Crea ng Social Impact - Tata Trustspulse.tatatrusts.org/edition/3/magazine/edition3/Tata_Trust_Pulse.pdf · human problems in a sustainable way. Prof. Yunus calls upon young people,

Vol.3 • Feb.18 • [email protected]

Crea�ng Social Impact

ContentsEditor’s Note

On the Same Page

I. Social Business and a World of Three Zeros- Collate thoughts of Prof. Muhammad Yunus

II. Social Enterprise by Design not by Default- Prof. Madhukar Shukla; XLRI

III. Taking on the World, One Venture at a Time- Saloni Malhotra, Founder Desicrew Solutions

IV. Betting Big on High Risk Business- Nikhita Nadkarni

V. The Power of Collectives

Employees Corner

I. Stay Safe a) Safety at Workplace by Chief - Group Safety and Health, TBEG

b) Be Aware - Pritha Banerjee

c) It will never happen to me- Mallika Jagad

d) A Safe Workplace is my Right - Khorshed Talati

e) Stay Calm - Shishir Dash

II. One on One a) “We are headed in the right direction, we just need to

row in tandem now” - Malavika Chauhan

b) To Burzis Sir, With love says Team Tata Trusts

III. Leisure Zone

a) Makar Sankranti - A Festival Which Binds The Nation

b) Creative Expressions

IV. Love Thy Neighbors – Team Eastern UP

V. Thank a Colleague

VI. Quiz Twist

VII. Call for Contribution

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Building a great nation has been at the core of the endeavors of our founders. Even today, the Trusts is at the forefront of nation building through its focus on sustained social impact. Recently we celebrated our 69th Republic Day and this is an apt moment for us to pledge to contribute towards creating sustained social impact. This is the focus of this third edition of Pulse, our own internal magazine.

This time ‘On the Same Page’ we have collated the thoughts of Professor Muhammad Yunus on Social Business and how it can lead to the creation of new economic order. While attempting to develop Social Business as a means for sustained impact it is important to understand the journey of Social Enterprises and also learn from the experiences of people who have embarked on this journey. We are grateful to Professor Madhukar Shukla from XLRI for sharing his perspectives on the journey of Social Entrepreneurship in India and to Saloni Malhotra for sharing her experiences in creating the first rural BPO in the country.

Several of our colleagues have profiled the initiatives of Social Alpha and multiple community based organizations in Gujarat, Uttarakhand and Maharashtra to amply demonstrate the Trusts’ commitment towards sustained social impact through social entrepreneurship. I hope that these experiences will help us in our journey towards positively and sustainably impacting 100 million lives by 2021.

Employees form the cornerstone of the success of the Trusts and their safety is of utmost importance to the Trusts. In ‘Stay Safe’ section, Suresh Tanwar, Chief – Group Safety & Health Tata Business Excellence Group, shares the Tata group framework for employee safety which forms the stepping stone for the safety initiatives at the Tata Trusts that has been kicked off with the training of first responders at our various offices. This effort will be expanded to cover all our offices shortly.

I hope you will enjoy the ‘One-on-One’ with senior colleagues Mr. Burzis Taraporevala and Ms. Malavika Chauhan on their journey with the Trusts. I am sincerely thankful for the contributions from so many of my colleagues each of whom who took time out to contribute articles, conduct interviews and took efforts to showcase their creative pursuits for this edition, making it truly a magazine for each one of us created by each one of us.

This note would not be complete without the mention of the team members who have been instrumental with the creation of this edition – Sucharita Roy, Dhanishta Tiwari, Shruti Parija and Nikhita Pathak.

Finally, there is an interesting ‘Quiz Twist’ at the end and I look forward to enthusiastic participation from each one of you by writing back to [email protected] to win exciting prizes. I also look forward to your comments and feedback so as to be able to make the future issues even better.

Thank you.

- Raman Kalyanakrishnan

4III Edition Feb 2018

Editor’snote

On theSamePage

Social Business and aWorld of Three Zeros- Prof. Muhammad Yunus

Prof. Muhammad Yunus is an innovator. He invented microfinance, founded the Grameen Bank, and earned a Nobel Prize for his ground breaking work in alleviating poverty in low income communities.

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A strong proponent of using microcredit to build sustainable social businesses, Prof. Muhammad Yunus rejects the lending practices of the current times which prey upon or simply ignore the poor. He strongly believes that given a chance, the underprivileged can repay borrowed money, put it to good use and rise out of poverty. What started as his own small loans to Bangladeshi villagers, post the terrible famine in 1974, grew into the now famous Grameen Bank. The Grameen Bank now has 7.93 million borrowers, 97% of whom are women, and has lent over $8.26 billion with a near 100% repayment rate.

So, what exactly is the premise behind “Social Business”, and why is it so critical in today’s times? Prof Yunus brings out the inherent failures in the current capitalistic regime – the fact that the existing capitalist engine is like a sucking machine resulting in a mushrooming concentration of wealth in the hands of a handful of people. This exponential rate of wealth concentration, in the hand of a few, can lead to an explosion– it is like a ticking time bomb. This he believes is caused by the phenomena where the majority of human beings opt to be job seekers while a handful play the role of job creators. This has created the problem of unemployment, resulting in the need for welfare and the tremendous care of artificial intelligence taking away more jobs. He says. “GDP does not and cannot tell the whole story. Activities that do not require money changing hands are not counted as part of GDP – which means that, in effect, many of the things real human beings cherish most are treated as having no value.” This necessitates a new way of thinking - a redesigned economic engine, which needs to be built piece by piece.

His vision is bold - he suggests that the world now requires a new economic system that unleashes altruism as a creative force that is as powerful as self-interest. Basis on the successful pursuits of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, he presents the idea of “Social Business” as a solution to serve human needs - to address the burgeoning issues of unemployment, poverty and environmental degradation - as solely opposed to wealth accumulation.

Prof. Yunus describes social business as a non dividend company dedicated to solving human problems. It is a concept that arose from not theorizing or speculating but from his practical experience of working with villagers, to solve tough social problems, in one of the poorest countries on Earth at the time. Use of the creative power within oneself to find solutions, make it big and the sky is the limit.

Yunus’s form of capitalism – wealth creation through social enterprises – has seen immense traction in Bangladesh where thousands of unemployed youth have turned into entrepreneurs with the access to microcredit, in United States where female owned businesses have been financed similarly, and in France where the rural poor have had access to services such as mobility and shelter.

Social Business is about using creativity to solve human problems in a sustainable way. Prof. Yunus calls upon young people, as one of the mega-powers to drive this change and transform the world. He understands that “the current generation of young people are in a unique position to succeed in the quest for meaning once they feel relieved from the search of a basic livelihood. Thanks to the incredible economics of high technology, even young people in the rural villages of Asia, Africa and South America can get access to the unprecedented computing power of smart phones and other devices. This has made them potentially the most powerful generation in human history.”

He acknowledges that these young people are capable of creating a new civilization that has escaped from the shadows of poverty, unemployment and environmental degradation; and the world would need to create the new economic system that will unlock their powers and allow them to realize their potential.


On theSamePage

This requires a drastic shift in the assumptions and attitudes we instil in young people during their education. Children are currently raised to believe their lives begin with jobs. The “No Job, No Life” message, which is sent out loud and clear from every direction: home, school, media, political debates, etc; limits the innate capability of youngsters to pursue audacious, global dreams and make them happen.

Several educational institutes in the recent years have added social business courses to their academic programs. As a result, an increasing number of young people are developing the tools and insights they need to put to new forms of economic thinking into practice, and to spread the new ideas even more widely in the future.

Young people who are not seeking traditional educational avenues, are teaching themselves about social business, seeking out peers engaged in economic experimentation, and making new discoveries about themselves by walking the talk - by doing it themselves! Thus, a global network of Social Business Entrepreneurs is emerging and moving from strength to strength by the day.

Prof. Yunus advocates technology as the second megapower in driving transformational change – a massive enabler and equalizer, which can play a central place in making massive social and economic improvements. He says, “People are the designers and drivers of technology, and today mostly it is designed for selfish purposes, for commercial success – the real challenge now is to allow social designers and social drivers to take the reins of technology and guide it to the direction we need it go.”

However, in his opinion, “technology tends to arrive at the bottom of the pyramid only after businesses have exhausted the markets above them. This is again attributed to wealth concentration at the top, despite a massive number of people at the bottom of the wealth structure.”

Given that technology products are never launched in the poor market segments and then adapted to higher level markets, the result is a big gap in the technology marketplace – one that billions of people around the world have fallen into.

Social businesses can play a key role in increasing the impact of technology in low income geographies. He elaborates on the concept through Endless, a computer company geared towards providing universal access to the computers and the Internet. A low cost Endless computer is built at a price of USD 79, on the premise that “The goal is not to have everything but for everyone to have almost everything.” The company operates with two different models – one, as a conventional profit seeking entity, and the other as a social business that provides underserved populations with educational, health and creative services they were once denied.

In Prof. Yunus’s opinion that will be crucial in creating the new economic system humans need to survive and thrive is a political and social structure that minimizes the problems of corruption, injustice, and political tyranny, and that respects the rights of all people.

He stresses on the methods of good governance and human rights in pursuit of our goal of a transformed world. They include fair, credible elections; corruption free administration of the government; an honest, civil society sector; and respect for the rule of law.

Social businesses could easily be included in civic projects, as it offers a sustainable way for the government to fulfil one of their key responsibilities of taking care of people at the bottom of the economic ladder. In order to do so, certain legal and financial reforms will be important - some examples include simplifying laws that govern microfinance programs,

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providing regulatory waivers for the poor, and creation of social business funds as an aggregation platform for routing funds to enterprises.

Muhammad Yunus through his lifetime of work has demonstrated the potential of social businesses at scale, and believes that

The solutions to many of our world’s pressing problems - including hunger, poverty and disease that have plagued humankind since before the dawn of history – are within reach. Most of these solutions could be accelerated through the creation of a new economic order that includes the powerful tool ofsocial business.


On theSamePage

Social Enterpriseby Design not by Default- Prof. Madhukar Shukla

Prof. Madhukar Shukla from XLRI, Jamshedpur, in an interview with Pulse Team.

Prof. Shukla is one of the earliest proponents of social entrepreneurship in India. Since 1990, he has been a part of the faculty of XLRI, one of India’s premier business schools in the steel city of Jamshedpur. About 15 years ago, he made his inroads into the world of social entrepreneurship – back then, the sector was gaining momentum globally, although the development sector in India was fairly new to the idea.

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Says Prof Shukla, “Teaching corporate management was becoming monotonous. As an active blogger, I got in touch with a bunch of interesting journalists and activists working in the domain of social impact. Ashoka as a platform ran a feature titled ‘Changemakers’ where profiles of social entrepreneurs such as Ashraf Patel from Pravah and Vineet Rai from Aavishkar Ventures were being captured. During the same time, Ashoka also ran a roadshow on bringing forerunners in the sector to management campuses such as XLRI. The realization slowly steeped in that the principles of management could well be applied to social enterprises to create sustainability and magnified impact.”

This led towards the offering of the first elective on social entrepreneurship at XLRI in 2006. Prof. Shukla also started attending several microfinance summits to gain exposure to the workings of the sector, and the Skoll Forum on Social Entrepreneurship at Oxford for three consecutive years. He started networking with many social entrepreneurs and studied the workings of such enterprises. He was an active member of The University Network, a closed group advocated by Ashoka, where information, case studies and events pertaining to the sector were circulated amongst academicians globally.

What is the key difference between a social and a conventional entrepreneur?

In his opinion, the bottom line is

To use entrepreneurial strategies to create social impact, by design and not by default, either for profit or not for profit. Whether revenues are sourced from profit or from donations or grants, the goal has to be met. And a sustainability strategy has to be developed to attract and utilize funds. Some of the social enterprises like Goonj, Barefoot College and Jaipur Foot are grant

based. Most investors believe that of every 4 or 5 investments made in social enterprises, one or two turnout to be starperformers.

“The vision of the enterprise has to translate into the performance of the last employee, the guy who is finally delivering the services at the grassroots. For instance, in the case of SELCO, a private limited profit making entity, the sales agents could have achieved or over achieved their targets by selling to institutional buyers. But SELCO would not consider it as meeting of their target, since their metrics are clearly defined as the number of rural marginalized low income families reached, who have limited access to energy. Thus the translation of the vision on ground is critical.

There are also several organizations which sell a product or service to low income communities, like the telecom companies. But if one really analyzes their outreach, geographies with a low population density which actually require connectivity do not have adequate network coverage. This proves that revenue generation has a higher priority here as compared to social impact.”

On being asked about the ecosystem around social entrepreneurship, he says, "The pool of funders, social investment entities, incubators and accelerators have definitely increased. There are a lot more academic institutes offering full time masters courses in the domain. There are many support organizations such as Startup & Phicus which provide initial hand holding, consulting and advisory. Immersion experiences such as Jagriti Yatra and SBI Youth for India Fellowship have come up and helped youngsters to experiment and find their place in the sector.”

Prof. Shukla also talks about the increase in acceptance of the social entrepreneurship sector by mainstream media - “Several online magazines such as the The Better India and Yourstory provide accounts and examples of what people in the sector are out to achieve – this provides great confidence to young people


On theSamePage

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wanting to start out on their own. Electronic media such as Amazing Indians and India Positive have also covered several social entrepreneurs.”

He says that “in India, there aren’t any specific legal identity given to social enterprises. Either social enterprises are registered as Societies or Trusts or Limited Liability Partnerships. In United States, they have special status as the Low Profit Limited Liability Company (L3C) and in United Kingdom the Community Interest Company (CIC), which provide an identity as a credible social enterprise as well as provide tax breaks thereby attracting the right kind of investors. It will be good if the Government could work towards creating such a legal entity which will help distinguish social enterprises.”

Prof. Shukla is quite upbeat about management graduates opting their social enterprises. Of course one needs to overcome parental pressure, give up lucrative job options and most often tackle loans taken for educational purposes. He reflects,

Passion is key. Someone may have an idea of making an impact through their own enterprise. With a support system or an immersion experience to test the viability of the idea, the idea can translate to the next level.

As a mentor to several social enterprises, Prof. Shukla sees Microfinance and Renewable Energy as the two most successful domains where the sector uptake, impact and scalability has been the highest. Sectors such as healthcare and education are yet to be incentivized enough. In terms of the lifecycle of an enterprise from idea to prototype to commercialization, every sector has different gestation periods, depending on the kind of support system one has access to.

We are grateful to Prof. Shukla for his time!


Saloni Malhotra, an young social entrepreneur, brought the novel concept of a rural BPO to India a decade ago, in an attempt to connect global clients with low cost back offices in India. The vision was to provide an equal playing ground to the rural youth.

Through this interview, the PULSE team captures the essence of her entrepreneurial pursuits to get a glimpse into the relentless passion which drives her to take on newer challenges every single day.

Taking on the World,One Venture at a Time - Saloni Malhotra

On theSamePage

Saloni started out at a young age, she was just 23 years. With a year of work experience at Webchutney under her belt, she truly believed the world was her oyster. She was fascinated by “the power of technology and the revolutionary potential of the internet in driving change”, and realized early enough that “technology had very different connotations for rural and urban geographies”. She says, for us, we see the computer as entertainment; for someone in a village, they see it as a ticket to freedom.

There came the Eureka moment - of “placing computers in a rural region, of connecting global conglomerates to the rural heartlands of India, of providing a sustainable and respectable source of livelihood to a large mass of people” - of creating the first rural BPO in India. Thus was born Desicrew Solutions. Saloni credits the Rural Technology Business Incubator (RTBI) at IIT Madras for giving Desicrew a head start.

“Support and mentorship in the initial days is critical.” She believes an incubator or similar immersive environment is extremely important for entrepreneurs. “I felt very alive in the ecosystem. One was constantly amidst conversations relating to new ideas and business models. It was the perfect learning ground, exposing me to networks, helping me collaborate”, says Saloni, recounting her early days.

“Credibility was difficult to establish”. As she pitched to the first set of clients, everyone said, “This is great. Sounds fabulous as a Ph.D project”, and left it at that. The need to tailor the pitch was a critical learning. For instance, “the social pitch worked well with a philanthropic institution providing seed money, but for a typical corporate, proposing to outsource their BPO component, the pitch was purely centred on business gains.”

Incidentally, team building was less of a challenge – Saloni says,

Passion was central. People who were recruited really cared about the idea of a rural BPO, about driving real change at the grassroots, about connecting small villages to global clients. They only need flexibility and freedom to collaborate, experiment and innovate. A lot of senior people continue to be part of the team.

As an individual and an entrepreneur, what excites Saloni is ‘solving a problem which seems to be insurmountable at the start. Resilience, consistency, and the ability to innovate iteratively, is her mantra for success. The final model for Desicrew evolved over three iterations, in to the right operational and revenue generation mix.” She reflects on the challenges of being a social entrepreneur. The key challenge is Viability Gap Funding. “It is critical to secure this kind of funding, as the amount of time required to breakeven in a social enterprise is much longer, can be between 3 -5 years, as opposed to a year or two for a regular enterprise.” Saloni also realized early on that to make the enterprise self - sustainable, and building a network of high profile, repeat clients was non-negotiable to fulfil the larger goal.”

The ability to ideate and innovate comes naturally to this fiery entrepreneur. Seven years after the incubation of Desicrew, Saloni went on a sabbatical for 2 years and travelled around the world. And, soon ended up founding a new initiative Safecity (in the aftermath of the Nirbhaya incident) - a non-profit citizen’s initiative platform to crowdsource information on sexual abuse in India. In Saloni’s words, “There was a lot of outrage post the incident. I wanted to do something sustainable, something that would last beyond the outrage.”

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Post her sabbatical, she joined Paytm as their Vice President, in order to view first-hand the working of a large organized setup. Her biggest learning was “the aggression with which Paytm moved. They dealt with failure on a daily basis in a much better way than smaller organizations did. They wanted to take on the world, innovate continuously and do it with agility. Failures were bound to happen, and no one took it personally.”

But the entrepreneurial itch bugged her again. With the burgeoning onset of lifestyle and stress related disorders in today’s world, it was an opportune time to enter the mental health and wellness domain – leading to the establishment of Reboot Wellness, an integrated facility for deaddiction replete with therapists, counsellors and psychologists.

Three different ventures, three diverse sectors!

Her advice to young aspiring social entrepreneurs is simple -

Entrepreneurship is not a sprint, it’s a marathon. Impact may not happen in a year. Sometimes it may take ten. So get into it only if you are truly passionate about the idea, and have enough fuel to run for years.

We wish her the very best in all her endeavours!


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Shekar, a graduate of IIT Madras and IIM Calcutta, is an executive with 28 years' experience in business development across various verticals. For some time now, he has been considering shifting to the social impact space - in particular, the plight of waste pickers moved him to action. His wife, Nalini has been working for the upliftment of these communities for the past 19 years. He comes up with an innovative business idea for providing a predictable and sustainable livelihood to waste pickers. He incorporates a company with the business model revolving around charging a waste management fee to the household customers (in the range of Rs. 60-130 per month). The company would empower a group of waste pickers to become entrepreneurs and provide them with a van to service these households. Using Nalini's work as a launch pad, he sets up the enterprise and pilots with over 10,000 households. To effectively scale up, he needs an infusion of capital to cover the initial capital expenditure. That is where the issues start. No commercial investor is prepared to invest. In this enterprise, the whole premise is to share profits with the "waste entrepreneur", thus the company's profits are not as high as they could be. Philanthropic capital, the other extreme in the capital spectrum, has its own challenges.

Betting Big on High RiskBusinesses - Social Alpha- by Nikhita Nadkarni,Program Manager, Portfolio and Innovations, Social Alpha

We need a new category of capital; capital that is willing to take extraordinarily large quantum of risk, is extremely patient on exit, and willing to accept suboptimal financial returns despite assuming such large risk and very distant exit horizons. This is a complete departure from conventional risk-return payoff thesis propagated by the mainstream investors and copy/pasted by impact investing world. This new category of capital unfortunately doesn’t exist today and that is why we created Social Alpha. Combine this with the legacy and reach of Tata Trusts, our physical and intellectual infrastructure and the missing pieces of start-up ecosystem – you have the ability to orchestrate the growth of social innovation and start-ups. At Social Alpha, we therefore do not incubate and invest in start-ups which would otherwise find support in impact investing world instead bet big on extremely high risk business areas. However, this capital has a very high opportunity cost as I am stealing it from philanthropy/charity allocations of Tata Trusts and therefore an extreme level of financial prudence and deep opportunity cost analysis has to be the basis of all our financial decisions.

Manoj Kumar,Co-founder & CEO, Social Alpha and Head,Innovations and Entrepreneurship, Tata Trusts

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True to its purpose, Social Alpha invests in early stage start-ups with strong social impact, who are able to demonstrate technological innovation through a proof of concept or minimum viable product, and have the potential to be financially sustainable and operationally scalable. Social impact remains the primary criteria for investment. While there is no proven formula to calculate social impact, start-ups should be able to demonstrate the irreversible social change that their products/services can create across key development metrics such as health, education, livelihoods, environment, inclusion, empowerment etc. Social Alpha sees itself as a "Go-to-market" incubator which leverages its unique three-tier ecosystem architecture to nurture start-up through their lab to market journey. This architecture connects the innovation and investment ecosystems and allows for an efficient mechanism for allocating resources throughout the life-cycle stages of an enterprise.

- Head - Innovations and Entrepreneurship, Tata Trusts

- Co-founder & CEO, Social Alpha

- Co-founder & General Partner, Social Alpha Fund

- Managing Trustee, Tata Institute for Genetics and Society

- CEO, India Health Fund

At Tata Trusts, Manoj is responsible for creating sustainable ventures that serve critical social needs. Manoj leads the university partnerships and innovation portfolio for the Trusts and founded the social enterprise incubator to enable lab to market transition of social innovation ideas and prototypes. He is also the architect of Social Alpha, an ecosystem stack that aims to provide full lifecycle support to social innovators and entrepreneurs including validating the product strategy, business incubation, go to market and seed capital. Manoj is currently raising a venture capital fund to provide early stage risk capital to high impact technology start-ups in the social sector. Manoj serves on the advisory and governing boards of a number of companies, including a few non-profits and research institutions. Manoj is an alumnus of Harvard Business School and lives in Bangalore, India.


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- The tier-1 of this architecture is built around the Tata Trusts and its innovation ecosystem - creation and sustenance of epochal institutions IISc, TIFR, and TISS, and forging powerful alliances with Tata Center for Technology and Design at MIT and IIT Bombay to focus on technologies that will improve quality of life in resource constrained communities, and create social impact.

- The tier-2 of this architecture is the Foundation for Innovation and Social Entrepreneurship (FISE) - a not-for-profit company which operates as a Technology Business Incubator approved by the Department of Science and Technology, Government of India - that has been created to empower entrepreneurs with a mission to drive large scale and sustainable impact. FISE curates the pipeline generated by the innovation ecosystem and helps create high quality, accessible and affordable solutions through its incubation, accelerator and seed capital programmes.

- The tier-3 of this architecture is the creation of a venture funding mechanism which can be established as a social venture fund that demonstrates empathy and philanthropic intent and is willing to stretch the boundaries of risk-reward-patience frontiers.

Three interesting start-ups from Social Alpha’s diverse portfolio have been discussed below. Unique in many ways, all these companies have one non-negotiable common element—the enterprises focus on creating strong impact—but vary on the other criteria used to assess investments.

Incredible Devices:

Incredible Devices reminds one of the typical startups of Silicon Valley in the 70s and 80s. Started literally out of Vikram’s garage workshop, Incredible Devices is a rare breed of social

enterprises that very carefully balances large scale social impact on one side and a robust commercially viable business model on the other. Promoter Vikram Goel, a young innovator from a humble background, along with Co-founder Rajvinder Kaul is striving to reduce the overall treatment cost of cardiovascular diseases through a patented innovation for automated reprocessing of catheters. Set up as a for-profit company, their innovation is able to reduce the cost of various procedures by 10-55% at hospitals, and thereby reduce biomedical waste and carbon footprint. While promising environmental and social impact, the innovation also incentivizes hospitals to improve operating margins by relieving staff of manual labor making them available for more productive jobs. Incredible Devices currently has an order book that far exceeds its capacity and thus is testimony to its potential to sustain financially and scale in the months to come. The company has already piloted and validated the innovation with Fortis Group of Hospitals and has cleaned 40,000 catheters, thus benefited more than 20,000 patients.

Foundation for Environment Monitoring:

Another one of Social Alpha's investments is Foundation for Environment Monitoring (FFEM). FFEM has developed open source, inexpensive, smartphone based, drinking water and soil field test kit. This is an interesting case because Co-founders Samuel Rajkumar and Saurabh Levin chose to register the company as a not for profit. In setting up the technology as open source and registering the entity as a not for profit, the intent of the entrepreneur is apparent, even though the product could have purely commercial applications too.

The social impact aspect and the technological innovation were clear: providing people on the


field with a high-quality full-stack solution to take on-ground decisions as well as empowering citizens with information about the quality of their water. With Government being the largest and probably the most important customer for a sector such as water monitoring (especially for the bottom of the pyramid), the financial sustainability of the business model could be debated. Given that social impact is the overarching aim, Social Alpha invested in FFEM (technically as a grant) and decided to take the challenge head-on. Leveraging its in-house expertise in go-to-market execution, the sustainability aspect would be addressed by providing network access, institutional governance through the incubation process.

Hasiru Dala:

Coming back to Shekar, he incorporated Hasiru Dala as a for-profit company that ensures stable and predictable livelihoods for the waste picker community. Largely a services company involved in primary collection, segregation, transportation and disposal of waste, the technology innovation was limited. The strong social impact component and proven sustainability, however, compelled Social Alpha to invest. Social Alpha is now working with Hasiru Dala to bring technological innovation into their business model, by venturing into segregation machinery, waste-to-value, etc. Besides technology, the incubation support

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Nikhita works with the Portfolio & Innovation team at Social Alpha (Bangalore) and manages Institutional relationships for Tata Trusts (Mumbai). She joined Tata Trusts in 2014, and has worked across the Data-driven Governance portfolio and the Monitoring Evaluation & Learning team. A strong proponent of innovation, entrepreneurship and sustainable models of social change, her philosophy is to create a measurable impact through her work. Nikhita holds a Masters in Business Administration from University of Oxford (UK), a Masters in Commerce from Mumbai University and is a Chartered Global Management Accountant from CIMA (UK).

is towards managing working capital effectively and forging meaningful collaborations with other waste-to-value players to assist the company in achieving its target of reaching 85,000 households and creating 300+ jobs by 2019.

The Power of Collectives


We have often heard stories of how middlemen are the worst enemies of farmers, and as such, of the entire agriculture industry. However, things are changing, with farmers realising the power of collectives in procuring inputs, marketing their products, bargaining for better prices and voicing their opinions about policies that directly impact them.

In the state of Gujarat, the Trusts promote several Farmer Producer Organisations (FPO); Avirat Farmers Producers Company Limited is one of them. Ramesh Hadiya, a member of the FPO shares the story of Dhanji Katariya- a

farmer from Lhasa village in Amreli district, bordering the Gir forest. “Whereas, he would earn Rs. 300 from sale of 20 kgs of groundnut at one point, now, he sells the same for Rs. 600. This has ensured that the family now lives in a better house; further, Dhanji has sent both his daughters for further higher studies to Rajkot and Vadodara”, he proudly shares.

So, what all does an FPO do for a farmer? According to Ramsinh Vala Mori of Dolasa village in Kodinar block and Chairperson of the Somnath Farmers Producers Company with over 1,200 registered farmers, the first and foremost

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Mori says with penchant,

when we come together we can thinkvarious things and collaborate

”ભેગા થઈએ એટલે વિચાર આવે”,

Ramsinh Vala MoriDolasa village in Kodinar,Gujarat

Chairperson, Somnath FarmersProducers Company, 2008

Ranjna Devi Trishulii, Uttarakhand

Established in July, 2016

Mrs. Ranjna Devi, “Women ofUttarakhand are hard working andsincere, if they hone up theirentrepreneurship skills and activelytake part in community basedorganization, definitely they will playimportant role in the developmentof Uttarakhand.”


important thing that a FPO provides is training to the farmers. Not only are they taught efficient methods of farming, but various business models are explained, so that they don't get cheated by middlemen. They are also given lessons about money management, so that they can manage their finances and record keeping better. “There are several examples of farmers who have enhanced their lives, through the FPO”, shares a grinning Mori. He adds, “When we come together we can think of various things and collaborate.”

This model is also empowering women entrepreneurs. Ranjna Devi, Director, Trishulii Producer Company Limited, nested in Uttarakhand, reveals that 4,000 women farmers are a part of the organisation, spread over 20 co-operatives. Ranjna Devi has attended almost all the Board meetings of Trishulii since its inception over 18 months ago. Her role has helped in understanding the importance of taking the right decisions at the right time, whilst also gaining knowledge on legal requirements vis-à-vis GST, FSSAI license, etc. “Of course, when a women becomes confident and strong enough to carry out responsibilities in community driven organizations, everyone respects you,” says Ranjna Devi.

Farmers have learnt scientific and contemporary methods of cultivation as well. Swapnil Nistane, Director, Perfect Harvest Farmer Producer Company, Tiosa, Amravati, Maharashtra says, “By converting raw cotton into yarn, we learnt how to add value to our products. In all the 16 villages that are covered, no one knew what modern agricultural practices are. Tata Trusts through its Consultant taught us these modern practices, seed treatment methods, use of

appropriate pesticides, etc. I also learnt how to analyse profit and loss while starting any new business.” These new insights have increased income of farmers by 30 to 40% per annum, costs incurred on excessive use of pesticides has reduced, helping many farmers gain financially security.

Nitin Adhangale, a Board member of the Green Vision Producer Company, Sinnar, Maharashtra, says, “Drip irrigation instead of flooding irrigation has made a very big difference in conservation of the water. Their onion produce has reached to 12 – 15 tonnes / acre, which was earlier in the range of 6 – 8 tonnes / acre of onions, additionally they have diversified crop cultivation.

Mr. Anil Dattaray Shinde Lonarwadi, Sinnar, Chairperson, Devnadi Valley Agricultural Producer Company Ltd. says, “We have changed our production systems, initiated continual supply chains, have our own supply vehicles and increased our market to Mumbai, Nashik. Andhra, Goa and Bangalore. We have supplied to Star Bazaar, Annapurna kitchen, Akshay Patra community kitchens etc. We started getting weekly payments. Water is such an issue for cultivators, which can motivate everyone to come together. We would work till 2 in the night, and still not feel weary. We had a lot of zeal. Learning to conserve water through drip irrigation helped increasing our productivity.”

On theSamePage

Ramesh Hadiyavillage Lhasa,Amreli, Gujarat

Board member, Avirat FarmersProducers Company Limited 2015

We shall start managing our spend onfertilizers and other essentials. And weshould move to biotic farming.

અમે પણ ધિરાણ કરીએ,

દવાઓને ખાતર ઓછંુ નાખીએઅને જૈવિક ખેતી તરફ વધીએ,

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In FPO we work, together, learntogether and grow together.Profit and losses both are a part ofthe business we cannot avoid lossesbut its impact becomes negligiblewhen faced together as a team.

Swapnil NistaneTiosa, Amravati,Maharashtra

Director, Perfect Harvest FarmerProducer Company,


Board Members

Green Vision, Sinnar, Maharashtra

“Third party guarantee fund toNab Kisan from Tata Trusts has madea big difference. Farmers havebenefitted in a major way…..”

On theSamePage

We thank them for their contribution for this article:

Aman Kumar joined Himmotthan in October 2016. HE is a horticulturist, with a Masters in agri-businesses. He believes in Ann Handley’s mantra, “Make the customer the hero of your success story”. He has worked in World Bank and IFAD funded projects, besides Patanjali Food & Herbal Park.

For him music is the best to unwind. He entered the development sector, with the belief that firmly believe the path offered by Universe, and incurs huge potential to innovate model to help rural community align in mainstream market system. His philosophy of life, is very interesting, which is ‘to get comfortable being uncomfortable...that’s how we break the plateau and reach the next level.’

Yogendra Umraliya, working out of Ahmedabad office, is a post graduate in agri-bussiness. Prior to joining the Trusts, he has worked at Asian Agri Technology Pvt. Ltd.

He is driven by with the passion, that every farmer should receive benefit of the hard work, they put in.

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Rahul Dabane joined the Trusts in 2011. His philosophy of life is to always try to seek opportunities and innovate; and stay spiritually motivated. He is passionate about making a difference.

He always wishes to do his best to achieve success at work and in personal life. He is motivated by visible results on field.

Ashok Kumar joined the Trusts in 2015. He is an agriculture expert.

Shital and Ajay (at Yuva Mitra) say we have learnt a lot from Ashokji, especially his guidance on programmatic aspects has helped them in enhancing the outcomes of the project.

What drives Ashokji is the visible changes that can been seen on the ground, when barrren land turns green.


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Safety atWorkplaceby Suresh Tanwar,

Chief – Group Safety & Health,Tata Business Excellence Group(A division of Tata Sons)

As we engage more directly on the ground, in our quest to make a difference, we realize that there is a need to be well equipped to face the critical events. These can be natural like sudden floods, cyclone, landslides, snakebites etc. or can be manmade like riots, intimidation, fire or accidents leading to stressful working conditions. We require protocols to guide us in emergencies, responders trained in handling emergencies, system of notification to inform and safety kits to carry on our travels. We need to close in, all together as one family when a disaster strikes. Safety is not a choice, it is a necessity and a right.

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In the Tata Group we believe “Nothing is more important than the safety & well-being of people who work with us”.

Safety is basic human need. It is also very much an organizational need. Focus and awareness on Safety and Health today is very different and critical than it was 15-20 years ago.

The need and trigger for Safety is three dimensional - humanitarian, legislative and financial. For the worker / field staff facing hazards every day with potential for harm, clearly it is the humanitarian angle that is vital, where an accident could bring life changing situation for oneself and family members. From business

perspective, it is the financial and regulatory aspects that have negative potential impacts. Good safety makes good business sense.

Within Tata Group, Principle 4 of Tata Code of Conduct states ‘We shall not compromise safety in the pursuit of commercial advantage. We shall strive to provide a safe, healthy, and clean working environment for our employees and all those who work with us’.

Care for people is also an intrinsic value in Tata Group. Within the Group companies, the health and safety risks differ from sector to sector, but suffice to say there is no sector or business where the risk to safety and health of employees and associates is not there (as is the situation in any other industry). The risks at times culminate in serious injuries and fatalities at times impacting the three dimensions mentioned above and it brings a setback to company’s efforts in enhancing safety. On the other hand, there are best practices seen in various companies during TBEM Assessments and some of these have been shared in Tata Network forum.

A Safety and Health Policy has been created for Tata Group, signed off by Group Chairman, released and shared with all Group companies. It is an aspirational statement of intent and sets clear tone at the very top. Senior leadership plays a key role in demonstrating a commitment to Safety. While leaders have a role to play, every single person in the organization has a role and responsibility towards safety & health, it is essential for employees to know what is expected of them.

Q 1. In case of emergency, activate emergency response by calling...

It is important for us to know the kind of risks that prevail in work areas in Tata Trusts as an organisation. The biggest risk which can be assumed is while travelling by road, since in our

Mr. Suresh Tanwar is Chief - Group Safety & Health with Tata Group. He has moved into this role from Tata Motors, where he was Vice President - Safety, Health, and Environment & Sustainability.

He is a Mechanical Engineer and a qualified Safety professional. He has worked in both - large Indian conglomerates and leading multinational corporations which include Tata Chemicals, Johnson & Johnson, Castrol (British Petroleum) & Essar Steel, He has widely travelled overseas and presented papers, imparted Safety training, led and conducted Safety audits.

In the current role with Tata Group, he is steering & leading efforts across the Tata Group of Companies in their journey towards Safety Excellence. This is through creation of common policies and systems on Safety & Health and developing positive Safety Culture through strategic alignment of initiatives. Click Here to Answer


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country 1.5 lakhs people are killed on the road and many more lakhs maimed for life due to severe injuries. The other is fire risk in offices/ buildings, as we have seen a spate of fire incidents in Mumbai and other cites recently. It is not necessary that an organization becomes vulnerable to fire as there are multiple control measures that organizations can adopt in a robust manner. Prevent incident in first place but if an incident does happen, then another set of control measures tied to Emergency Response like swiftness on actions and right approach in terms of medical treatment etc. can still mitigate the potential severity to a great extent from fatalities.

Therefore, Safety Audits, Training, Mock drills, and Engagement of people become important elements and continuum for safety enhancement journey. While these are pro-active measures, equally important are reactive measures an example to substantiate this point is that when a serious incident happens it needs to be investigated going to the root cause and the lessons learnt from that needs to be shared across the organization so that repeat of same / similar incident is prevented elsewhere in the organization.

It would be interesting to know characteristics of companies with good Safety culture. There is a typical group behaviour that is exhibited by these companies. I have tried to list down nine of them.

1. Safety is a Core Value and is not compromised under any circumstances. Safety commitment remains constant.

2. Senior Leaders demonstrate the safety commitment in variety of ways and walk the talk. They hold themselves and others accountable on matters of safety. The approach is a combination of top down and bottom up. Safety Review takes place at the top right up to board level.

3. Employees at all levels are empowered to stop the work that is unsafe and likely to cause injury.

4. Safety is the first agenda point discussed and reviewed in all business meetings.

5. Safety is operationally owned and Safety functional staff are trusted advisors to the management.

6. Safety is not considered as an expense, but an investment. There is no separate safety budget, which can be construed as; there are no constraints of budget for safety.

7. Management is sensitive to weak signals and encourages reporting of incidents, however minor.

8. Applicable Safety & Health Regulatory requirements are met in totality and the endeavor is to go ‘beyond compliance’.

9. Safety is not an add-on. It is integrated in all business planning & decision making in entire eco system.

Q 2. Common cause of airway obstruction in an unconscious victim is...

Safety is not about absence of incidents (the potential of incident to occur is omnipresent); it is about proactively identifying the risks at the work place and putting in control measures so that the level of risks is brought down and harm to people, property and environment is prevented.

It would appropriate to say: Safe Operation protects people and benefits business results. If we can get safety right, we can get any other aspect of business right.

Click Here to Answer

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Be Aware,Be FirmSays Pritha Banerjee,

Program Associate,Urban Poverty Alleviation

Pritha joined Tata Trusts in June, 2017 with the Migration and Habitat team. She has completed her masters in development from Azim Premji University.

Pritha is constantly working towards maximising positivity whether it’s deciding the food for every mood, dancing away the Monday blues or engaging in theatre grooves. Constructing interventions for the development sector drives Pritha’s quest to understand different perspectives.

While I was interning with the Trusts, I was staying at a sub-district called Beawar in Ajmer district, Rajasthan for 20 days. Beawar is a small city with very few standard lodging options where Trusts do not have any direct collaborations with the hotels and road transport agencies. I was living in a hotel which was referred by the partner organisation and incidentally the owner of the hotel was also referred to by one of my family contacts from Jaipur. This seemed to be a safe option, however, within the first 3-4 days, the owner of the hotel started intruding my privacy and being overfriendly.

He started by asking me if I drink alcohol and smoke and that if I ever wanted to, I could join him in his office. In the pretext of showing me the kitchen of the hotel he started showing me where the hotel staff drink and have parties along with him and he asked me to join, I firmly


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refused and requested him to not talk in this manner with me. However, he would continue to lech, pass comments and statements on me being a young single girl working here alone and call my room landline for unnecessary reasons. The second worrisome issue was that my room door did not have a bolt locking system from inside. It only had the automated locking system with the key, which meant if anyone had a spare key to the room they could open the door while I was inside. Now, this is a problem with many hotels that we travel to and is a cause for major concern. In this instance, even though the hotel staff said that there was only one key per room, the thought of my room door being opened without my knowing, started causing anxiety and I would keep a chair against the door handle every night. The last straw was when one day, the owner of the hotel called my room landline phone to ask me to come out of the room and watch along with him and the hotel staff the procession of the Digambar monks passing by. Luckily I was aware of the context of this procession and refused to join them, finding it very inappropriate at being approached in this manner.

Q 3. Symptoms of heart attack are...

I tried employing different mechanisms to help deal with this situation. I firstly let the partner organisation know about this and requested them to accompany me while traveling to and from the hotel. I would casually drop in names and details of my meetings held with the police and other government departments for work purposes to emphasize on having some local support. I was firm in all my conversations with the owner and hotel staff limiting it to just functional stay related requirements. These are all informal measures that one can take to deal

with such a situation. However, there is a strong need for precautionary measures like:

a) In case the organisation does not have a tie up with the accommodation, a mandatory sharing of contact and location details from both ends are required.

b) A solution for the door locking system for hotels with no such availability is required.

c) It would be of great help if at an organisation level we could have a training/workshop session on safety measures/coping mechanisms.

d) Proper counselling sessions post experiencing such unsafe situations or a helpline for quick action while one is in a dilemma on how to deal with an unsafe situation are other modes that could be made available to employees at an organisational level.

There have been many situations like these that I am sure others have faced too while working in the field in remote locations. I have seen the men in the community, we work in, are often confused and inquisitive about a young woman working alone with such freedom and confidence. They assume that it gives them an entry or easy access to us. Thus, there is a severe need to have some protocols in place when we travel to remote locations for work.


It will never happento me!Mallika Jagad,

Program Manager -Tata Water Mission

Mallika Jagad graduated with a dual degree in business and hospitality. Currently, Mallika is a part of the core team involved in the Swachh Bharat Mission working with the Tata Trusts & the Ministry of Drinking Water & Sanitation.

Given an opportunity, Mallika would love to work in disaster management. She loves competitive swimming, travelling and spiritual treks. In her free time, she enjoys working on her bucket list with activities ranging from sky diving, flying, mountaineering, etc.

If you don't think it is safe, it probably isn't. Lately, we’ve seen a surge of events threatening to uproot and disrupt our lives, irrespective of the safety index of a city/country we’re in. It could be something we’ve experienced while on holiday or something we’ve witnessed at work. The universality of it is, we assume it’s not going to happen to us, but guess what, what we think isn’t always what is !! An all-time favourite quote for anyone who says: “it will never happen to me” is by Captain EJ Smith, who was the Captain of the Titanic – quoted in the press just before sailing.

Over the past decade, we’ve been exposed to various threats and catastrophes which have shaken us to our very core. Some people have emerged stronger, whereas for some it has left deep scars – memories of events that can never be forgotten.

During the course of everyday work, we will be potentially exposed to unsafe conditions and /or situations. Therefore it is the need of the hour, to put in place appropriate control systems to eliminate these threats.


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What is critical to these control systems is the human element in the entire scheme of things. Processes and mechanisms become redundant without the intervention of the self. Therefore if you as an individual have the ability to rise to the occasion, you owe it to yourself and to others around you to do so.

There are times when life puts us through many unlikely circumstances. Sometimes we go through them alone and sometimes as a nation. I’d like to share the memory of one such experience with you. I think it is very important to keep oneself constantly motivated by reminding oneself time and again the memory of such an unforgettable incident that almost became a milestone in one’s life. It is through sharing that we learn from each other.

Over 9 years ago when terrorists attacked various locations in Mumbai, including 2 luxury hotels, I was one of the many to experience the ordeal that lasted for three days. Recounting that fateful day, having been stuck for hours, I was contemplating and anticipating what lay ahead. Never could I imagine that I would experience a terror attack - the onslaught, known to us as 26/11.

I witnessed barbaric acts on the one hand and the most gallant and selfless acts of humanity on the other. Ordinary people, displaying acts of bravery and leadership, putting their lives at stake, for the sake of strangers.

During the assault on the Taj, the hotel staff showed great courage with little regard for personal safety. All departments held their posts, constantly devising strategies for evacuation. With this, they protected the lives of over a thousand guests.

The Taj, known the world over for its hospitality and exceptional service, gave a whole new meaning to customer service during the ordeal. What could the reasons be, for such strength of

character? For such courage? Did it have anything to do with the industry? Was it due to our culture, our heritage? Or was it in the philosophy of the house of Tatas’? Perhaps it could be one of these factors, or maybe a combination of all of them - an ardent expression of such unexpected qualities that the employees possessed. Amidst the leaping flames of fire and incessant flurry of bullets, the staff was able to remain calm and secure guests to safety.

I am reminded of a quote by Aristotle: “Courage is the first of human qualities, because it is the quality which guarantees the others”. Something unique happened on that fateful day in November. The inherent motivation of people, the unsaid unwritten philosophy at the Tata’s resulted in the creation of an organizational culture in which employees were willing to go well and beyond the call of duty. This extraordinary display of character, in a moment of crisis took charge of a difficult situation. The events could have scarred the brand that is the Taj - but it did just the reverse. So what is it that happened? No single factor can explain it, except that it was a culmination of courage, motivation, empowerment and a sense of belonging to the place. Last but not the least; it was courage in the face of death.

It has been said, and I believe it to be - that we come to the earth to learn lessons. The earth is a school and we choose where and when to be born and which lessons to learn – so that someday, sometime, we might achieve enlightenment. Sometimes, unexpected and cruel things happen to people, but how we react to such circumstances and what we do about them, is up to us. That is our learning.

We can either choose to be somebody who gives up and falls into the shadows or we can learn the lessons we were meant to learn and evolve from them to become so strong that people find strength and hope from us.

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A SafeWorkplaceis my Right by Khorshed Talati,

Regional Manager, Tamil Nadu

Sexual Harassment. In India, the concept of what constitutes harassment is a grey area. Much of it stems from an innate inability to understand the meaning of personal space and privacy or respecting the need for it. This lack of respect for a person's need for space coupled with a clear assurance that "she won’t complain and I will get away with it" is what in my opinion creates a fertile ground for sexual harassment.

Everything, from an uncomfortable graze, to an inappropriate hug, a innocuous photograph or an offensive text can be a cause of sexual harassment. Sitting too close when travelling, passing uncalled for comments or veiled compliments can be a concern. Most often, we choose to ignore such behaviour. Avoid the person, avoid communication, avoid being in the same vehicle. Avoid, Avoid and Avoid!

Q 4. What should you do when your clothes catch fire...

I remember an incidence of cat-calling when I was only 16 years old and climbing the stairs at a train station. I reacted immediately, asking him if he didn’t have a mother or a sister back home, which made him behave with such disrespect towards women, as we have often seen in the films. His response to my horror was a mocking laugh. I didn’t know why, but, I did feel stupid about using a “clichéd dialogue” to rebuke him and letting him go. The next time again at the train station. A man passed a lewd comment and I remembered that mocking laugh as I tried to

ignore and slowly walk away. Suddenly, it was too much to bear. I turned back, caught the guy by his collar and slapped him. Somehow slapping him vented the years of hidden rage I had felt in public places. It felt as though by retaliating I had won back my dignity. My ability to protest.

Today, a frequent cause of concern is the callous attitude of not to name and shame but to amicably resolve or brush matters aside.

While the approach taken may differ depending on the nature of the case, it is important to treat each case with equal gravitas. It is not only the responsibility of the Prevention of Sexual Harassment (POSH) Committee to treat each case with equal seriousness but, rather for each one of us to stand up for our colleagues when we get to know about an unsavoury incident. Our workplace is where we spend the second largest chunk of time, after our home. Our colleagues are our second family.

It is important that we share instances, fearlessly, with those we feel comfortable with or better still directly tell the predator that this is not acceptable. Someone would know the next course of action. Never keep it inside you. Take action because your silence will not only allow it to continue unabated, but also affect more women. Most often predators aren’t first timers. They have done it before and got away with it. Stand up for your colleagues or for anybody else who is a victim of sexual harassment even in its mildest form. And yes, just like women, men do not enjoy inappropriate behaviour from the opposite gender as well!



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Stay Calm Shishir Dash,

Area Manager - Habitat

Shishir joined Tata Trusts in 2014. He is passionate to explore innovative ideas and learning from others. He has worked in trying circumstances in different emergencies starting from Super cyclone 1999 in Odisha to Bhuj Earthquake 2001, Andaman & Nicobar Tsunami 2004, Koshi flood 2008, Flood in Uttarakhand 2013, and Jammu & Kashmir flood in 2014. He also explored number of remote and naxalite prone areas during different assignments to work closely with marginalized communities.

Shishir’s mantra in life is ‘Be clear in your intentions and get what you want’. His love for any work he does, is his strength and key to success. His favourite quote is ‘You are what you do’. His experiences of working in these challenging situations are full of lessons for safety and security at work.

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On 26th December 2004, a severe tsunami struck southern coast of India and I was asked to travel Andaman and Nicobar Islands on the 29th as an aid worker. I had no idea about the island. I went straight to Kolkata and purchased some basic daily use materials including a mosquito net and some repellents. I spent the night in the airport and reached Port Blair early next morning. I landed at the Navy barrack and stayed there for one day. I met the Development Commissioner, who was coordinating the relief operation and was told that Little Andaman was one of the worst affected Islands.

Q 5. If there is an uncontrollable fire near you, what should be your first step...

Since all the jetties were damaged, one had to travel a distance through a rubber boat and board the ship by a rope, and I did. I travelled in a cargo ship and reached my operation area in the evening. The Tehsildar was coordinating relief operation and a small portion of his living quarter was still standing. There was one bed. He would be on duty at night, so I could use his quarters for rest. Each night was a terrifying. Most of the families had moved into the forests for safety. I could only hear the street dogs and cries of people who had lost their near and dear.

After 10 days I slowly shifted to a clubhouse, which was half broken. Slowly other team members joined with me there. I had to work closely with Nicobari and Onge (only 99 souls were left) tribes. Within one year of my stay, the islanders became my extended family and after 12 years, today, I still receive invitations to attend marriages or the other festivals in the island.

In such circumstances, every moment can be challenging. It is very important to understand the local context, establish a connect with the local populace and most importantly maintain one’s calm. It is critical to carry some basic necessities, to tide over a few days, with you.

In places like this, you may not even get a packet of biscuit. In a post disaster situation, the aid workers are often in a hurry. It is always advisable to keep an updated list of materials to be carried during an emergency. During our stay in the island, there was an earthquake in Indonesia, Administration forecasted of tsunami. The local people suggested a safe place and helped shifting our belongings. The local people with their local knowledge are a huge resource.

Another incident took place in 2009, when I was working for Malaria and Kalaazar control. I went to a remote village in Malkanagiri district of Odisha to see the work of a local agency. The village was in the other side of the reservoir. When I was returning from the village when three armed people ordered me to come with them. I realised they were Naxalites. They kept me hostage for a night. The next afternoon another person who seemed to be their leader interrogated me for about two hours. He was convinced that I have neither intention of harming anyone nor a spy for the administration. They took me to a village meeting and asked me to address the community to inform them about my work.

In a situation like this, life is at risk. You have nothing in your control. People who carry arms and ammunitions do not necessarily intend to harm without reason. Hence do not panic, explain as patiently, sincerely and gently as you can, your work, your intentions and where you are from. And most importantly have faith. I strongly believe that if you have a good intentions, God is always there with you.

Q 6. In order to put out a fire you should aim the fire extinguisher...




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We are headed in theright directionsays Malavika Chauhan,Head, Rural Upliftment

to Lara Gulia,Program Associate, Tata Water Mission.

The experienced and the loved leaders of Tata Trusts - Malavika Chauhan and Burzis Taraporevalashare their journey and also give some leadership tips to the young, enthusiastic audience of the organisation.

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“What made you join the Trusts? Is there a story as to how you heard about it or joined?” asked Lara.

While I originally belong to Uttarakhand, I grew up in the hot and dusty northern, gangetic plains, but since I was a child, we would go home to the mountains for the summer holidays, to our extended family in the region. And after the dry summer heat of the plains, the smell of pine as you hit the foothills is a slice of heaven. It actually gives me a high like none other. I divide the world into two kinds of people – those who need the sea, and those who need the mountains. And even as a child, for me, the mountains were where I knew I was meant to be.

I joined the Trusts as a Team Leader on a one year contract on a project with a partner organisation in 2007. That time while our aim was mainly to set up a monitoring team for Trusts projects in the region; we were also meant to develop a program and put a structure in place for longer term engagement. At the time it was the SRTT we were associated with. I lived in Delhi with my husband and son, and for us, who always dreamed of moving to the mountains and to do something meaningful, this was the chance. And this was the idea I tagged my hopes on.

Back then, in the team, there were just three of us, Vinod (Kothari), Yashpal (Bisht) and myself, backed solidly by Anil for day to day support. We, my husband, I and the baby, drove up to Dehradun from Delhi in the month of January 2007 for the interview. While the entire region around Delhi was filled with dense fog making the drive miserable, as soon as we crossed the Shivaliks we entered the crystal clear Dehradun valley, with the range of snow-capped Mussoorie peaks arrayed before us. And I told my husband – we are staying here, I don’t care what the job is - we are going to be staying here.

I was offered the job at a considerably reduced pay from what I earned in Delhi. I took the pay cut, packed my stuff, took my son, and came to Dehradun (my husband joined us a bit later, it took him a year to wind down his ongoing work).

The chance of living near the mountains was great, but the cherry on top was the chance to build a programme to reach those in the villages, where my relatives still live and work. For the women who slogged day and night in a very difficult physical environment, for the poorest who lost everything with every landslide, with the chance to bring change. It would add meaning to life. I had worked for not for profits in Delhi for years, but somehow that didn’t seem to be heading in the right direction at the time. This felt right. My contract was for a year and we decided to try it. It started with a one year experiment and today, it’s been over ten years, and I still feel there is so much to do. As a family we loved being here, it was a fantastic ten years.

Has the Tata group ethos influenced and contributed to your work and in what way?

Truthfully, I would have taken this opportunity whether or not it was a Tata backed programme, and at the time, coming from a largely academic background, I had little understanding of the Trusts work. Further, I never really worried about who my employer was, as long as I could work the way I felt was right. But then over the years I learnt, very practically, the value of Tata brand. It made an impact particularly because the people we worked for valued it so highly, their expectation from us were so much higher. I read about the group over time, met many who worked with the companies and Trusts, and realized the gold I had unknowingly struck.

Only after the 2013 disaster in Uttarakhand, when some of the senior most Tata officials spent days at the Dehradun office labouring with our teams to put together a relief programme, did it really strike that we were part of a much, much larger system with phenomenal potential. Teams from companies in Uttarakhand landed up at our doorstep offering manpower and help. It was a deluge of


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support. I then truly understood the magnitude and capacity that we, as a group, were capable of. And also the responsibility of being part of that group. We are held to higher standards of success, of quality, of humanity, and even of humility, by each person we meet. That’s not easy sometimes.

I firmly believe that if you want to learn, you have to get your hands dirty. In the developmental sector in particular, the best people have spent decades working on the ground, and they do not hesitate to do so even when they have moved up the ladder. For youngsters today, my advice would be ten years of grass-root level experience. The more you understand, the more you will love what you do.

Before the Trusts, where did you work? What did you do there?

I completed PhD in aquatic ecology from JNU, then spent about 20 years largely in academics, research and consultancy in the fields of biodiversity, restoration and resource management. I did ecological economics with the Institute of economic growth in Delhi, and was a SRTT fellow with the Institute for social and economic chance in Bangalore. I worked with WWF-India, Wetlands International, consulted for the World Bank, for the ADB as well as for numerous state government programmes, and then left the country on a Fulbright fellowship. But both of us, my husband and I did enormously enjoy taking the chance to learn from different experiences. In 1995 we moved to Jim Corbett National Park, where we were set up the safaris, shop and managed the start-up hotel for the Claridges Group in the immediate neighbourhood of the park. Managing staff, guests, setting up the place, it was a huge learning for a largely academic couple – and

while being great fun, the experience has stood me in good stead over the years. Not many can discuss the pros and cons of managing a drunken elephant and its equally drunk and teary mahout in a jungle camp on a monsoon night.

Himmotthan is celebrating its 10th year! How did it all start?

Team work. At the time three very different people came together to develop a common vision, and determination to make it work. Vinod, with his very systematic style of operating and was our official spokesperson for coordination with the Trust, while his work in WASH allowed him to focus on that project; Yashpal, had the regional experience in resource management and was very field oriented, while I brought in the academic rigour and experience I had in national and international agencies. The team fell into place, and our equation worked. We travelled a lot in the first year, and what we saw and learned and talked about gave us all our ideas. Travelling in the field with likeminded people is one of the best learning opportunities, facing new stories, issues every day, each of you bringing your learnings and expertise to the table. In that first year we built a picture of what we wanted to do, it was so clear in our heads that we knew more or less, the road ahead. The whole of Himmotthan’s design grew from that first year of thought. We also know that while we wanted good and experienced people on our team, we prioritized passion, and that we would look for people who wanted much more than an income from their work, who would push the envelope when it came to deliver and who had ideas they wished to engage in. Today Himmotthan has over 100 employees and one of the lowest drop-out rates amongst organizations in the region.

Did the learnings from your previous job help you a lot at your work in the Trusts? What were they?

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Enormously! While my academic and research work in the field of environment continues to give me a strong base on which to build, practical experience of working on resource management issues with different kinds of organizations and governmental programmes gives me a database into which I can delve when working currently. Other programmes allowed me to learn team building and human resource optimization. My managerial skills have been honed both, in field situations as well as in larger organizations based in urban locations. While working with international organizations allows one to develop a larger perspective on systems and institutions.

I consider the experience I gained over the years as the reason why I do and how I do now. It is a bank of experiences and learnings, which help deliver outputs today. It shapes and influences my day to day work and interactions today. I think it’s very important to work in different organisations and/or systems, in your growing years, because you are exposed to different bosses, different systems and processes, different working styles. If you have this experience then you learn to function in a variety of situations, and overall this makes you a better survivor in this competitive world of jobs! If you look at people who have made it to the top, you will see their richness of experiences span across a variety of situations and systems. That bank of richness is crucial- just like anything else in life, the more experience you have, the better prepared you are.

I feel when you are young, you have the time, energy and passion to explore different organisations, or systems and functions if you remain in one organization, and you should. Always remember, an organisation does not miss an individual unless you add value, and you will add truer value if you bring to it your labour, built on a bank of rich experience.

Can you share with us your first day at the trusts? How was life at the trusts back when you joined? Could you share with us your most profound memory while working at the Trusts?

My first day? Really, I don’t remember – it was so long ago! What I am sure about was that is wasn’t special. We had a couple of rooms in a partner organization, I did get the smaller room to myself with one wobbly table and a chair. Vinod and Yashpal shared the other room with PSI’s library, and I suspect, since I was the last one to join, the wobbly table was left for me! The good part was that the room had a window with a view of the Mussoorie peaks.

Lots of memories! Most from the field also, but I think, the best for me have been with the team. What I really fondly remember are all those ideating sessions and team discussions where there is so much positive energy going around and ideas just flowing through, those are times that I really fondly remember even today!! Team building has always been my thing; I enjoy most one to one discussions with people, learning about them, their strengths and figuring out how best they can perform in the team. Also, the Trusts at the time, the SRTT, was putting in teams across the country to work in the field, and we all got together in what were called RLC meetings – Rural Livelihood and Communities team meetings, at different locations. These meetings allowed for bonding across regions, with different people and teams, and I think most of us would agree, some of our best memories are of those days spent together.

Within the Trusts what are the striking changes you’ve seen thus far? How have you adapted to these changes?

Are you seriously asking me that question? Earlier I was a part of SRTT and that time the SDTT was a completely different entity, with whom we field people had minimal interaction, everything was different including thought


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processes, monitoring mechanisms, programmatic outlook, everything! Much later all the Trusts were brought under the larger Tata Trusts umbrella because of a larger, integrated vision, and it has been a phenomenal change. Possibly it is something that should have happened earlier…. but more importantly, I think a huge change like this takes time to settle, to adapt. We are headed in the right direction, we just need to row in tandem now.

When the Trusts decided to get into direct implementation and develop Associate Organisations (AO’s), they were believed to be the hands of the Trusts on the ground. The Trusts then focussed on strengthening the AO’s across geographies, which was very crucial in having good programmes on the ground. In addition, the Trusts have helped bring in innovation and helped streamline systems and processes - as a result of which most of these AO’s have become leading organisations in their respective regions/ states. Himmotthan is now recognized as a leading organization in the central Himalayas in India. With the backing of the Trusts, the AO’s today are doing some of the best work being done in these regions on poverty alleviation; which has brought the programmes considerable visibility. This is very different from when I had initiated this programme, when the mandate was to maintain a low profile, to stay behind the scenes while giving crucial support. That style has changed, to adapt to the changing world around us.

How much has your passion driven you in this sector?

In any thing you do, if you have no passion, you are missing out on a major part of life. Living life mechanically is tedious and tiring, simply because we get bored. And particularly I think, the development sector needs your passion. Working with people, they know if you really mean what you say or not. Luckily, being a part of a passionate team which had no other vision but the expansion of the Trusts idea of

Himmotthan, gave me the opportunity to work in a field and region where I could give my best.

Himmotthan is one of the most favourite organisations of the Trusts. How did you build this from scratch?

I didn’t build Himmotthan, we all did, together. There is no “I” in a team, if either one of us was not there, it would have been a very different story.

From the very few days in the beginning, our roles were very clearly defined based on our experiences and banks of richness. I had the managerial skills, so I would do all the managerial tasks, my job was to give the team leads the freedom and support to work their magic. They would tell me what they do wherein I would give them inputs as and when required, but my primary focus was on my managerial role from day one. The Trusts backed us from Mumbai, giving us the space and supporting our vision to grow.

Another thing was the discussions. We had wonderful discussions wherein we talked (and argued!) about everything until we were all on the same page about the things that matter. Also, we built our team one person at a time, we looked for people who had the skill yes, but also the passion. And then gave them freedom to pursue their work. But working in a team means discipline and dedication – timelines and reports… and passion is invariably visible in a detailed, well done field report and a detailed knowledge of the ground situation. Everyone makes mistakes, but the whole point was to get them back on track, because as a team leader if I recruited them and he or she fails, then I fail. This also helped each team member take ownership of the programme, which in turn results in their putting their best efforts forward. When the organisation becomes its’ people - that is when the people truly represent the organization.

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This also had a very strong impact on building confidence within the team and in individuals, in terms of relationships, hierarchy, belief in the organisation and above all, in themselves. It is these individual successes of people in their personal lives, which has been my largest success.

One thing which I learnt over time, never carry the ego of doing social work- that’s the worst of all. Every job is equally important, but for some reason I have met many social workers with especially large egos. With the baggage of your ego on your shoulders, you’ll never be able to lift your head to see the sun and the stars.

While I left Himmotthan last year, in the last 2 years or so I had made it very clear that the person heading the organisation was going to change, because the organisation needs new visions and new leadership. Backed by the Trusts, systems were in place for this to be a smooth transition. Change is good, it allows everyone to step forward and take charge, and grow. It can be an exercise confidence building within the team, and is fundamental to growth.

How did you succeed with team building there? What are the critical pillars in terms of passion that you think are essential?

At present, we have the top team in the state! The Himmotthan team now comprises of recognized regional experts, all capable of running their own independent organisations; but none of them left us despite getting much better offers, and that to me is real success in team building. This was because of the enjoyment that came out of that positive energy that went around within our team, we had a common vision for our programme and none saw a personal vision which went beyond that.

The support from the Trusts in the early, more

difficult years, from Arun (Pandhi) (he could be a difficult boss sometimes!) the way he supported the field teams especially, was phenomenal. He would make sure the path on the ground was as clear as possible. Others at the trusts, too many for me to individually name, along with the Himmotthan Board and several local government officials, gave us enormous support. Like I said, we do not make anything alone, Himmotthan has been a success of the Trusts, of the local teams, of the local governments support and of new thinking and beliefs.

None of us ever thought of where we were going as individuals, while now I see very young people who come in and have salaries as a top priority. That is where they go wrong, experience and learning should be number one! In the social sector if you want to do well, you have to have the right passion, positive energy, a human connect and a sense of empathy innate in you- the lack of which takes the joy in the work away, and one cannot continue for long without being driven by passion in this field. And at a certain point, it is on each one of us to develop that positivity around us.

What message would you have for the young budding leaders in terms of passion?

If you want to do great things, then you better have passion. Some people are so fixated on making ends meet, that they don’t even know what passion is all about- they don’t even know of its possibility because they have never seen it and our education system and the society we live in, don’t give much emphasis on developing it either. If you are passionate about something, if your family and society allow; then buck up and learn to articulate your passion. Life is too short. Tend to it smartly, but never ignore it- if you want to buy that camera, buy it!


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Lara Gulia is from Kolkata. She has grown up with people from different cultures. Lara loves being around people, and has graduated in Psychology and her post-graduation is from TISS specializing in counselling. She was a Young India Fellow at Ashoka Unversity before joining the Trusts in July, 2016. She is very passionate about lawn tennis and playing the sitar. Her philosophy of Life: What will be, will be. And a favorite quote is “The only way that we can live is if we grow. The only way we can grow is if we change. The only way we can change is if we learn. The only way we can learn is if we are exposed. And the only way that we can become exposed is if we throw ourselves out into the open. Do it. Throw yourself.” – C. JoyBell C

When you’re passionate about something, you’re driven towards it and that’s when you know what are the things that our worth your attention and time. It is very important to focus on the larger picture, because that is where you are headed, and then you’ll see that the smaller things become insignificant. There is a lot more to life than your job. Your job is just a part of it. Learn

something new every day, read something, talk to people as much as possible, learn from them, and experience life- this is what will make you grow into who you want to be.

What are the top 4 commandments Malavika Chauhan follows and shares with her young colleagues?

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Top 4 commandmentsMalavika Chauhan follows

1.Be polite,no excusesfor that.

2.Be thorough in whatyou do, do yourhomework, go prepared.And I am not talkingonly about work.

3.Don’t get so caught upin work that you forgetto love all the important,good things around you.That is what adds up towho you are in yourpersonal andprofessional worlds.

4.Buildnetworks,but withsincerity.


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Mr. Taraporevala, whom we also refer to as BST is one of the

finest leaders I have worked with- Ganesh Neelam

The first impression I had of Burzis Sir was that he is very strict, which of course he is, but then he makes you feel at ease when you

discuss anything with him- Dharani

He is a person who

always encourages others and has helped us a lot in many ways.- Yashpal

To Burzis Sir,With love says Team Tata TrustsCompiled by Nikhita Pathak,

Senior Executive, Technology

….if you go to him with an issue or problem

he always finds a solution- Shivakumar

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My fondest part of BST sir is dancing on Joanna in Diwali, all over the auditorium, barefooted and he is that kind of a man, who knows how to walk out of the papers when he is out of the room- Panchalee

He has always guided me and I am glad to have a boss like him- Firdosh

… always been reassuring to know that things will happen and

move past all hurdles- Sonal

His humility has been an essential attribute and this has been explicit during his interactions with the communities & team members- Sujit

I just walked in, he looked up and said “Yes?

How may I help you?- Mallika

If you ask me who the

best employees at Trustsis, I would say it’s him!- Jitendra

BST Sir is one of the

most affable and down to earth person- Karthik D

He brings in a

lot of positivity and confidence with his smile- Razia


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Burzis Taraporevala

CFO and Company Secretary, Tata Trusts

“I joined Tata Trusts in Dec 2013, so I have just completed 4 years. Prior to that for about 10 years or more I was with the Tata Group doing direct taxation for Tata Group including Tata Sons, Tata Industries, Tata Investments and other companies.

Initially when I joined as Secretary and Chief Accountant of SRTT, work was confined to the grants, which SRTT and Allied Trusts were giving. SDTT and Allied Trusts were working differently and we were working differently. So much so that when I used to go for field visits, and aspiring grantees were to make a representation, they would say if Sir Ratan Tata Trust and Navajbai Tata Trust will not give us a grant we will go to Sir Dorabji Tata Trust.

It is only after our Managing Trustee stepped in, in 2014 and started looking into the activities of the Trusts, with vigour, that we slowly but surely became one and all these Chinese walls crumbled and we worked as one organization. Of course for statutory purposes we need to be separate organizations, but that is from an accounting/ statutory purpose and for placing employees in different Trusts, but for all practical purposes we are Tata Trusts and are working together. As one, working together, we decide on a concept or project and then we decide as to which Trust will fund the project depending upon the resources. So, there has been in fact a sea change from what was there in December 2013, when I joined, and now. Work is tremendous, enthusiasm is tremendous, when you go to the field and see the people so happy and having something to look forward too, it gives you immense satisfaction, really

immense satisfaction. That is the quality of work which one looks for.

I don’t have any one fond memory of Tata Trusts, there are many! But, I would say, the first time when I met Mr. Tata and when I actually sat next to him for the first Trustee Board Meeting was momentous. That day Mr. Tata told me that if you have any issues please feel free to come and speak to me, just speak with Delnaz (who is his secretary) and take an appointment, and that was astounding, felt so happy and so pleased, for a man of his stature. Of course I have had interactions thereafter, but first time it was a real great honour to be told that “if you have any issue come and speak to me!” That’s one of the memories that I will take back with me.

Whatever we are doing is for our beneficiaries. If we have that ultimate goal in mind that, what we are doing is changing the lives of beneficiaries, everything just falls into place. All the problems, all the issues be it statutory or legal or compliance, fall into place. We just need to focus on trying to change the lives of the beneficiaries, be it education, welfare, health, nutrition, agriculture or whatever.

I spend most of my waking hours in office, I am here till 7:30-8:00 pm. Initially, I used to be home by 7-7:30 pm. and I used to go do my customary running and walking, but unfortunately now I can’t do that because by the time I reach home, thanks to this metro traffic, it is 9:00 pm. and its quite tiring. On weekends, I make an effort to catch up on my reading, and my walking and exercises.

And what I would like to tell all these young and enthusiastic employees is ‘keep your enthusiasm flying and keep your focus’. The

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focus is the beneficiaries and the awareness that they are working under the banner of Tatas, which is a world respected banner. To be employed with such a house as Tatas, you should consider yourself lucky and fortunate.

Some bytes from employees

The first impression I had of Burzis Sir was that he is very strict, which of course he is, but then he makes you feel at ease when you discuss anything with him. He does not hesitate to go for field visits even in difficult situations such as in the North Eastern region of India where conditions such as roads, lodging, etc. are not as good as it is in other parts of the country.He takes efforts to walk to the spot and meet beneficiaries and interact with them in the field where the Trust is involved. Apart from that, he is a very fun loving person, likes singing and we used to enjoy the social evenings after a hard day’s field visit. Likewise, he does not act as if he is someone on top but he is part of us.

- Dharani Ratno Senior Regional Manager, Nagaland

Mr. Taraporevala joined the Trusts in December 2013, and it has been a pleasure working with him for the last four years. He has been a great boss, a mentor to all his employees. He is the answer to all our problems and questions and I thank him for being there for us. He brings in a lot of positivity and confidence with his smile.

- Razia KhanCFO & CS Office Support, Mumbai


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I remember when I walked into his office one day, he said, “People come to me when they need a signature” and this thought lingered for a bit…so next time I just walked in, he looked up and said “Yes? How may I help you? and I said “Nothing I have just come to say Hi!

- Mallika JagadManager Projects- TWM, Ahmedabad

BST sir is on Himmotthan Board, and he has visited our project areas in Himalayas several times. First time when he came to Uttarakhand in March 2014, we took him to remote locations and he travelled 2-3 kms to reach the villages. The way he interacted and encouraged the women groups and their institutions was amazing. He is a person who always encourages others and has helped us a lot in many ways.

- Yashpal BishtRegional Manager- Uttarakhand, Dehradun

My interaction with him on the numerous occasions especially whilst signing contract and MoU documents or whilst getting his attention to expedite any finance related issues, has always been reassuring, to know, that things will happen and move past all hurdles.BST Sir is young at heart and adventurous, which was evident during our last year’s annual picnic at Della Adventures, as he took on the thrilling ride of rocket injector, he is totally inspiring.

- Sonal DsouzaProgram Officer- Fortification, Mumbai

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BST sir is one of the most affable and down to earth person. I have mostly interacted with BST sir through mails and phone calls. He and his team (Ms. Razia Khan) respond to every call/mail in unbelievably short TATs. It’s always a pleasure to work in an environment where responses from the management team is so encouraging. I am looking forward to the day I will get to meet and interact with him one on one and understand how to stay humble in the corporate world.

- Karthik DoraiswamyArea Manager- Financial Inclusion, Vijaywada

BST Sir – a person with a positive attitude and a pleasant persona has always been a strong supporter of program team and has been one of the key persons steering the growth of the program under the Central India Initiatives. His humility has been an essential attribute and this has been explicit during his interactions with the communities & team members during the different field visits to our program clusters to understand the program interventions and its impacts. As somebody has rightly said, all good leaders are connectors and they relate well and make people feel confident about themselves and their leaders.

- Sujit G KumarRegional Manager- Gujarat, Ahmedabad


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Though a thorough finance person, Burzis Sir understands and creates awareness in his team about the changes on the ground the programs bring in, thereby builds sensitivity within the system. I have found him always open to understanding the practical finance related challenges that one encounters on the ground and yet continue to push us to find solutions to those problems. Whenever we are required to meet him for some approval, at the back of our mind there is always a sense that we will figure out the way ahead, yet be prepared for pointed questions that help us improve our own approach to the problem at hand.

The lighter side of his personality, which comes to the fore specifically during the special days of celebrations elevates the mood of office like perhaps nothing else. There is so much to learn from him!

- Ujjwal BanerjeeArea Manager - Education & Sports, Mumbai

If you go to BST Sir with an issue or a problem he always finds a solution, which is one of his core strengths. He is very supportive, lively and approachable. So, anytime we can go and meet him. Whenever we travel together we can see his simplicity, as he says “Don’t take on too much, I will manage myself. Don’t be too protective.” He is the Chairperson of our board, so we ensure that he is picked up and dropped comfortably. He always says, “You send me the vehicle, and you don’t need to come at all.” That is the openness he has!

- D Shivakumar Regional Manager – Karnataka

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Mr. Taraporevala, whom we also refer as BST is one of the finest leaders I have worked with. The best quality I see in him is always focusing on resolving the issues. Whenever I have gone to him for any specific query, I have got an immediate solution. In field visits with him, he always tries to understand the programme in depth and interacts with the community, and children very nicely. Even though his Hindi is not very strong, he tries to converse dialogue with them. On the Lakhpati Kisan programme, while interacting with the women, he clearly asked what will they do with the increased income and that the women should use the money mainly for better education of children. Sir is one of the most supportive persons in the Trusts.

- Ganesh NeelamZonal Head - Central & North, Pune

Every time, I have found him the most logical in whatever he says. If something has to be done it has to have some basis, and he understands both the sides and he puts the logic very appropriately. He always finds time for needs of the field team. In terms of internal audits also, he gives very appropriate decisions for what needs to be done. He is quite balanced and he is never biased. If you ask me who is the best employee at Trusts, I would say he is one of them!”

- Jitendra NayakRegional Manager – Odisha, Bhubaneshwar


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It has been near about 4-4.5 year that I have worked with BST Sir. Initially he came across to be a very serious person, someone who was very much into his work and not in that friendly space. The first ice broke when he got the rum cake for the whole office, the first ever rum cake in office. My fondest part of BST sir is dancing on Joanna this Diwali, all over the auditorium, barefooted. He is that kind of a man, who knows to walk out of the papers when he is out of the room. But, he will make sure that the paper and the work that we do is absolutely flawless.

“From rum cake to pop-corn to barefoot dancing.. cheers to BST Sir”

- Panchalee TamuleeProgram Associate – TIE, Mumbai

Mr. Burzis Taraporevala has always been a very considerate and a kind-hearted person. In the little time that I have been fortunate to spend under his leadership and guidance, I have found him to be extremely approachable and down to earth. He is very supportive, he never micromanages and truly leads by example. He has always guided me and I am glad to have a boss like him. His way of getting the work done is commendable. Here I would like to say - "A successful Team is a group of many Hands but of One Mind." A truly Great Boss is Hard to Find, Difficult to Leave and Impossible to forget.

- Firdosh D. KatgaraSenior Executive - Accounts Officer, Mumbai

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Nikhita joined Tata Trusts in September, 2017 with the Technology team. Her keen interest in the field of Mathematics led her to pursue her B. Tech in Chemical Engineering from Indian Institute of Technology Delhi (IITD). She is passionate about adventure sports, travelling and painting/ quilling. Her fundamental belief in life is to- “Follow your dreams, believe in yourself and don’t give up”. At Tata Trusts she works to leverage technology to solve problems in the development sector. As Susan Wojcicki says, “From phones to cars to medicine- technology touches every part of our lives. If you can create technology, you can change the world.”


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Makar Sankranti -A Festival Which BindsThe Nation

A country rich in its diversity is still united by some common threads: driving passions, celebrations and festivities, rituals, cultural values, love for good food, music and dance, deliberations, activism and the list can go on. We found that special food, new clothes, flying kites and making rangolis are some of those commonalities across Andhra, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar and Assam where Makar Sankranti is celebrated with as much gusto today as in the yesteryears. Some of our colleagues, from across the country share their memories and thoughts around this festival.

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The Harvest Festival ofAndhra PradeshSandesh Kotte,

Nutrition, Andhra Pradesh

Sandesh is with Tata Trusts since October 2016. With a master’s degree in Development, he has previously worked with Azim Premji University, Bangalore.

He is passionate about politics and believes in the power of good. Along with that, his family background helps keep him on his chosen path. His mother is in the public education system and his father a journalist. Sandesh believes in what his mentor had said when entering the development sector “Work without expectations”. He believes in the profoundness of these words and believes it to be his talisman.

Sweet memories of the festival goes back to my childhood days. In those days, Sankranti was only about food and fun. Waking up early in the morning and hunting for blueberries and other decorations for Sankranti Rangoli (Muggu in Telugu). Traditionally Sankranti festival goes on for 4 days with different names but in practice we celebrate for 3 days only.

The first day is called as ‘Bhoghi’. On this day every household in village burns the old things like old discardable and unused furniture and other material. The significance of this is to welcome freshness and good and do away with old and bad things. Second day is the main festival called Makar Sankranti and called as ‘pedda panduga’ in Telugu which means ‘Big festival’. This day, each member of the family wears new clothes and prays to the Almighty. This day, sun enters in Makara rashi, which is why it is called as the Makar Sankranti. This day people conduct some rituals in remembrance of their ancestors. Every house on this day looks colourful with Rangolis.


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Another feature of the festival in Andhra Pradesh is the ‘Haridasu’ who goes early in the morning around with a colourfully dressed cow, singing songs of Lord Vishnu (Hari) hence the name Haridasu (servant of Hari). The third day which is called as ‘Kanuma’. On this day, people and especially farmers offer prayers to the elements (soil, rain, fire for helping the harvest) and the (village) goddesses with their gifts. There is the cock fighting, an integral part of Sankranti celebrations across Andhra Pradesh.

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Bihu in AssamRituparna Nath,

Program Coordinator, NABARD-TATA TRUSTS WADI Project, Boko, Assam

Bihu is among the most widely celebrated festivals in Assam. Although Assam is a land to various different ethnicity, Bihu is celebrated across the state with similar enthusiasm. Although Bihu is known as a festival of joy and merriment, Bihu is actually celebrated at three different time of the year. Rongali or Bohag Bihu observed in April, Kongali or Kati Bihu observed in October, and Bhogali or Magh Bihu observed in January. Since Assam is an agrarian state, all these celebrations are associated with different time of the agricultural calendar.

Born and brought up in Assam, Rituparna studied at a boarding school. Post graduation, he completed his MSW (Masters in Social Work) from Tata Institute of Social Sciences, Mumbai in 2015.

Then joined Centre for Microfinance & Livelihood in May 2015. Passionate about bringing positive changes in people lives. Because, every lives matter. Ritu believes in a quote by Ray Bradbury,- “Life is trying things to see if they work.” What drives Ritu in this sector? “My beliefs and values are what drives me to work in this sector. Working with people may be the hardest thing and bringing a change is even harder. But the satisfaction at the end of the day is irreplaceable. Bringing smiles to people is not easy, but not impossible.”


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Rongali Bihu also known as ‘Bohag Bihu’, the name of this Bihu is derived from the word ‘Rong’, which means fun and merriment. This is the most popular Bihu among the three Bihu and is celebrated to mark the Assamese New Year and beginning of the season of spring. Rongali Bihu is celebrated for Seven days, where groups of all ages comes together to Sing, Dance and feast which also marks the beginning of land preparation for cultivation of Paddy.

There are different types of folk songs and dances associated with Rongali Bihu, which are sung during this period and blessings are taken from the elderly. The songs sung are called ‘Husori’ and ‘Bihugeet’, where different traditional musical instruments such as ‘Dhol’, ‘Taal’, ‘Pepa’ and ‘Gogona’ are used. Along with other merriments, there are different types of ethnic foods prepared during this season.

Kongali Bihu also known as Kati Bihu is celebrated in the Assamese month of ‘Kati’. This Bihu is celebrated during the period when the paddy in the field are in the final growing stage and the granaries of the farmers are almost empty. In this Bihu, people light earthen lamps also known ‘Saki’ in Assamese in the paddy fields to safeguard the fields from any unfortunate incidents.

Bhogali Bihu also known as ‘Magh Bihu’, again the name itself is derived from the word ‘Bhog’, which means feast. This Bihu marks the end of the Harvesting season and like many other parts of the country, this is celebrated as the harvest festival.

Since the granaries are full, there is a lot of feasting and eating during this period. The first day of the festival is called uruka, i.e., the last day of ‘Pausa’ month, people from the villages go to the field, preferably near a river or as seen now a days, in the individual households and the community temples, build a makeshift cottage called Bhelaghar with the hay of the harvest fields. During the night, they prepare food and there is community feasting everywhere. The entire ‘uruka’ night is spent around a ‘Meji’, bonfire made with hays and Bamboos with people singing Bihu songs, beating Dhol or playing games. Boys roam in the dark stealing firewood and vegetables for fun which is cooked during the feasting. The next morning they take a bath and burn the Meji.

Bihu is a festival where every community from different religion, caste, creed and ethnicities comes together and celebrates as its own festival.


Kite Flyingin GujaratVikas Sharma,

Program Consultant (Mathematics, Scienceand ITE) at CSPC, Gujarat.

To define life is the most complex thing. Life is a very philosophical subject, on which one can talk limitlessly, and of course one may come across very different viewpoints. I stumbled upon the meaning of life through the journey of kites on the eve of Makar Sankranti. The moment we plan to let our kites take off, soar higher in the endless sky, it possibly ends up in an unplanned landing or we wonder if it is enough for it to be there. The time we spend in checking and choosing our kites, and the many options that we have, actually make the task of choosing difficult, and then with a shrug we pick up one. Isn’t it very

Vikas Sharma is in CSPC since July 2017. From an aircraft engineering background, Vikas followed where his heart led, in a quest to create an equitable society where quality education is available to all. Having worked in Delhi with NGOs and schools and post a fellowship in Azim Premji Foundation worked for foundation at Durgapur, Rajasthan.

At Mithapur, Vikas joined the CSPC as a resource person in Mathematics and Science. He is passionate about change and wishes to be a changemaker. An avid writer, blogger and poet, in this philosophical piece by Vikas, he shares his thoughts while flying kites during Makar Sankranti in Gujarat.

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familiar? I have hardly flown kites. I was never good at it. But, I felt eager enough to try, because of the flavour of the place I lived in, Gujarat. I wanted to fly a kite, and this time I did.

The essence of Makar Sankranti is – together we can face any situation, and we never lose, if we are together.

I had my kite, ready to fly but somehow it wouldn’t soar higher than my roof, even after a couple of attempts. This did make my co-fellows burst with laughter and to my surprise so did I. Yes! I was laughing too at my failed attempts!

I tried again, but with a different kite. Had bought 12 of them, enough to keep trying. Though I wondered, if availability of options makes things easier or complex!

Just like the soaring kite in the boundary-less sky, we all have the potential to grow at our own pace, and limitlessly, but we need a guide, a mentor, a torch bearer to string us correctly, gear us up for the long journey, correct our course of flight (if need be), nudge us gently (at times), re-motivate us when we are disillusioned, just as the kite flyer gives ‘dhil’ to his kite. Making us focused, simplify our dilemmas, so that we accomplish our task and move to the next.

Kites fly, when we let them fly, although our natural tendency is to control it and yet let it fly in its own way. Our learning process also has a lot of similarities to flying a kite.

By mid-day, flying at least 10 kites, we had enjoyed a lot. But somehow we felt that our enjoyment was incomplete as we hadn’t cut anyone’s kite yet, not to mention that we had lost our kites to the some of the master kite flyers or luckier ones. But it was still too early to retire, with our patience and determination we finally were able to cut two kites. Isn’t it like the phases in one’s life, the ups and downs?

We returned happily to the pavilion, our home. There were no kites flying in the sky by then.

It has been my personal experience that the true

flavour, the real fun, the continuous excitement that one goes through while flying a kite, stands true for work. To return to the four basic factors, that I am convinced are involved in successful outcomes: goal-setting, positive thinking, visualizing and above all believing.

Well let me admit to you, that my first kite didn’t venture much beyond my roof, because I had stringed it incorrectly!!!

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Til-Gul Ghya AniGoad-Goad Bolain Maharashtraby Piyush Khanorkar,

Program Consultant, Health Team,Hyderabad

Piyush Khanorkar has studied Pharmacology and Health Administration from TISS, Mumbai. She has joined Tata Trusts since April, 2017 in the Health team. Based in Hyderabad, working on direct implementation project she is working in Health System Strengthening.

She is passionate about - Cooking, Painting, Dancing (Bharatanatyam), exploring new places and culture. She is a blue belt holder in karate has taught self- defense to adolescent girls in rural areas of Marathawada. Her philosophy of life is ‘there is no greater joy nor greater reward than to make a fundamental difference in someone’s life.’(- Mary Rose McGeady)


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The most-fond memories of my childhood invariably include that of kite flying, dressing my kid bro like Krishna (till he was 5 yrs) decorating him with sugary (edible) made ornaments for Loot where small children around residence would come to celebrate just like birthday! And gulping down lots of til-gul! With the trademark greetings of “ितळगुळ �ा, आिण गोड-गोड बोला /til-gul ghyaa, aani goad-goad bolaa” meaning ‘Accept this til-gul (sweet) and utter sweet words’. A day before, we would help Aai in making til-gul. The mornings would begin with a dash to the terrace to fly kites with my kid brother. In the evening, I would accompany my mother to a get-together for married woman called ‘Haldi-Kunku’. For us, it was almost four days of flying colourful big kites on our terraces till fingers bleed because of manja (string tied to kite), shout Ooo…Kaa..tt !! and eating sweets like puran-poli, specially made for this occasion…

In Maharashtra it is a custom to give desserts made of sesame and jaggery, or Til-Gul, on this day. The exchange of desserts symbolizes settling threats and deserting sick emotions and continuing good relations. The first harvest of sugarcane for the year is gathered amid this period.

Additionally, since the celebration falls in winter, eating desserts made of sesame and jaggery is gainful for being healthy and being warm nourishment. Jaggery is another most loved winter staple which helps in fighting against cold and is known to have warming goodness. Sesame and jaggery complement each other in taste and has ‘satvic’ elements.

Kite-flying is another custom followed in Maharashtra; various shapes and sizes, are flown even in communities to connect with the Gods.It is likewise a piece of the convention to wear dark garments in light of the fact that amid the winter month of January, dark shading assimilates warm and holds it.

Marathi wedded ladies are additionally welcomed for a social gathering called 'Haldi-Kunku', which means turmeric-vermillion, and given endowments, for example, utensils, garments and so on.

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Manish has been blessed with a son who was born on 18th Feb 2014

He has shared his experience of fatherhood with Pulse. We hope to feature it in one of our next editions.

Makar Sankrantiin Mithilaby Manish Jha,

Education and Skills,Himmotthan

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Creative ExpressionsThe passions and thoughts that drive us at our work also find expression in other forms. Some pen it in poetic expressions, others blog, doodle or paint. Here are a few by our colleagues.

Bal Majuri Bharat Parmar,

Cluster Manager, Rajula cluster,Amreli, Gujarat.

Bharat bhai as he is popularly known is responsible for management and implementation of all programmatic intervention such as WASH, menstrual hygiene, natural resource management, building institutions and agriculture of Rajula cluster, District Amreli, Gujarat.

Passionate about his work, Bharat bhai is out on a mission, to be where the need is, do whatever can be done to meet the need and contribute as much as he can to make this world a beautiful place to live in, for all.

Bharat bhai as he is popularly known is responsible for management and implementation of all programmatic intervention such as WASH, menstrual hygiene, natural resource management, building institutions and agriculture of Rajula cluster, District Amreli, Gujarat.

Passionate about his work, Bharat bhai is out on a mission, to be where the need is, do whatever can be done to meet the need and contribute as much as he can to make this world a beautiful place to live in, for all.

cky etwjh djrs djrs VwV jgk gS lkjk cpiu(cPPkk cPPkk iwN jgk gS dgk¡ [kks x;k I;kjk cpiu !ge cPpks ds bl loky dks Nkiks gj v[kckj ebZ(f’k{kk dc ‘kkfey gksxh vius ekSfyd vf/kdkj esa !ns’k ds ge ckjg djksM+cPpksdk vkt iqdkjk cpiu (cPpk cPpk iwN jgk gS dgk¡ [kks x;k I;kjk cpiu !i<us dh gS mez exj D;ksa bu gkFkkses Nys gS(dksbZ uUgs gkFkks esa ;s vkStkj vkSj dqnkysa gS(bUgs f[kyksus vkSj fdrkcs nsdj ugha lokj cpiu (cPpk cPpk iwN jgk gS dgk¡ [kks x;k I;kjk cpiu !mu lekt ij ykur ftles uUgk cpiu fcdrk gS(ukSfugky bu eklweks dk tgk¡ ilhuk lLrk gS(dc rd vkSj fQjsxk cngkyh esa nj nj ekjk cpiu ( cPpk cPpk iwN jgk gS dgk¡ [kks x;k I;kjk cpiu !cky etwjh djrs djrs VwV jgk gS lkjk cpiu(cPPkk cPPkk iwN jgk gS dgk¡ [kks x;k I;kjk cpiu !dgk¡ [kks x;k U;kjk cpiu] dgk¡ [kks x;k I;kjk cpiu !

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Doodles & PaintingsDrashti Thakrar,

Consultant – MTO office

Nikita Pathak,

Senior Executive, Technology

She is an expert doodler and has captured the Tata Trustsheadquarters at Mumbai through her sketch.


Love ThyNeighbours

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Vivek Kumar Maurya

Role- Office Assistant Passion- Watching & Playing Cricket

Vivek Singh

Role- POTheme- Education/GrantPassion- Long Drive

Nirali Thakkar

Role- Consultant Theme- Internet saathiPassion- Photography & Travelling

Heera Singh

Role- Office BoyPassion- Watching & Playing Cricket

Saumya Tripathi

Role- Consultant Theme- Office Assistant

Passion- Story reading

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Kushagra Jain

Role- Consultant Theme- MIS/ Documentation and support of multi thematic Passion- Innovative Technology

Salim Khan

Role- Area Manager Theme- MigrationPassion- Long Drives

Rakesh Singh

Role- Area Manager Theme- LivelihoodPassion- Preserving Nature

Subhash Chandra

Role- ConsultantTheme- Finance/AdminPassion- Sports

Amita Jain

Role- Regional ManagerTheme- UPPassion- Visiting new places

EasternUP team


Thank aColleague

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‘Kudos’ is an opportunity for each person at Tata Trusts to acknowledge and appreciate a colleague, through a hand written note. They are small, yet potent tokens of appreciation for lending a helping hand or appreciating a job well done. It is a pleasant surprise to have one’s effort acknowledged by a colleague, be it a peer or senior. It also underlines the power of “We”.


QuizTwist

Put on your

Thinking Cap!Here’s an opportunity to suggest a novel and captivating name for a response system for senior citizens, that one of our teams, is developing. The programme aims to connect and respond to (be there for!) 100+ million senior citizens in India, through a 24 x7 response system. A phone based system, that will extend emotional support, apart from supporting healthcare and other needs by providing information, guidance, counselling, and resource linkages, the system is also being designed to offer physical presence, if required.

To answer,seek the questions!Brush your knowledge on safety. The twist in the quiz is to find the questions first.The contest questions are hidden in the articles of stay safe.

So hurry! Send in your entries with the subject title as 'HELPLINE' to [email protected], by February 20, 2018.

A gift voucher of Rs 1000, awaits the winning entry!

Do remember to send us a line or two describing why the proposed name should be adopted for the response system. A visual depiction of the name suggested is welcome but not mandatory.

Contest

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Contest

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Call forContribution

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4th Edition: Mar - Apr 18

We are seeking contributions for the following sections for the fourth edition of Pulse, our internal e-magazine. Do get your creative juices to flow.

We also would love your suggestions for our sections - “On the same Page” where we try to reach out to inspiring people, thought leaders and path breakers and learn and hear from.

On the Same Page

We definitely would love to know more about our large family. Can you draw out the unknown facts of any of our colleagues which can tell us more about him or her. Do give it a try. Note down the instances/incidents which have revealed a previously unknown feature of the person (Around 500 words)

One-on-One

We are on a quest to discover the best of cuisines in this issue. Inviting restaurant reviews, articles on your favourite dishes, and lesser known delicacies and recipes from our areas of operation. Mouth-watering photographs of course helps. (100 – 250 words)

Food Enthusiasts

Whether you are the poet or the muse, we look forward to your reading of the finer aspects of life. Inviting submissions from all budding and established poets and writers.(Not more than 250 words)

Creative Expressions


Please submit your entries with the subject title as 'My contribution' to [email protected] by the end of March, 2018 for the next issue. Even if you miss the deadline, no worries, do still send in

your entry/ies. We’ll save it for the later issues and hope to feature all entries in part or whole.

Do you know of any art, artefact, handcraft, traditional skills of our rich art and craft heritage which not many know of? Share them with us? Who knows what it could lead to? Don’t forget to share the clicks.

Art and Culture

Traditional Wisdom

We travel to work and come across very interesting snippets, hacks, traditional practices, cultures which can be a source of knowledge for all of us. Maybe how to read the clouds or the worms. Would you care to share them with other? (Around 250 words)

Humour at Work

Inviting doodles, sketches, caricatures capturing everyday humour at the workplace, in the field, and on your work travels. Unleash your imagination – the sky is the absolute limit.

Culture Express

Inviting entries on the lesser known facets of the culturally diverse states of India. Send in some nice photographs if you can. (Not more than 250 words)

From the Heart

If you have wanted to thank a colleague, share a warm message with or about someone from the team, this is the platform to do so. (50-75 words)

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Documents

Crea ng Social Impact - Tata Trustspulse.tatatrusts.org/edition/3/magazine/edition3/Tata_Trust_Pulse.pdf · human problems in a sustainable way. Prof. Yunus calls upon young people,