India Letter

November, 2016

impactmania interviews impact makers in India

Diwali, the Festival of Light in India, came to a close, but the country stays illuminated year-round through the many amazing people who drive cultural, social and economic impact.

We enjoyed interviewing a few thoughtful, inspiring, touching, and fun impact makers who are looking beyond their own wellbeing and success; generous people who are fueling others by their graciousness, love, and compassion.

Yash Ranga, Stakeholder Partner at Jaipur Rugs Foundation, learns from the master impact maker NK Chaudary, who started the business with two looms and nine carpet weavers. In 38 years, Jaipur Rugs Company has expanded to 40,000 artisans in 600 villages. Jaipur Rugs does not only provide economic opportunity but is also supporting their community weavers with social development. We speak with Ranga about his transition working on artificial intelligence in Silicon Valley to working with artisan weavers in Rajasthan.

For eight months, Kuldeep Dantewadia picked up trash on a daily basis to understand the waste problem from the ground up. At age 21, the Ashoka Fellow, formed Reap Benefit and tapped into the network of young student in 240 schools saving 19 million liters of water and 1450 kilos of electricity units. Plus, the social enterprise has diverted 270 tonnes of waste from landfills. Kuldeep Dantewadia shares how a train journey helped him become a social entrepreneur.

A conversation with Sameer Walia about today’s media, U.S. election, and how Walia balances his for-profit venture with a for-purpose commitment. Sameer Walia, co-founder and Managing Director of The Smart Cube, rallies more than 200 employees to help others in the community, from cleaning the river to starting an education center in one of the largest slums in Delhi. Sameer Walia offers valuable insight on how being an entrepreneur can alter your humanity and why perfectionism is a disease.

The Tara Sharma Show airs on network TV and YouTube. Co-produced and hosted by mompreneur, former actress, Tara Sharma. Sharma has forged her own path in entertainment; she diligently demonstrated that being mother did not make her less relevant in the entertainment business. Maybe even more so — she is flexing her former network connections and invites celebrity guests to talk about their causes and raises money to support organizations close to their hearts.

Shubh Chopra shows that you can start a social enterprise at any age. Chopra’s knitwear, Chandroti, made by knitters in remote villages at the foothill of the Himalayan sells to upscale boutiques in Australia to buyers in New York. After supplying her own family with ample knitwear, she teaches and employs women who are interested to learn and work, offering the ladies much-needed supplement to the household income.

Raadhika Dosa, casting director, who has worked with Hollywood stars and film directors in Europe shows us how you can impact social and cultural norms by saying yes to the right projects and no even if it is Google. impactmania shares one of her projects, a video made for the UN that created awareness on keeping baby girls.

Then, Suparna Mohindra & Monisha Daga from the Angels Network share how everyday girls can perform magic. The friends and their network are supporting a dozen children’s homes by help celebrating holidays and birthdays; organizing gift baskets for newborns, raising money though their vintage affair events, organizing food drives, and creating flash mobs. Hundreds of people are part of the Angel initiative and thousands attend their events. The interview that lasted more than two hours must have contained the word magical 100 times. We were thoroughly inspired.

These are a few of the impact makers we came across; connect with thinkers and doers in your own community who are working on behalf of all of us. Support them.

impactmania