Beacons of change

“Don’t judge each day by the harvest that you reap but the seeds that you sow”-  Robert Louis Stevenson

As we moved around traversing the length of the our beautiful nation we met, interacted,mentored and learnt from the many inspiring individuals we met along the way. The journey so far instilled in us the belief of a greater tomorrow in the able hands of the young generation who are vehemently following their dreams with a courage unsurmountable. India has a huge expanse of fertile minds, minds who wish to do something and from which a tiny sapling of innovation can grow in a huge tree that can provide its shade and replenish the future. In this humdrum of daily life at times these fertile minds loses its gifts as it does not get the sunlight of encouragement and the sprinkling of sweet words of advice that can guide its path. Thus, one of our endeavour in this journey has been to harness these fertile minds and as we feel that this should be a regular pursuit we have sown fertile seeds in the form of mentors in every city who will be guiding and nurturing these minds.

Our local mentors

“No one knows what changes. big or small lie ahead, one thing is certain the journey is not yet over” and truly the journey is going on in all the cities we have been as our local mentors are  vehemently pursuing the journey of Mentor on Road in their cities and carrying out the task forward. Meet Mr. Vinayak Lokur, our dynamic mentor in the city of Belgaum. Mr. Vinayak has plans to visit Belgaum to understand further on infrastructure issue and the skill gap. The power of visual communication that is what Mr. Vinayak is pursuing as he proudly adorns the pristine white T shirt of Mentor on Road during the casual days in his office. Thus, when people enquire about Mentor on Road on seeing his t-shirt he goes on to explain the entire issues which Mentor on Road has touched upon in its journey.

Mr. Vinayak Lokur, Local Mentor at Belgaum

Similarly our mentor in Surat Mr. Ameet Shah has set up a task to visit Mandvi village on 15th June. Here he plans to visit ITI Mandvi, where he will be interacting with the student community and will help them understand about what are the skills that industries look for in the students. Through this he aims to bridge the skill gap between the students and the industry at large. In the same light in order to promote small scale industries and cottage industries he will be interacting with the locals at Mandvi and will be promoting handicrafts business as well. Food processing and the food industry has been our major crux of discussion in our journey of Mentor on Road across all cities which just goes on to show its importance in the national economy. Thus in his mentoring journey of Mandvi he plans to visits the farms and talk with the main doers the farmers so as to understand their pain points. Further to ensure government participation in industrial development which is our other major goal he plans to invite Mr. Prabhu Vasava, Member of Parliament as the chief guest in the interactive sessions.

Mr. Ameet Shah, Local Mentor of Surat

Hence, our hearts gleam with pride on seeing the mentors work day and night earnestly and we feel that the day is not far that the beautiful saplings of innovation, hard work and potential will arise from the soil of India.

The fourth estate - Press and Media

"The existence of a free, independent and powerful media is the cornerstone of a democracy, especially of a highly mixed society like India. The pivotal role of the media is its ability to mobilize the thinking process of millions. Technically a democracy stands on the pillars of judiciary, executive and legislature. But with the rise of the press and its power to reach every nook and corner of the state it can also be considered as the fourth pillar of a democracy" - Prabhat Ranjan and Sindhuja Kashyap

As we traverse around the nook and corner of the country, in our journey of Mentor on Road the press and media community have been our constant companion throughout. They have supported our endeavour from the very beginning and have provided us support across all cities. So, we would like to  express our heartfelt gratitude  towards all of them and wish for similar support in the other cities as well in the days to come.

Coverage of Mentor on Road by ZEE 24 TAAS

Because pictures speak louder than words!!!!!

"Life is a journey with problems to solve, lessons to learn but most of all experience to enjoy"

The Journey of Mentor on Road so far.........

     Ready, get, set, go..........So here we begin.......

  
The scintillating journey of Surat- the diamond capital of the world and the textile capital of India. 

Economic development, love for nature and growth ........ three words for Vapi

Tryst at the holy city of Nasik

  Youth of the nation @ Thane

  An enlightening session @ Oxford of the East- Pune

Journey@ the sugar bowl of India- Belgaum

Serious work and a brush with revelry @ Panaji

 Pitstop@ the port city of India- Mangalore 

And we reach God's own country- Kerala
Mentoring stint @ Calicut- The city of Spices

 Rendezvous with innovation @ Kochi- The Queen of the Arabian Sea

  A journey of the city of temples @ Madurai

A stint in the entrepreneurial city of Coimbatore 

                Thus, as our tired body craves for rest our minds reverberates with the lines

"Lives of great men all remind us 

        We can make our lives sublime, 

    And, departing, leave behind us 

        Footprints on the sands of time ;

    Footprints, that perhaps another, 

        Sailing o'er life's solemn main, 

    A forlorn and shipwrecked brother, 

        Seeing, shall take heart again. 

                                         - A Psalm of Life (Henry Longfellow)

Hence, this fills our heart with a new vigour and we continue our journey forward.....

The journey of Coimbatore

The lush green grasses moved about swiftly as the fresh cold winds softly touched it by. The large windmills moved about round and forth with its momentum increasing along with the passing of the cold breeze. The air emanated a freshness which made our spirits anew. Thus with a renewed vigour we entered the city of Coimbatore. The two days at Coimbatore was indeed power packed in concurrence with the entrepreneurial zest of Coimbatore.

The first stint at Coimbatore began  at Indian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Coimbatore. This interactive session saw the active participation of all and it was heartening to see many a young people among the participants. While our major deliberations were in the area of international market access and innovative approaches to Make in India many an interesting questions were asked and answered.As Coimbatore is emerging as a major manufacturing hub to give further impetus to this and to ensure that it outreaches to a greater audience Mentor on Road suggested that these companies should open offices overseas. These offices can then operate mainly for marketing purposes which will provide it a global access. The opportunities present today in the online sphere and the ways one can harness and leverage it for one's advantage were also discussed.

The next destination for us was the Gujarati Samaj of Coimbatore. The air of the room had a certain air of enthusiasm and bubbling energy level as there were a lot of youngsters among the participants. There were many an inspiring stories here like we had young boy of 17 who at the age of 14 had started an online grocery store and today his venture had become very successful. With this story we inspired many other youngsters who were about to take the reins of their family business as to how they could take their businesses online and leverage the benefits that it offers. “Reside in any part of the country or world but make sure to know perfectly your mother language” was a message that Mentor on Road gave the youngsters present there.

Post this interactive session our next pitstop was a session with the members of Business Network India (BNI) Coimbatore and Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Ladies Organisation ( FICCI FLO). “The empowered women is powerful beyond measure and beautiful beyond description” this was vibe that was felt in the room as we interacted with women entrepreneurs who all had a passion which was almost contagious. The session saw a active Q&A session where many a pertinent questions were raised and answered. The importance of going online to upscale ones business was again highlighted here.

As the sky turned a crimson red heralding the end of the day,Mentor on Road continued their journey as we next moved to meet the members of Entrepreneurs organisation  (EO). EO is an elite organization which invites entrepreneurs whose business turnover is more than 100 crores. Further when we learnt that it was after a long time that all 25 members of EO, Coimbatore were present together to attend a session we were very humbled by the kind gesture.  The spirit of the room was truly one of enthusiasm and passion which seemed to reverberate from the souls of these entrepreneurs. The spirit of innovation which is a must for India to carve a niche, was rampant in the conference room for example imagine a scenario you enter an educational institution and you don’t know which way the office is. You look around, but there is not a soul to be seen. As you sweat under the sun and open your mobile phone to check GPS, SNAP!!! your mobile battery is dead. Argh!!! a nasty situation ain’t it, but then there is a robot staring at you in the entrance. You come near it and ask him the way to the office and it replies back to you in its robotic voice the complete direction. Now how cool is that. Now why am i telling you this story, well we met such a entrepreneur who has been importing robots from France. These robots are used in hotels, educational institutions, hospitals etc. Now, seeing the lucrative business this offers he is now planning to start manufacturing some components which is required for manufacturing these robots. As the evening matured many such interesting tales and business opportunities were discussed and heard.

The Robots

Thus, with this our journey at Coimbatore came to an end. Coimbatore taught us many lessons, the spirit of innovation and vast business opportunities present today being some of them. Thus with this learnings and dissemination of knowledge Mentor on Road carried the journey forward.   

Meet at Athens of the East - Madurai

As the sound of the temple bells resonated in the air from the midst of Madurai, the holy Meenakshi temple it woke us up from our siesta and reminded us of the eventful day ahead. Thus sipping the hot cup of filter coffee we made our way towards our first destination Sourashtra Chamber of Commerce. Madurai saw the migration of a large number of people from Gujarat particularly from Saurashtra region way back in 16th century. From that time onwards they have build a strong foothold for themselves in the business ecosystem of Madurai.  In the interactive session we learnt that the majority of them were involved in trading so we suggested to them that to further their business they should get into manufacturing of products that they trade. This suggestion seemed to get the consensus of all present. We further learnt that they are organising Sourashtra Industry and Trade Conference ( SITCON ) 2015 where they will be organising conferences and seminars and meeting with entrepreneurs, ministers etc. So we promised to give them support in this and get participation from other countries as well. On the same grounds we suggested them that they should conduct Vibrant Madurai next year and we would provide them unending support in this. Thus, the meet here was extremely fruitful and it charged us with energy to continue our journey forward

Our next stop was the meet organised by Madurai District Tiny and Small Scale Industries Association (MADISTA) and Nativelead Foundation which is an incubation center for budding entrepreneurs.  The main topic for discussion was International Market Access and Innovative Approaches to Make in India. The meet had an air of innovation as many an innovative ideas were discussed. We all have heard about organic vegetables, pulses but have we heard about ORGANIC EGGS!! Nativelead had successfully incubated this company by the name Happy Hens which was started by Mr Ashok Kannan, the founder & Manjunath in a one acre land at Kottampatti Village near Madurai. They have kept hens whom they feed natural feed so the eggs are of a good quality. These eggs are today sold in tier I cities and they retail at a premium price. Hearing such success stories made us inspired and gave us hope for a glistening future which our country has in the near future in the hands of such budding entrepreneurs.

The last pit stop for us was Shree Madura Gujarati Samaj. Here as the interactive session proceeded we learnt that the majority of Gujaratis staying in Madurai were involved in trading. Thus, we suggested them that they should get involved in manufacturing as well. Further as we know today the majority of ecommerce sites use the technology and software of India thus we suggested them that we should leverage this potential that India offers and most of us should take our business online.

Thus, as the evening prayers reverberated in the air, with much hopes and a dream for a better tomorrow we proceeded to Coimbatore - Manchester of South India.

Coimbatore- Manchester of South India

The Western Ghats mountain range stands like a crown on its head, as the Noyyal rivers flows past it swiftly, the cool wind passes through the Palghat gap and brings an air of coolness all around. The birds chirp  out loud as the loud noise of the sloth bear emerges from the deep green forest. The air here exudes with a freshness that touches one's soul. Such is the city of Coimbatore in the state of Tamil Nadu.

Coimbatore is the second largest city in Tamil Nadu after Chennai and is also known as Kovai. Coimbatore boasts of a pleasant climate majorly because of the thick green forest cover in it. The forest of Coimbatore are abound in sandalwood, bamboo and rosewood and also have a huge fauna present in many of its wildlife reserves.Like the sweet sound of the birds, music is lies in the soul of Coimbatore as a music festival is held every year. If one wants to enjoy the the silent sound of spirituality then Coimbatore forms the perfect place as there are  number of religious shrines present in the city. As one walks down its streets one can hear the rustling sound of oil on the pans, as a ladle of rice paste spreads on the pan, and the smell of warm hot dosa wafts in the air.Coimbatore today is fast emerging as an education hub in south India as it is home to many research institutes, universities and engineering colleges which makes it a perfect city for us to develop academic institution and industry relation.

If there is one word that Coimbatore is synonymous to that is entrepreneurship. Coimbatore has the presence of more than 25000 small and medium size enterprises present here. A majority of these companies operate in the field of engineering and manufacturing. Automotive component manufacturing is today a major part of the economy of Coimbatore as the major automobile companies source a majority of components from here. Manchester of the South India this is the title by which Coimbatore is famous all around as the textile industry is very important and has been contributing to its economy from 1920. Other than that today Coimbatore is ranked 17th in the global outsourcing cities as it is the second largest software producer in Tamil Nadu after Chennai. Today Coimbatore is on the forefront of becoming one of the most developed cities in India, as it was ranked 4th in cities for conducive climate for investment by CII and was ranked as the best emerging city in India in the 2014 annual Indian city survey by India Today.

Thus, to be a part of this growth story of one of the fastest emerging city Coimbatore, we come to this city to learn,mentor and provide encouragement to the entrepreneurial city of Coimbatore.

Madurai- The City of Temples

Basking in the banks of the river Vaigai with the labyrinthine structure of Meenakshi temple towering high stands the city of temples Madurai in the state of Tamil Nadu. It is often said that the real soul of Tamil Nadu lies here as Madurai has always been an agglomeration of many Tamil scholars and also it is the main center for tamil art, culture,dance and literature. Thoonga Nagaram or the city that never sleeps is the name by which Madurai is popular as Madurai has a very active night life. As the holy elephant decked up in glory comes out with a procession of people vehemently worshipping god the whole city seems to come alive.Madurai forms a perfect example of the diversity that our nation offers as when one takes a stroll down its streets one can hear a mix of languages like Tamil, Saurashtrian and Madurai Tamil. Today Madurai forms a glaring example of a place where there is an amalgamation of history and culture with modernity. A typical morning in Madurai involves people all suited up in their formal attire paying their homages in the many temples abound here and then proceed to the many IT parks situated here. Madurai is the perfect place where spirituality meets technology, where one can get a tryst with history and the modern times in the same plate.

Blessed by the fertile land near river Vaigai, Madurai has generally been an agrarian economy with rice paddy and cotton being the major crops. One can get an idea of the enterprising nature of the people of Madurai as many farmers here are supplementing their income by involving in various other ancillary occupations like dairy farming, poultry farming, pottery, mat weaving and carpentry. The jasmine plantation is also very popular and is today contributing to the economy of Madurai. The rubber industry is another important cluster in Madurai and many companies producing a host of rubber products like tyres, mats, automobile rubber components are present here like TVS Srichakra, Sundaram Industries, Fenner India, Hi-Tech Arai Ltd and Lanxess India. The TVS Group which is one of the biggest motorcycle manufacturer is also based here. The presence of these stalwarts of organisation has further build a base for many small companies producing ancillary products to come up which has boasted the economy of Madurai greatly. Today Madurai is fast evolving as a second tier Information Technology hub and many IT Special Economic Zones are being set up here. The other facet of Madurai that is making its business ecosystem very fertile is the growing number of Small Scale Industries.  

Thus, with an aim to enthuse, mentor and learn we next come to the city that never sleeps Madurai!!!!

Visit to Kochi- The Queen of the Arabian Sea

As we moved from the picturesque beauty of Calicut, with the rain playing hide seek and the mystical green hills standing around us like a crown our hearts danced with glee as we looked forward to the journey ahead. The huge expanse of water swirling and twirling with the wind and roaring out loud was a constant companion in our journey. As the rain god unleashed their fury the fragrance of the wet mud filled the air and as the grounds got inundated with water the children continued to play football with a fervour new found. As John Ruskin once said “ Nature is painting for us, day after day, pictures of infinite beauty” the journey from Calicut to Kochi seemed a short one as we were enamored by the beautiful sites of the beaches and nature at it's best that greeted our eyes.

Our first destination in Kochi was Central Institute of Fisheries Technology ( CIFT ) at Willingdon Island in kochi. CIFT is an autonomous organization which is working in the domain of fish and fish processing technology.Here we met Dr. Ravishankar CN the director of CIFT and many scientist including senior scientist Dr. George Ninan. In the interactive session we learnt that CIFT has been working earnestly to develop fishing technologies that are environmentally friendly. Another domain in which they are working is in the field of value addition. Dr. Ravishankar informed us that today many young fishermen were approaching them to develop technologies that can add value to the entire process and help them in improving their financial condition further. Hence, the researchers and scientist are working earnestly towards this and are trying to connect these technologies to the larger audience of fishermen. Further to cater to other domains like freeze drying and food processing they have started Zonal Technology Management Center and Business Planning and Development Unit. Here they have incubated many companies some of which are success stories like Baigai Marine Food, Accelerated Freeze Drying Company, green allies organic and many others. Post this interactive session we informed them regarding the advantages of international trade and how these incubatee companies could derive benefit by harnessing the huge potential that global markets offer.

Thus, pleased to see the technological innovation at CIFT which has the potential to truly carve a niche for India in the world map we next headed to Startup Village located at Kinfra Hi-Tech Park. With the goal “ If you have an idea, we will help you to realize it” Startup village is providing incubation for many business technology startups.  It is funded by public private partnership with Mr. Kris Gopalakrishnan the co-founder of Infosys as the chief mentor. Here we had a rendezvous with many incubatee companies. There was an air of passion and zeal in the air as we met young bloods with a passion to achieve something great. For example we meet a young individual Rahul who had established Reditech who had developed a hospital tracking system. The Startup Village also has many success stories like there was a young individual of 24 years who had started a venture by which one can use bluetooth to turn on and  off the air conditioning and television channels. This company was recently acquired by a German Company for 2 million US dollars. Inspite of many such stories the chief problem that they highlighted was that though they have  developed many  technologies they lack the infrastructure to test these technologies so need for pilot project was the need of the hour.

Thus, as the clock moved about round and forth it was time for us to leave the beautiful city of Kochi. Hope, passion, dream, idea and an aspiration for a better tomorrow  would be the exact words to describe our emotions during our visit to Kochi . Thus, with our energy pumped up  to do more and work vehemently in the task we had set out about for we with renewed vigour proceeded towards the temple city Madurai.

Kochi- Queen of the Arabian Sea

As the smell of mud wet by the rains spread in the air and the grounds filled with glee as the young ones ran around playing football. As we walk down the Marina beach illuminated by the lights one realises one has reached Kochi the Queen of the Arabian Sea. Kochi lies in the state of Kerala and is sometimes referred as Ernakulam. The name Kochi signifies a small lagoon or harbour. Kochi has a rich history as it was main place for the Portuguese in India till 1530. After this when Kochi was occupied by Dutch and British it was a princely state. The amalgamation of people from around the globe from ancient times has lead to the development of many different architectural monuments that has added to the natural beauty of Kochi. The beauty of Kochi is something which is almost indescribable and this has made Kochi a very important tourist spot in India. According to a survey conducted by Nielsen for Outlooker Travellers Magazine Kochi ranks sixth in tourist destination in India. The importance of Kochi is also from a defense point of view for India as it is the state headquarters of Indian Coast Guard and Southern Naval Command.

Kochi has been an important trading center from about 14th century. The economy of Kochi is growing very fast so it is also known as the commercial capital of Kerala. Apart from the natural ecosystem of a coastline, backwaters, fresh water and a major port other factors like abundance in electricity,container trans-shipment terminal, harbor terminal and an international air terminal have contributed to the growth story of Kochi. Kochi is the only place in Kerala which has a stock exchange by the name of Cochin Trade Exchange. Kochi today is seeing investment from all quarters and the World Bank, Doing Business Group has recognised Kochi as the seventeen major industrial city of India. The main industries in Kochi are ship building, spices export, tourism, construction, manufacturing, seafood export, chemical industries etc. Today Kochi is also seeing a rise in presence of IT companies as many IT parks have come up in recent times. The electronics hardware industry is also steadily growing in Kochi as Kochi has some prominent companies like V-Guard Industries, FCI OEN Connectors and SFO Technologies having their base here.

Today Kochi is like a cheetah that is running as fast it can and to be a part of this run and encourage it to run more we come to the city of Kochi. As Kochi offers an excellent ecosystem to do business we hope to mentor budding entrepreneurs and startups so as to make them exude with an energy that will motivate them to work towards their goals more vehemently.

Pitstop @ Calicut- The city of Spices

As the dark clouds adorned the sky, with the sound of thunder resonating in the air and the rain gods played hide and seek our hearts yearned for a piping cup of hot tea. Thus, to devour on some tea with the murukku by the side we stopped at a small food kiosk of Suresh near the beach. This short halt here but had a deep learning which touched our souls. Every morning as Suresh comes to his shop, he cleans and picks up the plastics and other rags lying by the beach. He does so vehemently day in and out as he feels that this is a small thing he can do towards the society. This made us reciprocate that if all of us do our bit even a miniscule amount we can purge our society, town, city and country and make it pristine.

Thus, with this inspiration we moved forward to Calicut. The journey in the God’s own country started with a visit to a Jain Temple which was around 300 years old. The temple was made on a land gifted by a Zamorin. Many Jewish paintings adorned its walls. The peace and calmness pervaded the air here and they touched us deep such that it made us feel invigorated with a new leash of energy to continue the journey forward.

We then headed to meet the members of Gujarati Samaj of Calicut. Here we had a interactive discussions on a range of topics like Make in India, regional linguistics, international trade and others. What was heartening to see here was that the Gujarati Samaj here were doing their bit for the society. They have build a huge school equipped with the latest facilities where many students from around the community mostly Malayali children study. They have also build a huge auditorium where they organise regular programms like awards shows and others to keep the community connected.

The School and Auditorium built by Gujarati Samaj, Calicut

Thus, as the clock continued to move around it was time for us to bid adieu to the city of Calicut as we next headed to Kochi the Queen of the Arabian Sea.