Air Task

My biggest strength across my professional life has been my network of friends and people i worked with, so when it came to reach out to them it was something most natural for me to work towards. 

I simply called each one explaining the importance of the concept, for some i had to explain the whole concept and some did not even wait for me to finish because according to them i should be there. 

I followed up every call by a personal email sent to every person and followed by a confirmation through a message from phone that the mail has been sent to them. 

I got positive confirmations from everyone that i spoke with and could not have been happier about the kind of endorsements they have given, it just shows their faith in me as a human being and the work that i have set out to do...   

Water Task..

The three areas of weakness that I worked on…

• I am able to balance dreams, emotion, will and action: I have started to put my emotions in check by not reacting immediately to a situation. I take the information, internalize it and then take my time evaluate and respond to the same. i have started making notes and points which helps me decide what is the best decision to take in the interest of the task and not because of how i feel. I love to work at ground level and can coordinate and execute any activity to the best of my ability. If in any manner i can contribute and help make the initiative better than i do make suggestions. One thing that anyone i Volunteer will vouch for is that if i have taken up a task to execute i will look into every small detail of it and ensure that it is done properly. 

• I have the ability to turn dreams into reality: I have picked up one task from all the activities that are identified under my social venture. I have broken down activities further under the same, and where delegation is required, it has been delegated and for myself the tasks are divided across the day on the availability of the people or when it needs to be executed. For the mountaineering project, there is a need to form partnerships at the local level in the villages where we plan to work, at the same time we need to network with the corporates, work on documentation for raising funds, traveling into remote locations etc are just some of the activities have created a check list for the same and on a daily basis ensure the completion of the tasks and meetings by the deadlines. 

• I try to communicate even when I don’t speak other languages: I have identified friends who speak languages which are critical to the project and I speak with them in limited manner and am planning to take tuitions for the same to ensure that the same improves. Usually whenever i go and stay in a village i always make it a point to learn all important aspects of the langauage and what is required to communicate at a basic level... In India besides English and hindi, i can understand 4 - 5 other languages and communicate with the locals... I have also been in the process of learning portugese as i am into capoeira and we sing in portugese and when Mestres are here we also speak with them in the same language... 

Getting warmed up

1.        I believe it is possible to change the world in a concrete way. – *** I totally have this ability because I have seen what putting little efforts through networking helped us achieve across various projects, be it Smoke Free Mumbai campaign, Pictographic representation on cigarette packets, getting sponsors for the differently abled. I believe that most of the people have a good heart and want to do good in society, they just don’t know how to channelize it. This is where I believe I can help channelize the intentions into action. I have devised a project under Sutradhaar called ‘Paathshala’ (Hindi for School), which identifies schools which don’t have good qualified teachers and teachers for other co-curricular activities besides subjects. So I reached out to people that I know and who have certain skill sets and have the time to Volunteer. By matching the volunteer’s skill with time availability and the need at these schools, we have managed to create a complete Volunteers network of Music, Sports, arts and crafts and special education teacher. Besides that we have managed to create teach the teacher training modules that also empowers the local teachers to adopt better and innovative methodologies of education. We have identified students from Art colleges who have offered to come in as Volunteers to help beautify the school by engaging the kids from the school. This will not only engage kids in a very interesting activity but also create a sense of ownership so that they don’t dirty the walls and surroundings.We did this entire work through enthusiastic volunteers and without paying a single rupee.
2.  I am able to balance dreams, emotion, will and action. - ** I have part of this quality because while I can balance my dreams and have ample will to execute my ideas into action, I am an extremely emotional human being and that I believe at times interferes with the logic and rational decision making.
3.  I am able to articulate social networks and mobilize people for a cause.*** - I totally have this ability as I have already explained in the first point here. Besides the same being a communications consultant we have been instrumental in devising campaign that work on very specific target groups that need very different channel of communications and we have successfully implemented the same in India. Hence the experience that we have can only be put to better use
4. I have the ability to turn dreams into reality.** I have this ability but I feel that at times I get driven by too many things and hence any one area does not get too much focus and attention and that might be very important. Under Sutradhaar I already have 6 identified elements that I want to definitely execute. And because there are certain common areas of focus at times instead of completely focus on the first project to be kick started, I end up working on all of them. So while I can turn my dreams into reality, it may just take an extended amount of time which in my opinion cannot be a very good thin
5.  I am a creative person: ** I have part of this quality as I am a creative person when it comes to ideation and devising campaigns but put me in making art work and probably a kid in nursery can challenge me. We have devised very interesting and innovative campaigns in healthcare to launch products in the market which were taboo to discuss due to the religious proclivity of certain regions in India. We identified and partnered with two most powerful organization, one government and the other private to ensure complete engagement and no clash of agendas in this segment.
6. I try to innovate in my attitudes.*** I totally have this quality as I believe change is the only constant. I believe that you need to learn good aspects of every human being you meet and ignore the negative. I change according to my circumstances and the people I am surrounded by, I have learnt that its not about what you but how you say it. Whether it is during a mountaineering trip or a road trip, whenever someone has approached me and said what was bothering them about my attitude, I internalize the same and look at it from a positive perspective and create the change for better.   
7. I have my values and beliefs, and still I am open to the unknown.*** I totally have this quality because I believe and our values and beliefs are what get reflected in our action every day and every moment. I travel extensively across India which is a land of multi diversity with that many religious and cultural sentiments and while I am an atheist, I have actually walked insides temples and other places of prayer and prayed with people. And while I am not sure what is to be achieved out of it, I do know that just by being together with the people who believe in that creates a more positive vibe around me and I am happy to engage in any such random activity again.
8.  I try to communicate even when I don’t speak other languages** I have part of this quality because being in communications I have realized that there has to be a way that you can communicate with someone. At the same time when I travel to places with different languages I always try to learn some basic sentences which are critical to everyday. Also as I tend to always stay with friends wherever I go, they are my biggest source of education in the local language and whats more, I love learning languages and wished I was a polygot but I am not.
9.  I am ready for action.*** I totally have this quality as I am always eager to do something and if it’s something new, engaging, interesting or just moving around I am more than happy to be a part of it. When we were doing the search and rescue course in the mountains, we would be summoned in the oddest of hours with only mins of preparation time. It was crazy but the excitement was far more greater and kept us on our toes and engaged
10.  I want to share with others what I have learned*** I totally have this quality as I believe the more we share the more we can help create. Sharing knowledge only helps develop further knowledge. One of the simple things that I do is share my knowledge of activities that I do across groups. I do Yoga, Kalaripayattu (a martial art form from Kerala in India) and Capoeira. All three initiatives have common elements and as I am a part of all three, I take the learnings from each of these activities to other groups and help them learn better. At the same time there is a of knowledge base that I have to cover and ensure that its accurate and does not harm anyone. 

Why me...

The projects that I am focusing in India, while extremely unique are also the need of the hour. The segments are extremely sensitive and not many unfortunately have ventured into the same. I have always believed that it doesn't matter if you are standing alone, eventually there will be others who will either seek you out because of common interest or learn from what you have done and take their own initiative. I believe in taking my own initiative and not wait for someone else and even if I fail, I don’t let that bother me and I just find another way of doing it.

I have been a brand consultant for a dominant part of my career and have been a networker. I believe if there is a problem then there is always a solution, it’s just a matter of finding it, it may take a little longer at times but then I have the patience for it. Through my experience in media industry and having worked in the social development segment I know how to leverage on relationships and create a synergy across a cross section of society. I believe inclusive approach is most critical for the growth and success of any campaign; every idea should attract more minds that can contribute and add to it further.

Putting structure for a home for differently abled - Sadhana Village, the cause that I have adopted is a home for mentally challenged adults. The biggest challenge there was to bring semblance to a set up that was started purely for emotional reasons and lacked any proper planning or management. But then intent and passion are very important ingredient for initiating such projects and as far as putting a structure or helping manage certain critical areas of project vis-à-vis revenue generation model, networking with corporate’s for adopting differently abled who were abandoned by their families is where I worked. By tapping in my network of corporates we ensured that through their CSR programs they supported such abandoned special friend’s minimum for a year. This also gave us time to plan further and deal with other challenges as well. I have been associated with the organization for over 9 years now and now hope to engage more integrally.

Ideation & implementation of ‘Smoke Free Mumbai’ campaign – We designed the campaign for Tata Memorial hospital, one of the premium institutes in India for Cancer treatment. The idea was to empower the non-smoker into knowing their rights in a public and work place. The focus of the campaign was very clear, we were not trying to traumatize or victimize the smoker but just creating awareness amongst the non-smokers. For this campaign we worked very closely with the municipal corporation of Mumbai, which also brought to fore some critical challenges. Because the campaign was to be implemented across Mumbai, it covered a vast span of land which was divided across 24 wards in Mumbai with a very large number of employee base. It was imperative that the person at the bottom of the chain was also aware of the role they had to play in implementation, otherwise the media would have had a field day with them and the success of the campaign would be under a big question mark. We devised a training module for officer across 24 wards of the corporation and ensure that no matter who engaged with the media, there was only one and consistent response to the same.  

Besides the same I have worked towards devising strategy and communications campaign for Habitat for Humanity in India and also devised communications strategy for Healis Sekhsaria Institute for Public health, which predominantly worked towards research in Tobacco use and policies in India. The campaign we designed for them was focused towards creating pressure on the tobacco industry through media and pressure groups to implement pictographic warnings on the cigarette packets. After running the campaign for 2 years we finally saw the implementation across the Cigarette packs in India, and while there is a long journey ahead it is a good start.

I have also been instrumental in consulting companies on their CSR & sustainability programs and helping them implement the same. Hence having worked across both sides its easier for me to comprehend and implement.

Some bits about me..

While i was always an outdoor and adventure sports person, my influence for mountaineering was purely the doing of my brother, who today is a world renowned climber and would ideally want nothing to do with cities and urban set ups. So yes, i am a mountaineer in whatever limited capacity i have managed besides that i am into a multitude of adventure sports activities, and i take everything that life has to offer me with gratitude and smile... The need to learn something new, read about new subjects and delve deeper into Indian history (I am a voracious reader), create a fusion of martial arts such as Capoeira, Kalaripayattu and Stick fighting popular in regions of India, learning music (a range of instruments besides dabbling in singing) and working in social development (I have adopted a home for mentally challenged adults where i assist in various areas of functioning) are a very inherent part of my life and whats amazing is that every day i discover a new thing that intrigues and interests me further in life around me. On the weekend's i either take of for a trek to the western ghats or mountain biking on a new terrain. Its safe to say, i am much in love with life around me and dont leave a single opportunity to engage and connect with people around me.

Having traveled into interiors of various parts of India, what strikes me is the extreme contrast of life, happiness quotient, family, community and so many other aspects of mankind. The extreme disparity in livelihoods, the lack of basic essential needs not being catered to and worse is the complete lack of acknowledgement of that fact. I started engaging with communities which are at the bottom of the socio-economic ladder through my travels and realized that there is huge gap that needs to be filled. 

Sutradhaar social ventures will work with the minor communities to help create sustainable livelihoods and also work towards community development through community engagement. The focus of Sutradhaar through various projects is to focus on specific communities from different strata of life. to begin with we are focusing on people living in the mountain regions, and India is home to some of the most vast and tallest mountain ranges in the world. 

The second project focuses around the transgenders populations. India is home to over 2.7 Million transgenders across all the major states in India with challenges ranging from lack of sustainable livelihood, medical facilities, right to education to all the other basic essential needs. 

Sutradhaar will focus on projects which are challenging and have not really been engaged in due to the level of sensitivity involved in the same. We like to be on our toes to be able to tackle new challenges and believe that if you are not sitting on the edge, you are probably occupying too much space.