CSIM welcomes all to its 3rd convocation on October 23rd, 2010. The convocation shall be presided by Dr. A. Ravindra (IAS), Advisor to the Chief Minister of Karnataka (Urban Affairs) and Dr. J. M. Sampath, Founder Director, Arpitha Associated Pvt. Ltd. and leading social entrepreneur.

The venue for the event is the SIET Tower, Basavanagudi.

All are Welcome !

A series of notes from our writer Anitha Pai as she makes the historic journey through India to discover the spirit of social entrepreneurship.

After living in the heartland of America for most of my life, I moved to Bangalore last year to understand the ground realities of the development sector. I began working for a microfinance company and during my free time I couldn’t get enough of exploring India’s cities and villages.

9600 kms across India, 400 yatris, 18 days:

When I heard about Tata Jagriti Yatra, I jumped at the opportunity to travel the country on a train with 400 others interested in exploring social entrepreneurship in India. I knew it would be a chance to further my personal interests, meet like-minded youth, and see firsthand the innovation taking place in institutions around the country.

In the early hours of the morning, I leave the neighborhoods of South Mumbai to make my way to the induction session of TJY. Looking out of the taxi window, I see men walking dogs which are not theirs and those washing cars which aren’t theirs either. For someone who is usually asleep at this time, I’m surprised to see who all have already begun their work day. The Beginning: Dec 24-25th

I arrive at the meeting hall and immediately notice that I have one of the largest suitcases in the group. As others march in with several small and medium size duffel bags, I roll in the only suitcase that was large enough to hold my essentials for the next 18 days. My suitcase is stuffed with amounts of toilet paper and hand sanitizer that I’m sure others aren’t carrying. I start feeling hesitant about my ability to adapt to the constraints of a makeshift home on wheels, and I wonder if I can learn to rough it, Indian style.

The day moves fast and after meeting so many ‘Yatris’ (a term used to refer to fellow travelers), I’m quickly at a loss for names. We are divided into groups of 20 which will serve as our primary discussion circle for the course of the trip. Over our first conversation, my group covers the topics of healthcare in India, the need for skilled employment and the power of microfinance. I can already see myself learning a lot from the Yatris’ insights and varied perspectives. Group C consists of an environmentalist from Bihar, an American MBA student studying the social entrepreneurship sector, a filmmaker, a development studies student, a journalist and 15 others from urban and rural India.

The inaugural session starts with a presentation by Mr. Manish Tripathi of the Dabbawalas, who gives us a glimpse into the success of the 118 year old Mumbai- based lunch delivery service. In his own charismatic style, he elicits a roaring applause with his punchline – "as long as husbands keep loving their wives and long for homemade food" the Dabbawalas will be in business.

By evening we leave for the Central Mumbai railway station. Unexpected delays keep us waiting and at the midnight hour I find myself singing carols on the station platform, led by a group of fellow travelers from the British contingent. We sing; some huddle together and sleep; and others chat about their interests and share excitement for the journey ahead.

As we wait to board, I overhear a conversation between an autowalla and one of the Yatris. After listening to our Christmas carols, the autowalla looks at our foreign delegates and states that Indian hospitality is too accepting. He comments that Indians who go abroad never receive the same generous welcome that foreigners are given here. I assumed that the Yatri would simply dismiss the man, but instead he responded with a passionate explanation on how the world is taking a fresh look at India. Things are changing, he tells the man, and Indians are appreciated for their contributions. I don’t think the autowalla was convinced, but it was the fighting spirit of the Yatri that made me feel lucky to be living in this country at this very moment in history.

 

 

 

 

 

The idea of creating change is a theme we'll be talking about again and again. We’ll say India’s challenges are massive, and that, without a fundamental shift in the status quo there is much to be worried about. But what I hope is that despite the issues that need to be overcome, we’ll keep the spirit of the Yatri who had so much optimism for India’s future.

 

On the lighter side, a typical introductory conversation on the train:

Me: Hi, my name is Anitha.

Fellow Yatri: Where are you from?

Me: Bangalore [pronounced with an American accent]

Fellow Yatri: Bengal?

Me: No, Bangalore [I attempt an Indian accent.]

Fellow Yatri: I didn’t get you.

Experienced Friend: She means Bangalore. [I find myself slightly jealous of the ease in which she uses her singsong local accent.]

Fellow Yatri: You don’t sound like you’re from Bangalore.

Me: I grew up in the States.

Fellow Yatri: Oh, but you look Indian.

Me: Well yes, my parents are from India. Where are you from? [I attempt to change the subject as to not cause any further confusion.]

Fellow Yatri: But you’re not an Indian? [It doesn’t work.]

Me: [a hesitant pause] I guess I’m American.

Fellow Yatri: But your name is Indian.

Me: [I realize that this is not going well at all. I hope that a reference to a Bollywood actress will save me in a time of distress.] I’m an NRI like Katrina Kaif.

Fellow Yatri: Ohh. [It works! Thank you Katrina!]

Truth is Bitter

- Blog by Ramalakshmi Subramaniam

He is 7 years old. He has a mischievous smile. Speaks a language that is alien (must have been Hindi) to me.He laughs when I struggle to answer. When asked "How did you land up here?", He says (with a you-don't-know-even-this look), "I got into the train at Kolkata and the train brought me here". It is amazing to see the pride beaming in his tiny eyes. But, this was the only happy moment in the entire two hours spent in the Government home - Dairy circle, Bangalore. The rest of the two hours flew in a jiffy listening to umpteen heart wrenching tales.

We enter her class in a group. Rest of the children are excited to see new faces. The smile on their faces is such a relief. They sing a prayer song for us. I can see smiles everywhere except on that tiny face. I can see the precious pearls in the corner of her eyes. She sees the same on mine. We communicate in silence in the background of the melodious song. We leave the class, glee on other faces and waves of good bye. But, She just nods her head, which I assume as an acceptance. I want to run to her, to hug her, and bring her back home with me. "Her mom's husband (stepfather) is a pimp and is pushing her into prostitution", a short intro of her which comes later on. She is just 12 years old.

This is a serene building unlike the rest of the blocks. I feel the warmth when I enter the building. I enter a room where four infants are sleeping blissfully in their cradles. I wonder how heartless the parents are to throw away the infants on the street. With a heavy heart I move to the next room and find this princess, who wakes up as we whisper her name.She is Preeti. Hers is the cutest smile I have ever seen and the sleepy "Hello" was the best sound I've ever heard. Her story is not any better. Her own dad left her in this shelter home saying that She is a friend's daughter and is an orphan now. But, I think she is just fortunate and will be adopted by a nice people. Am told she is a bundle of energy and extremely smart. Am praying to God to gift her a warm, affectionate and caring parents now.

The above are the stories of just three children whom I met at a children's home in Bangalore. But there are many more untold miseries. Generally the manpower and the funds of such non profits are limited. But,both of them are in abundance with us. Why not be useful to someone? These children abandoned by their parents and having faced trauma all their life need a reason to smile. Why not be the lamp to show light on their path. It is not just food, shelter and clothes which is the need of the hour, it is also 10 spoons of love with 2 tables of care and 5 capsules of affection which will be the best prescription for their illness.Let us join hands to help them face the world with courage and most importantly with a smile. Let's give them a reason to look forward for another new day. I always believe in what a friend once said, "Hope and dope are just the same, they make you excited till the last minute".

The two hours spent with the children might have made their day a little more fun but for me it was lot of learning.It has left an indelible impression in me. It has kept my heart still aching.

I attribute some of the sleepless and restless nights to this.

Education as it can be -

Blog by Aarthi Muralidharan

Dear friends,

My weekly sessions at CSIM have completed and I am now doing an individual project. This is like a dream project which I would love to implement some day.

My passion is in 2 areas - children and education. So, I plan to do a project that would bring more meaning to these. As most of you would know, I have been volunteering for ACT for the past few years. The idea of this project is based out of my experiences with children there. It has stemmed from the feeling of helplessness, frustration while teaching children and the constant urge to motivate children to learn the right way.

I have put down my thoughts of the project. In the coming weeks I will post my findings and ways to address the issue.

I would like you all to pass on your suggestions or any inputs you have.

Love,

Me

BACKGROUND

Life of an under-privileged child

Today, there are many NGOs who work for educating under-privileged children. One of the biggest challenges these NGOs face is to sustain and increase the interest of the child in education. Being supported by the NGO, the child joins a government school enthusiastic about going the school and being the first generation literate in his/her family. Slowly as years pass by, the child keeps learning new theories and concepts in school and finds no relevance to it in daily lives. At home, their parents are uneducated and hence are not able to help them in understanding the importance or the science behind the concepts. At schools (typically government schools), the standard of teaching is poor. When the child reaches class 8 or 9, his/her interest in education drops as they hardly understand what they learn. They prefer to mug-up the question answers and score marks for the sake of exams than understanding the logic or reasoning. As time passes, they complete class 10 and face the big question of which branch/stream to choose. Most of them end up choosing commerce not because the want to become a C.A, but because they have an aversion to mathematics, physics and chemistry. Their choices are more derived from their dislikes than likes. Much before they realize, they end up gazing at the limited choices they have for an under-graduate degree. The girl enrolls herself for an arts course and the boy for a B.Com. As they have not developed their application and problem solving skills so long, they struggle to get a good job for their education. And there finally comes the irony - they land up in a job which has no relevance to what they have learnt so far.

There are multiple cascading problems here,

1. As teaching at school is more exam oriented and not application oriented, the child looses interest

2. As they loose interest, they start disliking subjects which need more logic like Maths and Science. This gives them limited options in class X and XII

3. Without developing the required problem solving skills, they don’t end up in the right jobs

Today, there are many organizations that are working for identifying the most appropriate streams for the child based on his/her capability. There are also organizations working towards getting a job for them.

OBJECTIVE

Through this project I would like to work on the root-cause of the problem which is – Learning not being application and problem solving oriented.

TARGET AUDIENCE

Education is important to every child irrespective of their background. The problem of rote learning is applicable to children in general and only to under-privileged ones. Through this project I would like to come up with some ways of addressing this issue for all children.