There are few times when an idea comes and sweeps you away by the sheer force of its propensity and impact. As much as poverty is a complicated subject to understand, equally complex is its eradication.
So, without having experienced poverty even remotely, without having seen poverty from close ends, am i a person to comment about poverty. No.period.
Perhaps what can be done is to do things that make me feel good.
One such initiative is, the Rang De movement, a movement to share colors of joy.
As a student torn between wanting to see and be a part of change, the things that continue to excite me are technology and development. Rang De is a platform that marries both. you can see it here
A brief about Rang De can go like this: It is an online peer-to-peer lending platform.
So what?
The thought, that a 100 Rupee note from you can change and influence the life of a rural entrepreneur is profound.
Once you know that, things dont remain the same anymore.
If there was ever a time, when your 5 clicks changed someone's life, it is this.
We are talking about social 'investment', social 'lending' and NOT donating. So, when the rural entrepreneur borrows money from me, he takes it with a lot of dignity and tells me, "boss, i am taking this 100 Rs from you and I will return with interest, thank you".
So much for a passionate capitalist in me :)
What are the rural entrepreneurs like? they are beautiful dignified human beings occupied by businesses ranging from goat rearing, tailoring, embroidery, vegetable business, and many more.. and yes my favorite one among them is beedi making.
What do i mean by eradication of poverty? In my humble opinion, being able to provide good food, clothing, shelter, education and healthcare is the end of poverty. The way to do that is to enterprise, and that is what Rang De enables.
To me Rang De is a marriage of technology, development and social good with a capitalist vengeance.
What would happen with Rang De in existence? If I am doing my math right, and i extrapolate how 100 Rs can be given to each rural entrepreneur for doing his business, then we will have put poverty in museums by the end of this decade. We may also have our kids taught about poverty in history books.
my two cents :)
So, without having experienced poverty even remotely, without having seen poverty from close ends, am i a person to comment about poverty. No.period.
Perhaps what can be done is to do things that make me feel good.
One such initiative is, the Rang De movement, a movement to share colors of joy.
As a student torn between wanting to see and be a part of change, the things that continue to excite me are technology and development. Rang De is a platform that marries both. you can see it here
A brief about Rang De can go like this: It is an online peer-to-peer lending platform.
So what?
The thought, that a 100 Rupee note from you can change and influence the life of a rural entrepreneur is profound.
Once you know that, things dont remain the same anymore.
If there was ever a time, when your 5 clicks changed someone's life, it is this.
We are talking about social 'investment', social 'lending' and NOT donating. So, when the rural entrepreneur borrows money from me, he takes it with a lot of dignity and tells me, "boss, i am taking this 100 Rs from you and I will return with interest, thank you".
So much for a passionate capitalist in me :)
What are the rural entrepreneurs like? they are beautiful dignified human beings occupied by businesses ranging from goat rearing, tailoring, embroidery, vegetable business, and many more.. and yes my favorite one among them is beedi making.
What do i mean by eradication of poverty? In my humble opinion, being able to provide good food, clothing, shelter, education and healthcare is the end of poverty. The way to do that is to enterprise, and that is what Rang De enables.
To me Rang De is a marriage of technology, development and social good with a capitalist vengeance.
What would happen with Rang De in existence? If I am doing my math right, and i extrapolate how 100 Rs can be given to each rural entrepreneur for doing his business, then we will have put poverty in museums by the end of this decade. We may also have our kids taught about poverty in history books.
my two cents :)
absolutely true! Thats what actually is real empowering!
ReplyDeleteNice to read about Rang De
ReplyDelete@Paresh, indeed! @Divenita, thanks always
ReplyDelete