Day 5 of Mentor on Road, USA

"Take up one idea. Make that one idea your life - think of it, dream of it, live on that idea. Let the brain, muscles, nerves, every part of your body, be full of that idea, and just leave every other idea alone. This is the way to success."

-Swami Vivekananda

Day 5 of #MentoronRoad started with a few one to one meetings with American companies on smart cities, healthcare and education sectors. Some meaningful and innovative steps were decided to be initiated ahead. 

We had an open interaction with the media on New India 3.0. The media was surprised and were happy to note the positive changes.

Then Mentor on Road, USA had an evening interaction with Indian Diaspora in Edison which was a wonderful event organized with great efforts by OHMKARA, USINPAC, IT connect and Asian Indian Chamber of Commerce. There were 60 participants and I presented the details on New India 3.0.

USINPAC (United States India Political Action Committee) is the voice of over 3.2 million Indian Americans and works on issues that concern the community. It supports candidates for local, state and federal office and encourages political participation by the Indian American community. USINPAC’s primary role is to serve as a resource for Indian Americans visiting Capitol Hill and a variety of Federal Agencies in addition to serving as a resource for lawmakers and their staff.

The Asian Indian Chamber is committed to working with its members to create a positive business environment and bringing our members together to help them recognize, create and act on business opportunities.

I was deeply honoured with the presence of Retired General Dalbir Singh Suhag, Chief of Army Staff of India, who held Army Chief Office for nearly two and a half years, in the program. He had served the Indian Army for 43 years and is succeeded by Lt. General Bipin Rawat who took charge from him at a ceremony held at South Lawn Parks, New Delhi. I saluted him for his positive contribution to India's safety and protection. Our armed forced are truly one of the best in the world.

15 individuals adopted their villages to convert it into a Smart Village. This seemed to be quite a remarkable response to us. We will immediately start working on all of them and report the progress eventually.

After this thought-provoking Q&A session, I was happy to notice that most of the participants felt proud of the New India 3.0 led by our respectable Prime Minister Mr. Narendra Modi.

Then we went with our family friends, Mr. Sunil and Mrs. Rupal Patel for a frozen yogurt ice-cream at late night and enjoyed the ambience.

After a long tiring day we headed to our hotel to take some rest, dreaming about my “sone ki chidiya”- Incredible India.

Jai Ho! (Let victory be yours)

Day 4 of Mentor on Road, USA

The will is not free - it is a phenomenon bound by cause and effect - but there is something behind the will which is free.

-Swami Vivekananda

Day 4 of #mentoronroadusa started with the usual morning chores. We had a detailed interaction with Women Centre for Entrepreneurship Corporation supported by SBA (Small Business Administration). The Small Business Administration (SBA) is a United States government agency that provides support to entrepreneurs and small businesses. The core aim of SBA is to maintain and strengthen the US economy by enabling the establishment and viability of small businesses and by assisting in the economic recovery of communities after disasters. 

I shared the developments taking place in India on women empowerment such as the only women industrial park, Stand Up India etc.

Also, I shared the details of UN Women programs of Heforshe, Planet 50-50 by 2030 and the orange day program. 

UN Women is a United Nations entity working for the empowerment of women. The organization is governed by a multi-tiered intergovernmental governance structure in charge of providing normative and operational policy guidance for the betterment of women and girls globally.

HeForShe is a solidarity campaign for the advancement of women initiated by UN Women. Its goal is to engage men and boys as agents of change by encouraging them to take action against negative inequalities faced by women and girls. Grounded in the idea that gender equality is an issue that affects all people socially, economically and politically it seeks to actively involve men and boys in a movement that was originally conceived as "a struggle for women by women".

UN's "Planet 50-50 by 2030: Step It Up for Gender Equality" asks governments to make national commitments to address the challenges that are holding women and girls back from reaching their full potential. 

The 25th of every month has been designated as “Orange Day” by the UN Secretary-General’s campaign UNiTE to End Violence against Women, to raise awareness and take action to end violence against women and girls. As a bright and optimistic colour, orange represents a future free from violence against women and girls for the UNiTE campaign.

We learnt about workforce issues of American women. The reasons behind the high involvement of women in the US workforce are:

1.   Higher ratio of educated women

2.   High standards of living compelling both husband and wife to work

3.   Higher divorce rates in the last 30 years across US has driven women to work in order to sustain their families

American women have been striving to maintain a safe work environment, security in the city, suitable maternity leave rules, child care centers etc.

The flip side for women in US is the existing imbalance of pay across the work place. Also, the top political post of  US, the position of President, has been alluding a woman to be at the post. Whereas in India we had a woman Prime Minister, Indira Gandhi, way back in 1971.

We decided to connect the members of Women Centre for Entrepreneurship Corporation of SBA to businesses in India and also to invite them to the planned Indo-US business women conference in India.

Then we had the day off and had light lunch at The Cheesecake Factory. Mr. David M. Overton, the company's founder, opened the first Cheesecake Factory restaurant in Beverly Hills, California, in 1978. The restaurant established the future chain's pattern of featuring an eclectic menu, large portions, and signature cheesecakes.

Then we proceeded to the Thomas Edison Museum where the history of the most prolific inventor of the world so far was displayed and, a tower in his memory has the bulb on too. Edison has 1200 patents in his name including the phonograph and the commercially viable bulb. Edison lived an amazing life in those times.

The World's Largest Light Bulb atop the Thomas Alva Edison Memorial Tower, Menlo Park, Edison, New Jersey - this light bulb was built in 1937, it's 13 feet tall, weighs eight tonnes, and is illuminated at night.

Then we proceeded to the Akshardham temple in New Jersey for a holy business meet with two humble souls. The Swaminarayan Akshardham temple in Robbinsville, New Jersey, U.S. is a spiritual-cultural complex. Future plans for the complex include the Swaminarayan Akshardham Mahamandir and a visitor’s center, which will house an exhibition on Indian history and culture.

Finally, we are on our way back to our hotel to take some rest. I would be preparing for tomorrow’s meetings that would take place in New Jersey. 

Jai Ho! (Let victory be yours)

Day 3 Mentor on Road, USA

"All differences in this world are of degree, and not of kind, because oneness is the secret of everything."

- Swami Vivekanand

Day 3 of #mentoronroadusa started with the daily morning errands. We left early for New York since we had to attend a meeting with 1776 - the start up co-working space based in Brooklyn. 1776 as an international start-ups incubator was started in 2013 in partnership with several established organizations including Comcast, Microsoft and the District of Columbia which serve as 'Founding Partners'. In 2015, 1776 closed its first seed fund at $12.5 million.

Since its founding, more than 700 companies have gone through 17776’s incubator program which includes startups across the fields of healthcare, transportation, energy, education, and smart cities.

MoR USA’s session with the startups of 1776 was fairly interactive. I presented on a few topics such as product and service validation, valuation, innovative ways to source funds, start up team building, pricing strategies and market strategies for both the US and Indian markets. After a brief discussion followed by Q&A session, I could identify two start ups – a smart transportation solutions firm and a waste to energy solutions firm that seemed to have good potential. Further, we decided to connect both these companies to India to help them meet market and investment opportunities.

Then we headed to the Queens Chamber of Commerce where members from 30 companies were waiting for us. I presented on India 3.0 and opportunities which could prove to be beneficial for American companies in Digital India, Skill India, Smart Cities and Villages, Stand up India, Start up India and Clean India. I described structured parameters based on India's ease of doing business, which are eventually improving every year.

I also presented reasons behind reduction in corruption levels across India as monitored frequently by Transparency International India (TII) which is a leading non political, independent, non-governmental anti-corruption. TII has extensive expertise and understanding of issues of corruption in India.

TII is part of Transparency International, an international non-governmental organization which is based in Berlin, Germany, and was founded in 1993. Its nonprofit purpose is to take action to combat corruption and prevent criminal activities arising from corruption. Transparency International annually publishes the Global Corruption Barometer and the Corruption Perceptions Index.

More and more standard regulations are being implemented in India. IPR (Intellectual Property Rights) protection, Bankruptcy Act etc. are opening the doors for foreign investment in India, because of which last year India rose in its ranking among the best FDI locations in the world.

Most of the participating companies were amazed with the changes taking place in India and none of them were aware about this. I felt that my mission was achieved. Had an active Q&A session which lasted about one hour and many one to one meetings were followed up. I am going to connect many of these companies who came from a diverse background such as smart city technology firms, cosmetics, apparels, telecom technology, edutech, fintech, insurance companies, accounting firms, life coaching, IT consulting, real estate brokering, designer jewellery firms  to Indian businesses. 

I was surprised to meet one of my old friends, Mr. Ali Hirji from Citibank, New York. He hosted me last year at Citibank and boosted my confidence by complimenting me for my efforts with the 18 member trade and investment delegation from U.S.- India Importer's Council (USIIC) to promote US-India trade and relationships. 

U.S.- India Importer's Council (USIIC) is a not-for-profit initiative started by a group of Indian SME (Small & Medium Enterprises) importers, who are collectively responsible for imports of over US $1 billion from the USA.

USIIC works in India and the US to promote technology transfer, joint ventures, investment, franchising and trade between the two countries. Headquartered in Mumbai, it has chapters in New Jersey, Ahmedabad and Hyderabad.

For more details, check this link http://www.usiic.in/

Finally we drove down to Iselin where we are currently staying. I would be sharing my presentation with all the participants as I have promised them. I will also prepare for tomorrow’s meeting with women owned businesses and accordingly plan my schedule ahead.

Jai Ho! (Let victory be yours)

Day 2 of Mentor on Road, USA

"You have to grow from the inside out. None can teach you, none can make you spiritual. There is no other teacher but your own soul."

Swami Vivekananda

Day 2 of ‘Mentor on Road USA’ dawned in Boston with my daily morning chores of yoga, walk, exercise and breakfast. We then immediately packed our bags and set off to our next stop, New York.

We stayed at Iselin in New Jersey so that we could cover the events of New York and New Jersey conveniently from the same point and save time.

The journey from Hartford to Iselin was pleasantly green, picturesque and delightful. We were eagerly looking forward to reaching our destination and start off with the events marked ahead. 

On our way to Iselin, we took a detour to Paterson great falls. The Great Falls of the Passaic River, as it is also referred to, is a prominent waterfall, 77 feet (23 m) high, on the Passaic River in the city of Paterson in Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. We were surrounded by beautiful greenery.  It was a soothing experience to hear the water falling from a great height and splashing beautifully with the rocks. Also, we learned that the first industrialization process of USA was started from here by Alexander Hamilton in 1778.

In 1778, Alexander Hamilton visited the falls and was impressed by its potential for the industry. Later, he selected the site of the nation's first planned industrial city, which he called a "national manufactory".

Afterwards, we decided to stop by a roadside restaurant where we enjoyed a delicious South Indian lunch. Clearly, no matter where you are in the US, the availability of Indian food nowadays is not a problem.

We then visited the BAPS Swaminarayan mandir (Temple) in New Jersey. This mandir, like all other BAPS mandirs, is the epitome of volunteerism and serves as a symbol to show the value of sacrificing one’s time and efforts towards bettering the community. We were glad to witness a masterpiece of exquisite Indian design and workmanship and to take the blessings of God. We prayed for a smooth and safe journey ahead, as it has been till now. Overall, the feeling was majestic and we could feel the positive vibes of bliss all around.

Volunteers of all ages have devoted their time and resources assisting in the construction work, cleaning up the site, preparing food for all the artisans. A total of 4.7 million man hours were required by craftsman and volunteers to complete this BAPS mandir.

After reaching the destination, I quickly updated the presentations and e-mailed the outcomes of Mentor on Road's Boston events and next steps to all stakeholders.

Finally, after a long remarkable journey, we decided to take some rest. I am looking forward to early morning presentations in New York tomorrow at the 1776 startup accelerator and at the Queens Chamber of Commerce. 

1776 is an international startup incubator based in Washington, D.C. that scouts and funds high-growth startups in the US and internationally focused on solving societal challenges in sectors like education, energy, transportation and financial services.

106 years old, Queens Chamber engages their members and others through events and seminars. In 2016, they organized over 250 paid events and complimentary seminars throughout the Borough. They have achieved a membership level of 1,125 organizations; representing over 90,000 Queens-based employees.

Jai ho (Let victory be yours)!