Rumble in the Wind

This post is not about 'Marathi Manoos' or about the Tiger and his cubs or even Bolywood, but about the spirit of 'Aamchi Mumbai'. As I climbed on to the cool cab and told the cabbie to take me to my destination at Peddar Road, I was thanking my stars for finding my wallet after a 3 hours chase across Mumbai. I told myself that this is possible only in Mumbai. In Delhi, where I reside you cant even think of even registering a complaint with the police, forget about finding your wallet which you have left behind in a cab. It all began on a March evening when my cab driver asked me whether I am interested to take the route to Peddar Road in South Mumbai from Santa Cruz airport through the newly opened Sea Link. Since I have heard and read and seen so much about this controversial yet an amazing engineering feat, why not? So off we tool a detour from Bandra to the Sea Link. What an amazing experience. You can see the shore line of Mumbai from the middle of the sea as you...

This peice was composed by Rajat Mitra, a Ashoka Fellow when the group was discussing the merits of a Business Model for social enterprises. Its an interesting read so posting it. This is in regard to your question about ‘Business Models in Social Entrepreneurship’. Hope it helps our father of the nation Mahatama Gandhi’s business model. The year is 1920 and Mahatma Gandhi is applying for his grant. His interviewer is a MBA graduate. It goes as follows: (Though there were no MBA’s then but let us assume one existed) MBA GRADUATE - I can see you have a goal to get India free. It is a Good proposal but let us see if it is realistic and if we can fund it. Q1. How many years would you need to get India free? I need a timeline, a plan and a model by which you will throw the British out. GANDHI scratches his head and says it might take a 10, 20, 30 years or a lifetime. MBA GRADUATE - That is very vague Mr. Gandhi. Can’t you give me a specific date by which you can get India free? GANDHI says...

This write up is based on my visit to Bhagalpur, Bihar, India which falls under one of India's most improvised districts. Bhagalpur is famous for Silk Weaving and according to Government data, there are at least 50,000 weavers. Advent of powerlooms, cheap imports from China and lack of any investment from Goverment or the private sector has completely destroyed the weaving industry. At present a family cant even earn Rs1500 (approx $33) per month. Bhagalpur (April 15-April 17, 2009) I woke up at 6.30 in the morning and felt that something is wrong since we are not moving. Any one who has travelled through Indian Railways always dread for this moment. When the train suddenly stops and doesn’t move for more than 10 mins. It can be a faulty track, faulty engine, someone pulled a chain to get down, an accident ahead, a rail blockade by some nationalist fighting for free rail travel, ...all bad thoughts clouds your mind. The previous day I took the Vikramshila Express from New Delhi and...

This piece was written as an essay for the New Generation Seminar Series ( www.eastwestcenter.org/ngs) The old piggy bank, which all of us have used in our childhood, provides an interesting metaphor during these challenging times. It conveys the principle that whatever goes in comes out (no promise of supra normal profits), that small is beautiful (Microfinance vs Big Ticket Loans) and a good product is one which is simple in its design (Thank you derivatives!). If only the Wall Street guys had one of them. Similarly, at CFM we work with our artisan groups across India to make products which are simple in design but utilitarian in nature, taking into account the need of our customers. With around 10 milllion people dependent on handicrafts in India, a slowing global economy will have a severe impact on the ability of these people who are already under tremendous strain to earn a decent meal. Handicrafts is not only about creating jobs at the community level, but has other multiplier e...

 Once upon a time a man appeared in a village and announced to the  villagers that he would buy monkeys for $10 each. The villagers, seeing that there were many monkeys around, went out to the forest and started catching them. The man bought thousands at $10 and, as supply started to diminish, the villagers stopped their effort. He next announced that he would now buy monkeys at $20 each. This renewed the efforts of the villagers and they started catching monkeys again. Soon the supply diminished even further and people started going back to their farms. The offer increased to $25 each and the supply of monkeys became so scarce it was an effort to even find a monkey, let alone catch it! The man now announced that he would buy monkeys at $50 each! However, since he had to go to the city on some business, his assistant would buy on his behalf.  In the absence of the man, the assistant told the villagers: 'Look at all these monkeys in the big cage that the man has already collected. I...

Global X interviews Rahul Barkataky, founder of the Community Friendly Movement in New Delhi. CFM creates a global market for handmade ... http://www.socialedge.org/blogs/global-x/archive/2008/01/15/rahul-bartaky

An article on Mint featuring my first start up- MITRA Technology Foundation IRMA graduates Nainwal, Shalabh Sahai and Rahul Barkataky set up iVolunteer—a skill exchange for voluntary work http://www.livemint.com/2008/07/18235343/Welfare-over-wages.html