Mission innovation
May 30, 2008
Neither is there a board announcing the company’s name nor do you see the commotion of an office. Paul Basil’s residential neighbourhood is quite clueless what some people come and do everyday. But, not some 100 miles away, in the rural pockets of Tamil Nadu, where this 39-year-old social entrepreneur and his team have been identifying and supporting promising rural innovations for over six years now.Tucked inside Lloyds Road in Royapettah is the newly-shifted office of Rural Innovations Network (RIN), which Paul started in 2001. Today, this non-profit organisation works with around 10 innovations per year – quite a task, considering that most rural innovators are rarely tapped.
Paul was pursuing his Mechanical Engineering and graduation from the Indian Institute of Forest Management, with specialisation in forestry, when he developed an interest for the development sector. He got a hang by working with a few social organisations.
“I did not have a strong idea about social entrepreneurship, but was clear that I wanted to become an entrepreneur,” he explains. IIM-Ahmedabad’s Honey Bee Network was among the very few organisations working on grassroot innovators that impressed him. “I started RIN as a replica of the Gujarat programme but with more additions,” admits Paul, an Ashoka Fellow 2002 (a global organisation that identifies and invests in leading social entrepreneurs).
Their road to finding talents and funding innovations is a long one. RIN institutes the Innovators Award every year, where it collaborates with IIT-Madras to conduct the Lemelson Recognition and Mentoring Programme (L-RAMP). From advertising with local dailies to scouting for innovators at the patent office to tying up with banks, it is a long journey before they identify extreme grassroot innovators.
So, how do they fund an innovation? “It is pretty much similar to a Venture Capitalist model. The only difference being we are a social VC,” he says. “Our selection process is rigid. We only choose innovators who have a sound entrepreneurial vision – one who can buy and understand customers.” The funding, supported by Lemelson Foundation (www.lramp.org), ranges from a minimum of Rs. 10,000 to a maximum of Rs. 10 lakh.
Entrepreneurship has been a different ballgame for RIN – besides making products affordable and accessible it even markets them. Its most recent achievement is the opening of Samruddhi, a retail store which handles distribution, marketing and after-sales services.
Apart from identifying and retaining talents, Paul says one of his major challenges was working on new models. “There were no models to learn. I had to create mine and this took time,” says the Chief Executive Officer.
RIN has more plans in the pipeline. Paul is planning to take the RIN model to other states in the next three to four years. Added to that, “We are planning to start a profit company.” A long road to uplift rural India.
(If you are an entrepreneur with a successful business model or know one, write to us at firstinnings@goergo.in)
Put your old things to use
May 28, 2008
How to clear your old clothes, furniture, spectacles or newspapers (Yes, they are old but usable)? If you have difficulty in locating social organisations, then some of these are ready to collect your old goods from your place and promise to put it to good use, here’s help.
Little Drops Home for the Aged
What to donate: Clothes, utensils, any appliances
Contact Nos: 24766530/ 2476 7763/ 98840 80864
Rehoboth
What to donate: Clothes, furniture
Contact Nos: 2476 2022/ 98840 80863
Hope Foundation
What to donate: Clothes, furniture, educational materials
Contact Nos: 94444 64928
Udavum Karangal
What to donate: Newspapers
Contact Nos: 2621 6321/ 2621 6421
Shankar Nethralaya
What to donate: Spectacles
Contact Nos: 2827 1616. You need to drop your old glasses at the drop box kept inside its Nungambakkam campus.
Interview with RJ Suchitra
May 25, 2008
You approached Radio Mirchi for a job as a script writer. How did you get picked as an RJ?
When Mirchi had just started, they wanted to select people with talent who can later be shifted to other positions in the station. They were exploring and taking in people. RJing came as an accident to me but it was intentional on their part.
You shifted from a lucrative IT job into a new unexplored arena. How did people at home react?
All my friends thought I was kind of crazy to leave my job at Satyam and enter into a radio station that had just come up. But I decided to take a shot at it. I’ve always wanted to write.
What about your stint in movies? You’ve done a couple of cameo appearances.
My appearance as Suchitra in Jay Jay was purely coincidental. There was a pact between Radio Mirchi and the production house of Jay Jay. And they needed an RJ to star in the movie. My brief appearance in Mani Ratnam’s ‘Ayudha Ezhuthu’ was also a good experience but it was very brief.
You are a fan of Suriya. How was the experience of working with him?
Suriya is incredibly sincere at work. But he is also an expert at subtle intelligent humour. One minute he’s working and the next he’s pulling your leg and back to work again in a second. You would never realise unless you are quick to grasp it.
Did you always want to sing or was playback singing also accidental?
I had learnt singing even as a child but you are not allowed to dream much when you are from a south Indian Brahmin family. I didn’t have any notions of getting into singing.
Coffee with Suchi. What was it like to be a host of a TV show?
I let go of hosting shows long ago. The grease paint and the hours of waiting didn’t appeal to me. I am not a very patient person. Coffee with Suchi was a great experience because having a show with your name as the title by itself is a great thing. I enjoyed my stint there.
You have also forayed into writing, winning the Commonwealth Short Story Competition for your kids story ‘The Runaway Peppercorn’. Why a peppercorn?
When I was a kid, my grandmother used to tell me a story about how her mother-in-law gave her advice in the kitchen. One of the things she told her was to never let a peppercorn roll away from the sack or it would run and tell tales on you to your neighbours. That’s how the idea came about.
On a more personal note, how has life changed after marriage?
Not much really. I still have a cook, because I can’t cook to save my life. She takes care of my diet and also Karthik’s, since he is also on a strict diet now. She takes up half the responsibility. But I should say now I know what an electricity bill is!
Which is close to your heart? RJing, singing or writing?
Singing is very close to my heart. RJing is part of who I am.
Archer takes aim, again
May 25, 2008
“I began writing 34 years ago under financial pressure. I had left the House of Commons and had no job. And I assumed that as soon as I wrote a book it would be published,” said the man to a packed house of 1,000-plus. That was when Not a Penny More, Not a Penny Less happened.
“Eighteen publishers turned me down, which was bigger than Rowling, who was turned down by just 16,” he added.
Since then, Jeffrey Archer has churned out page-turners like Kane and Abel, The Fourth Estate, As The Crow Flies, and Honour Among Thieves, to name a few, flak from critics of “lightweight” authors and pop fiction notwithstanding.
In namma Chennai to promote his latest offering, A Prisoner of Birth, Archer had an interaction with readers at Landmark, Nungambakkam. As a more-than-capacity crowd hung onto every word, the author again showed how to tell a good tale, not just in the written word.
“My publishers told me ‘Nobody has heard about you in America. We’ve got to put you on breakfast television. There’s only one problem – breakfast shows don’t like authors, unless they write on sex, ways of curing cancer, or weight loss.’ ”
Six minutes, between 7:24 and 7:30 a.m., was the time slot Archer got, which he shared with Billy Carter and Mickey Mouse. “Mickey Mouse was a professional. He taught me one rule – when you know it’s the last question, go on talking,” he tells you.
Archer, by the way, much to the consternation of his publishers, spent his minute talking about the Concorde he was flown in. Kane and Abel had no choice but wait for another day.
“If you want to write, you need to have a system. I handwrite every word. I start writing at six in the morning, write for two hours and take a two-hour break and again write for two hours… I go to bed at 10 p.m. and follow the same routine for the next 50 days. And that’s just the first draft,” said Archer, as a suggestion to budding writers.
“I discovered R.K. Narayan 10 days ago. His genius is simple. He takes a bunch of insignificant people in a small village and turns them into giants, while others start off with giants and turn them into dwarves,” said Archer. “I’ve never had a writer’s block in 33 years!”
Questions that readers posed ranged from the inane “What were you doing before you started writing?” to the surprising “Do you plan to write a book with an Indo-British theme?” and the predictable “What inspires you?”
While on that, the Indo-British theme elicited a firm “No”. However, Archer revealed that Paths of Glory, his next book, will make a mention of India, even if it doesn’t form the entire story.
Originality rocked to empty seats
May 25, 2008
At the RSJ Kingfisher Pubrockfest held at Geoffrey’s in Radha Regent on Friday, the scene was close to pathetic, one-fourths performance-wise and three-fourths per-head audience screaming, which was zilch.
To rant more about the latter, the crowd was such a misfit (read corporate crowd looking for R&R) that sadly LBG’s performance was downhill and almost gimmicky on stage - which is misleading for a first-timer, considering the band’s music.
To introduce, it was the Chennai-based Little Babooshka’s Grind (LBG) and Australian band Aurora Jane and Massive Change who performed for the Chennai segment of the fest, which began this month and will end in July, completing 60 gigs in over 20 cities in the country.
This particular gig in Chennai, has to be the most unadvertised rock festival that has come to Chennai, and this is not the first time Kingfisher is guilty of poor promotions. Remember the Night Out with Kingfisher event, where Brazilian DJs Marie and Cady played in Distil and Fisherman’s Cove? It was in March!
Exactly, you don’t remember. Moving on, but if you’re interested in more discussions, e-mail me. Really moving on, LBG sang songs from two albums, mainly their early, pure rock songs from their first ‘This Animal is Called the Wallet’ and the second ‘Bad Children’.
The most noticeable band member was Maynard on the skins, who wasn’t trying too hard. Brothers Avnith (bass), Aum (guitars) and Arjun (guitar) Janakiram were most noticeable in their stage antics and completely losing rhythm in most places, only to make up for it in parts, which is a pity because their music is original and they are evolving into a band with identity.
If you haven’t heard LBG yet, Google them, listen to their music on the band’s website, you would wonder why they aren’t bigger.
Anyway, with a half-baked performance from a band that is trying to promote the South as a viable stage for musicians, they sure came out pitifully. Thankfully, Aurora Jane, the vocalist and lead guitarist of Massive Change, saved face with remarkable albeit slightly repetitive jazz, funk and reggae tunes.
Although not purely rock, her Ani DiFranco style of performance, armed with an acoustic guitar and activism evident in lyrics, the music is spot-on in rebellion. Singing about India and its cultural divides or aboriginal oppression or even about Internet pornography as in ‘All in your hands’, this band was worth the time and distance spent.
Bayern Munich arrive in Kolkata
May 25, 2008
All-India Football Federation Vice-President Subrata Dutta was the man responsible for bringing Bayern Munich’s reserve team for the 111th IFA Shield at Kolkata in 2005. The then Indian Football Association secretary, Dutta is equally excited about the senior team’s visit to the Mecca of Indian football.
“It’s one of the greatest things to have ever happened to Indian football. Football will get a huge boost here with this visit of the Bavarian giants. We can improve our infrastructure and our playing standards with their assistance,” says Dutta.
He seems equally eager to meet the legendary Oliver Kahn. Dutta says: “It will be an honour to meet him and I am sure that with 120,000 people cheering him it will be a memorable game for him, too.” The AIFF Vice-President was instrumental in solving the problems between the parent body and the organisers of the match, Bengal Peerless.
The AIFF was unhappy with the fact that they were kept in the dark about the game till the last day and felt left out in the bargain. “Bengal Peerless had informed the AIFF after finalisng everything. But the convention says that you cannot organise any such match without the consent of the parent body.
This earned the wrath of the federation and they levied a huge sum as organising fee. There was lack of communication between the two parties and I just acted as a mediator and everything fell into place,” says a modest Dutta.
However, the ever-optimistic Dutta is not expecting any miracles and is praying for a good game of football. “The difference between the two sides is huge. We should go without any expectations and hope for the best result,” he says.
His optimism extends when he speaks of the game’s future in India. “The Goal Project with FIFA and AFC’s backing is running smoothly in the north-east and very soon we will introduce it in Bengal and Goa.
More and more states will be brought under its purview, and with Chelsea, Bayern and several other European clubs eager to extend a helping hand, football can only have bright future here,” Dutta ends.
We don’t want no cigarettes
May 25, 2008
In a lead up to World No Tobacco Day (WNTD) which falls on May 31, CanStop organised a rock show at the YMCA grounds on Saturday to campaign cancer care, and to get to the bottom of it all, spread the word about smoking and its ill effects.
This year, particularly because the 2008 theme for WNTD is Tobacco-free Youth, CanStop is interested in targeting ‘the same crowd that would turn up for a rock show’, therefore the 16-30 age group. Dr. Arjun Rangarajan, coordinator for tobacco control, CanStop says “Individuals in this age group are constantly on the move, and it is easy to develop a habit at a juncture in their career or relationships.
This leads to peer pressure, which shows in smoke breaks at work or commencing smoking after a relationship break-up.”
Which is why, Dr. Arjun explains, that a band like Junkyard Groove (JYG) was called to spread the word on smoking and its dangers. “We all know that the band smokes openly at other venues, but they’re an icon in the city, and they’ll draw in the target crowd.”
In fact, there was a pledge board just outside the venue, where concert-goers were asked to sign to show support. Siddharth Srinivasan, lead guitarist for JYG also signed the pledge, not confirming if he would give up smoking, but is ‘trying’.
The two other bands who played funk rock bands Panatella and Gray Shack, who drew in their fan base, and surprisingly although JYG is the bigger band of the three, in terms of gigs and visibility, there weren’t many who remained for the latter’s performance. The moshpit had all but 25 fans, which brings us to the question – was the campaign a success?
Dr. Arjun says “Numbers don’t count. Tobacco cessation programmes abroad are tailored to an individual’s needs, and even if we get 1 person thinking about quitting, we’re happy.” CanStop helpline: 26284256
Double encore
May 25, 2008
The staging of Rumpelstiltskin at the Alliance Francaise over the weekend was definitely a rip-roaring success. And to actually think that the entire cast and crew with the exception of the director are barely out of school! They definitely deserve a double encore.
The story revolves around Rumpelstiltskin (Vidyullekha Raman), a mannequin created by the evil Diavola (Punya Srikanth) to be her slave for eternity.
Into this story walks in King Gier (Suchith Vasudevan) whose greed to acquire treasure supposedly found in the Forbidden Forest forces his ministers Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup played quite hilariously by Susan Abraham, Radha Sunder and Prarthana, to look for a wife who is beautiful and wealthy at the same time.
Poor Bella (Anusha Venkatraman) gets caught in her father’s (Ujwal Nair) web of deceit when he proclaims to the three crazy ministers that his daughter can convert straw into gold. What is Bella to do?
Rumpelstiltskin comes to the fair maiden’s rescue on the condition that she gives him her first born after she becomes queen. All goes well till the child is born.
Does Rumpelstiltskin actually carry the baby away? Will the story have a happy ending? The answers to these intriguing questions form the rest of the play.
The actors were positively brilliant and each performance was equally good. The credit of casting must definitely be given to the director for tapping the potential of each actor. The king looked like one, for a change.
The sorceress played her treacherous role to the hilt and the actor who played Bella was a surprisingly good dancer. Rumpelstiltskin, whose role was personified by rhymes, singing and dancing, was incredibly entertaining.
Above all, the cast managed to pull off dialogues quite well, without any unnecessary pauses or hitches. The humour was quite contagious with Rumpelstiltskin, Blossom, Bubbles and Buttercup literally interacting with the audience.
In G.D. Prasad, we can find a budding composer. The song “Look right, look left” was set to “So long farewell” from Sound of Music! But eliminating that fact, the music & lighting were definitely appropriate for the setting and suited the mood.
Sharanya, under the guidance of Mithran Devanesan, seems to have understood the way he works. It was amazing to see how each pillar when rotated could form a different scene.
Adapting a lesser known fairytale from The Brothers Grimm to suit the stage is no mean feat. For this achievement, the director, Aruna Ganesh Ram, assisted by Ashirwad Viswanathan and playwright Dushyanth Gunashekar, have to be congratulated.
Only when the end credits are announced do you realize that Ahirwad and Dushyanth are debutantes. All is well that ends well and so be it with Landing Stage’s Rumpelstiltskin.
Never too late to get back to classroom
May 22, 2008
“Why the heck should I continue with a job that keeps me busy from 9 a.m. to sometimes till two the next morning?” That was a frustrated Pradeep Kumar venting his woes on his two-year stint as Product Analyst with a leading BPO, his first job that he bagged through campus placement at Hindustan College of Engineering.
Twenty-four-year-old Kumar is a happy and relieved man today. He got his much-needed break from work by enrolling himself in a one-year Executive MBA Programme with Chennai Business School (CBS). “You are lured by the fancy pay packets when you are fresh out of college.
But, after working for a couple of years I realised what my interests were,” says Kumar, who will soon be starting his next stint with Marg Constructions.
He is no exception among the increasing number of professionals taking up jobs young. A one-year break from work is the easiest and quickest way to gain a Management degree as well as get a break from the monotony of office hours.
Today, one-year Management programmes are getting popular among young professionals with a minimum of two to three years of work experience. They are ideal for those looking to enhance their careers without a long hiatus from work.
In fact, a majority of MNCs have tie-ups with B-Schools, where a batch of professionals with five and more years of experience is sent to hone their managerial and leadership skills. And if you are a little younger in the organisation, executive programmes tailor-made to suit industry requirements are being offered in a number of premier institutions.
IIM-Lucknow, for the first time, has introduced a one-year full-time residential executive programme in International Programme in Management for Executives (IPMX) at its Noida campus recently.
“There is a huge demand for such educational programmes. We have students who are ready to leave their comfortable jobs to hone their skills,” says Prof. Punam Sahgal, Dean, Noida Campus, and Chairperson, IPMX.
IIM-Ahmedabad is equally impressed with the momentum its one-year MBA programme has picked up. “It’s just our third batch and without much publicity we have been getting students,” says P. Chandra Bose, Programme Secretary, IIM-A. From 60 students in the first batch, the seats were increased by 18 in the second.
XLRI-Jamshedpur, ISB-Hyderabad and S.P. Jain Institute of Management, to name a few – also offer similar one-year Management degrees. So have one-year Management programmes become the order of the day? Will they replace the traditional two-year programmes?
“I prefer to say that it is a trend that is catching up,” says L.S. Ganesh, HOD, Management Studies, IIT-Madras. While IIT-M does not offer a one-year programme, Ganesh does not rule out the possibility in the near future.
“Ours is a fairly young programme and for now we are concentrating on it,” says Ganesh, adding, “One-year programmes will play a large role in the years to come, but this will not displace the traditional two-year model.”
The binding factor in all these programmes is that it is rigorous and challenging. It encourages learning beyond the classroom. Good for faculty and guest lecturers, too, as students tend to appreciate the course better.
As ISB says in its website, “You learn not just from the faculty and peers, but also from successful leaders and entrepreneurs who frequently visit the campus.”
In addition, a one-year programme has a great advantage over a two-year programme because of the tremendous savings in opportunity costs.
What is also interesting is the changing profile of students who enrol for these degrees. In a majority of these programmes, 70 per cent comprise students with some or the other industry experience.
“For our second batch, we had 28 students from the IT/ITeS background enrolling with us,” says Prof. R. Sathyanarayanan, Head, Marketing and Marcom, CBS.
Also, it is the top brass from the industry who conduct interviews to select the right candidate. IIM-L, on the other hand, has 46 students in the first batch. Around 45 per cent come from IT and technical backgrounds, while the rest belong to sectors such as telecom, power, banking, finance and defence. It’s never too late to get back to the classroom.
Secrets about women
May 22, 2008
If you think that women do always mean what they say, chances are that you may go wrong. Many a time, they will say something and mean the exact opposite. And leave you puzzled wondering what’s in her mind? Here are some top secrets of women laid bare.
Like surprises
Girls are fond of surprises. They believe that they should be surprised at least once a month.
Be a man
No matter how modern and independent they are, they will want you to be “the man”. Even the take-no-prisoners woman will wants to be taken care of by a man somehow. Whether that means you take charge in bed, know how to fix the car and kill spiders, or even just carry big suitcases for her. When you act all manly, it makes them feel more feminine, more safe.
Call ‘em pretty
Every woman has this mind frame no matter how much they try to deny it. Almost all of them want to feel like the one and only beauty queen in the world and demand royal treatment from men. They want to be told they are beautiful, then after a time told they’re sexy. Women also believe in the fairytale and will look at most men in the first 30 seconds as if they could be the prince they have been looking for.
Am I fat?
You would have heard her say this time and again. No matter how skinny she is she would never consider herself thin. Almost every woman in this world occasionally asks this annoying question- “Am I looking fat in this honey?”
Good sign!
As soon as she finds out your sign, she starts reading your horoscope obsessively, looking for any sort insight into your character, trying desperately to figure you out.
Jealous as hell
Women get jealous as hell. They might deny it but the fact is they get extremely jealous even if their man talks to a random female or maybe a friend. She might pretend to act all nice but inside her jealousy volcano is about to erupt.
Scared about mothers
Yes, they love their mothers, and for that matter are scared that they will turn into their mothers. They admire mothers and think mothers are the most amazing women on the planet. But just don’t want to be them. That’s why one of the worst insults you can hurl at a woman is, “You’re acting just like your mother.” But here’s one that’s even worse: “You’re acting just like my mother.” (winks)
Their topic guys
In fact, girls spend hours upon hours with their girlfriends analyzing everything you do, say, imply, talk about, don’t say, don’t do, the ways you look at us, the different ways you’ve answered the phone, how you dress when you see them, just to figure out whether you like them or not.
Celebrity fantasy
Girls fantasize about hot celebrity guys, but that doesn’t mean they want their guy to be one of them.
Gassier than you are
Girls are just as gassier as men are, but out rightly deny the fact. Ask a girl about it, she will say: “Yes, some of us are.Not me. I mean, I don’t ever have gas. I’m talking about other girls.Like your ex… the one with the perfect hair and lips. I’m sure she’s really gassy.Good you got rid of her.”
You cheater!
They know when you are cheating. Women have inbuilt instincts and emotion system which beeps and alerts when their man is cheating. No matter how big of a player you are you would always be caught no matter what.
The last secret
Don’t ever share secrets with a girl; she is part of the British Broadcasting Corporation. Girls talks about men to their girlfriends and compare notes with each other. She say things like, “He’s so cute!” and “He’s such a jerk” and one of their favourite things to say to one another is, “You deserve better.”
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