Wednesday, April 25, 2012

SPARK THE RISE grant finale


It was 20th April 2012 evening.  Venue was Prince of Wales museum lawn, Mumbai.   Weather was hot and humid.   I was one of the 18 project champions sitting on the dais representing Divyadeepa, Mysore.    The occasion was announcement of grant finale grant winners of the event, SPARK THE RISE. Spark the Rise is a platform created by Mahindra, the automobile giant to help put ideas into action to drive positive change in India.  I was pleasantly surprised to hear my name announced by Ms. Parvathy Menon.  Yes, we got 2nd runner up grant of Rupees 20 lakhs.   Needless to say that I was very happy!   I thanked Mahindra for pouring oil into Divyadeepa which in turn help us to light up the lives of many OUT OF SYSTEM children.  

I came to know about this through one of our volunteers Ananth Nag.    Our project, ‘Education of OUT OF SYSTEM’ children emerged as a winning entry in the month of November garnering maximum number of votes.   Architects of this were volunteers.   At 12 midnight of 30th November, the tone and tenor of the calls I received from the volunteers echoed a feeling of joy, jubilation and their emotional commitment to Divyadeepa.  On the last day alone our project got 1300 votes.  Volunteers bunked classes, went to schools, colleges, software companies explained the concept of Spark The Rise and sought votes for our project.

Naturally preparation for the grand finale was even more joshful.  We sent mails to all patrons and well-wishers, requested all the visitors to this rural project to vote.  Volunteers prepared meaningful posters.   This time we got more votes within 50% of time.  We did our best.   Our volunteer’s spirit was very high.  But other project champions bettered our best!  Hats off to them for all the hard work!  As per the number of votes, we stood in 6th place, so chances of getting the grants were bleak.  Naturally our volunteers were disappointed.  But I think we got the support of the jury.  Our project is innovative, its impact is very high and has sustained without Government’s support for 7 years.  I’m sure; we have the God’s Grace.  We will continue to have It, as long as we remain sincere.

In the afternoon session, prior to the grant giving ceremony was a fruitful discussion session with TIE and Mahindra staff members.   The Indus Enterprises (TIE) provide mentorship to project champions.   The discussions were more or less general in nature.  There were 6 tables.  Project champions were made to move from one table to another for discussing different topics.  Some topics were interesting: What are the common pitfalls during establishing any organisation?, How to attract volunteers? Why innovations are not encouraged in India?, How profits and non-profits cooperate?... Visiting cards were exchanged so that project-specific mentorship could be sought in future.

Prior to this at Mahindra Guest house where all the project champions stayed, we had an informal group discussion in the morning.  I came to know about the inspirational work of other members.  Each project has its own unique challenges and solution has to be found out by the person who is working at the grass root level.  

Thanks to Mahindra for organising the event so well.  As usual it was a great learning experience for me.  Our gratitude to all who supported Divyadeepa in this event.  This grant will take care of our entire operational cost for one year.   Or if we keep this amount in corpus, the interest can take care of the life cycle of six children including their food, clothing, medical expenses and quality education.  This event helped me to understand our own work in different perspectives.

  

3 comments:

  1. Sometimes its not just winning but about the journey too. Such a dedication by all. Happy and proud :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Congratulations to Ananth and you. Your winning was one of the best moments on 20th evening. I was touched by humbleness of Ananth.

      I am sure Divyadeepa will spread the light to educate many underpriviledged youth in the villages removing all the barriers of our system, empower those villagers to lead a life of dignity and hold their Head High !

      Samik
      - Head Held High

      Delete
  2. Dear Ananth,

    The real impact of your work will be realized if you were to use the grant to create an asset like you had done through installation of a solar powered energy source or if you were to expand your operations to include more students into your fold or if you were to develop a Templates/SOPs for other people to replicate your model of education.

    So my sincere suggestion is not to just use your grant funds as operational expense but to use them to develop a sustainable asset which will bear fruits for subsequent batches or for more number of out-of-system children to get educated.

    Regards,
    Anurag Rastogi.

    ReplyDelete