completed by Source for Change. The project began on October 6, 2009 and the final product was delivered ahead of schedule on November 26, 2009.

“The quality of the final product, the professionalism of the staff, and the rapid completion of the project all exceeded my most optimistic expectations,” says Mr. McCasland. “Because UrboCorp is a startup company with limited staff, Source for Change provided the perfect partner for completing a large web-based data entry project that was crucial to the growth of my company. Working with Source for Change and the women that it employs in rural India has reinforced my deeply held belief that doing well and doing good are not mutually exclusive concepts for businesses with vision, creativity and a social conscious.”

Source for Change is a solutions provider for business process services with a strong emphasis on quality which is creating tremendous efficiency gains for businesses. Now in its second year of operation, SFC offers its clients high quality outsourcing solutions with a competitive cost advantage by unifying three processes: people, quality, and innovation. SFC has completed 17 projects for 9 clients. Most clients have been from India, but UrboCorp is the fourth foreign client. Previously, The University of Maryland (USA), University of California, Los Angeles (USA), and Reel Colour Studios (UK) have all benefited from Source for Change’s industry leading quality assurance practices.

Source for Change, incubated by the Ajay G. Piramal Foundation, has its center in Bagar, Rajasthan. SFC works alongside the women of rural India in delivering the highest level of quality to our global clients while creating opportunities for educated women to learn new skills and develop their professional abilities. Providing employment opportunities for women is a way of tapping dormant talent, as there is much potential but few opportunities for professional women in rural areas. From thorough IT training to efficient project delivery, our business model operates on competitive cost and high quality while creating social impact.

BEI VOICE LAB

Arbind Singh — Wed, 25 Feb 2009 09:48:10 +0000

The Voice Lab has become operational at BEI center in Bagar.It is an attempt to provide platform for students in rural areas to communicate in English using technology, listen to pre recorded matter to improve their listening skills.Interact with the system in Q&A format to enhance their interview preparation skills, it also has interactive grammar learning features with vocabulary and accent improvement aid.

New initiative at GDL: Developing Entrepreneurship

pulkit — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 05:06:12 +0000

Dear GDL Blog readers,

This is my first entry (4 months into my time here!) so I should introduce myself.. My name is Pulkit Agrawal and I am one of the trinity of Indicorps Aug 08 fellows that are currently at GDL. I shall leave the others to give more details about themselves, but I have come with the aim of working to tackle youth unemployment, a significant issue here and other rural areas, during my 1 year at GDL..

Born not too far from here, in Jaipur, I’ve spent almost all my life abroad, mainly the UK and now live in London with my parents and younger sister. I’ve just graduated with a Masters in Chemical Engineering from Cambridge University this year and wanted to spend some time living and understanding India as well as doing something constructive before moving into the world of employment.

From tomorrow I shall begin classes to encourage entrepreneurship amongst youth here, as a means of self-employment. I hope to teach my students basic business skills through practical activities and develop their confidence in their own ability to successfully start and run a small rural enterprise. I will primarily be using the MOVE (Market Oriented Value Enhancement) manual – by Dr. M S Subhas (Kousali Institute of Management Studies, Karnatak University) – and Barefoot MBA – by Katherine Boas and Scott Raymond (two Stanford Business School graduates) – along with other individual sources. I hope to foster various soft/life skills alongside and foster a culture of civic responsibility amongst the participants. The first (pilot) batch will run for 2 hours/day and 6 days/week for 1 month, as a preliminary to a more developed strategy.

I am looking for a trainer to work with me in developing the course and to continue after I reach of my time here. In addition there are many aspects of this project that crave input and resources, so if there are any volunteers that would like to spend time developing this concept and start-up course then please get in touch at pulkit@gdl.org.in.

In addition the website is now undergoing some updates, after being pretty redundant for some time, so watch this space!

NEW INITATIVES ARE BEARING FRUITS

Arbind Singh — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 15:42:35 +0000

The arrival of autumn has brought chill and numbness in the weather but the spirit at the BEI English classes is high. The English class took the initiative of imparting medical representative training to the rural youth who were science graduates and above. The curriculum for the one month course was developed at BEI. It was a challenge to motivate people in these parts to think about careers in private sector. After some persuasion we were able to start a batch which concluded prior to Dipawali. The next big challenge was to find proper jobs for them as promised at the start. We are glad to announce that the effort put in by the students and the team has shown results. Three of our students Guljarilal Kumaot, Mahendra shaini and Kamlesh Dudi have been selected by Piramal e- Swasth to be their Field Supervisors. The only girl in our Class Mahesh Bambu who is M.Sc bio-tech is also on the threshold of landing a good job for herself. Once again , we at BEI appreciate the effort put in by the students and thank everyone who made it possible.

GENERAL:Defining Moments

Arbind Singh — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 08:00:04 +0000

The onset of monsoon brought about relief from heat and expectation for future. Amidst the arrival of dark clouds, dancing peacocks, pattering Sheds and rushing umbrellas the weather at GDL was changing too. From hot, hectic,colorful, myriad and fruitful summer activities carried out by the interns from BITS and U.S. to the poise of tired but satisfied bones waiting to say ‘ thank you BAGAR for being such a lovely host this summer’.

It was also a time to celebrate the indomitable spirit of the interns; in putting up the web-site, setting up of S.F.C. , controlling and documenting job seekers at BEX , grooming the future leaders , creating career handbooks and promoting safe drinking water programmes. The dedication , creativity , resource- management and mobilisation exemplified by them is going to be a source of inspiration for people whose lives have changed by their endeavour. The happy and laughing faces of players of football camp shall continue to connect community with the organisation in times to come.

The weather was changing with each passing hour so were the Scenes and Responsibilities at GDL.The GDL SHOWCASE organised on 13 th july was an effort to summarise , rejoice and share the achievements of the organisation with the community. It was an occation to honor-Radhika Batra, Preeti Balkrishnan and Ashish Gupta- the three INDICORPS fellows who changed the way BAGAR looked and thought about itself through their endeavours in different sectors in the last two years. It was a emotional ceremony for the fact that it marked an end to their tryst with BAGAR as they were about to fly back to U.S. in couple of days.

The conclusion of a glorious era has brought about new phase at GDL .Under the leadership of Mr. Ajay patel ( M.D. GDL) and Mr. Anil Purohit (Community leadership Manager)GDL looks forward to carry on with rejuvenated vigour the Existing Tasks and meet the new challenges with positive thinking and practical approach.

Shifting Mindsets

Radhika — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 01:20:03 +0000

**As my last posting indicates, a student in the Spoken English was offered a retail job but was forced to refuse it because his parents objected to him joining.

Very recently (within the last few hours), the student informed me that he convinced his parents to allow him to start. Unfortunately, the company at which he declined the offer filled the position but he has been able to secure a phone interview at a different company today.

When asked why his parents initially refused to let him join, he responded that they didn’t think he could pursue his last year of college and work simultaneously. Additionally, because the starting salary is not as high as his parents would have liked, they didn’t see any benefit in him working there. However, he persuaded his parents by bringing up his cousins who have been working and studying at the same time and by conveying that the experience he would gain on the job would prepare him well for an MBA. Additionally, while the initial salary is low, the possibility for promotion is high.

This shift in this students’ parents’ mindsets proved that if we are able to convey our message to one or a few people and it leaves an impression on them, they will carry on what they’ve learned to others. Sometimes these messages are taken to parents or elderly members of communities whose ways have proven the most difficult to change. This experience has shown me that word-of-mouth, youth, and investing in people are influential factors that play into ‘development’.