Day 39 of Mentor on Road, USA

“All the powers in the universe are already ours. It is we who have put our hands before our eyes and cry that it is dark.”

-Swami Vivekananda

Day 39 of Mentor on Road, USA started with a drive from Los Angeles to San Francisco. The drive was quite pleasant and we crossed through beautiful and picturesque views along our journey.

San Francisco officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the cultural, commercial, and financial center of Northern California. It is the fourth-most populous city in California, and the 13th-most populous in the United States, with a 2016 census-estimated population of 870,887.

San Francisco has several nicknames, including "The City by the Bay", "Golden Gate City", "Frisco", "SF", "San Fran", "Fog City", and as well as older ones like "The City that Knows How", "Baghdad by the Bay", "The Paris of the West", or simply "The City". As of 2017, San Francisco is ranked high on world liveability rankings.

San Francisco has a diversified service economy, with employment spread across a wide range of professional services, including financial services, tourism, and (increasingly) high technology.

The legacy of the California Gold Rush turned San Francisco into the principal banking and finance center of the West Coast in the early twentieth century. Montgomery Street in the Financial District became known as the "Wall Street of the West", home to the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, the Wells Fargo corporate headquarters, and the site of the now-defunct Pacific Coast Stock Exchange. Bank of America, a pioneer in making banking services accessible to the middle class, was founded in San Francisco and in the 1960s, built the landmark modern skyscraper at 555 California Street for its corporate headquarters.

Many large financial institutions, multinational banks, and venture capital firms are based in or have regional headquarters in the city. With over 30 international financial institutions, six Fortune 500 companies, and a large support infrastructure of professional services—including law, public relations, architecture and design—San Francisco is designated as an Alpha(-) World City. The 2017 Global Financial Centres Index ranked San Francisco as the sixth most competitive financial center in the world.

The top employer in the city is the city government itself, employing 5.3% (25,000+ people) of the city's population, followed by UCSF (University of California, San Francisco) with over 22,000 employees. Third—at 1.8% (8,500+ people)—is California Pacific Medical Center, the largest private-sector employer.

The city's largest manufacturing employer is Anchor Brewing Company, and the largest by revenue is Timbuk2.

It was a foggy yet beautiful day in San Francisco. After reaching to the city, Mentor on Road headed to an event with Indian American community in San Francisco where we shared details about the developments in New India 3.0 and also presented about the smart village program and how Indian diaspora can contribute to it. Many good suggestions came up which Mentor on Road will incorporate soon in their approach.

We were glad to note that several participants agreed to adopt their villages. Working on so many projects simultaneously is going to be a challenging task but Mentor on Road is always ready to accept them. We would soon start working on the same and keep our readers updated.                   
                    

Heartfelt thanks to Silicon Valley Indian Professionals Association – SIPA and TechCode for arranging such a wonderful interaction with a house full of enthusiastic participants. We have received great support for which we would forever be thankful. 

Silicon Valley Indian Professionals Association (SIPA) is dedicated to creating value for its members through programs that foster professional growth and personal enrichment. It brings together over 5,000 of Silicon Valley corporate leaders, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, as well as technology and business professionals, representing almost every major company in the area. SIPA reaches over 30,000 professionals indirectly through strategic alliances with organizations and corporations.

SIPA was founded in 1987 as a non-profit organization for Indian professionals. Since then, SIPA’s membership has expanded significantly, and it now welcomes all professionals seeking to connect, learn and grow.

TechCode is committed to breaking down geographic barriers and eliminating potential inequalities of international cooperation. It has established incubation systems in Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, Gu'an, Silicon Valley, Seoul, Tel Aviv, and Berlin to provide innovators with a global support network aimed at efficient sharing of resources and access to essential value-added services.

At each stage of development, TechCode’s networked incubation system integrates key innovative elements from around the world. By combining global vision with local insight, TechCode enables entrepreneurs to develop together with governments, economic organizations and R&D institutions for a win-win situation.

Mentor on Road feels blessed to have come so far successfully. It is because of the tremendous support and love people from different cities shower on us that give us the strength to work on all the projects dynamically.

Looking forward to a constructive day tomorrow.

Jai Ho! (Let victory be yours)

Day 38 of Mentor on Road, USA

“Have faith in yourselves, and stand up on that faith and be strong; that is what we need.”

- Swami Vivekananda

Day 38 of Mentor on Road, USA started with a brilliant interaction with the American companies at Economic Development Corporation, Los Angeles arranged by USCS (United States Commercial Services) office in Los Angeles.

Los Angeles County Economic Development Corporation (LAEDC) was founded in 1981 as a non-profit, public-benefit organization to harness the power of private sector in collaboration with L.A. County, to guide economic development and create more widely shared prosperity. LAEDC collaborates with all stakeholders in the region including education, business, and government.

The LAEDC believes in the Triple Bottom Line: economic strength, environmental sustainability and shared equity and prosperity.  In support of the Triple Bottom Line, LAEDC is a partner in the California Stewardship Network.

In the vision of LAEDC, the future, where innovation drives growth, the machine can be seen as an extension, not a threat. Up-skilling their workforce is key. LAEDC is truly a catalyst, fostering connections with the institutions, policy-makers, employers and community leaders that can lead back into a hopeful future. Through strategic intervention, hope is regained.

Mentor on Road presented and discussed opportunities in sectors like healthcare, infrastructure, financing, ecommerce, hospitality, heavy material handling equipment and pharmaceuticals.

While conducting the session we came across the fact that a lot of American companies have a misconception towards India and were not much aware about the developments that are taking place in India. However, after the discussion, Mentor on Road was glad to clear all their doubts and conclude on the note that India has come a long way economically, to which everybody agreed after witnessing the real facts and data that we presented.

Overall, the session was highly interactive. Sincere and relevant questions were raised by the audience and Mentor on Road was happy to answer all of them successfully. One thing Mentor on Road, as an organization, stands by is to make sure that the companies who invest their time and attend the event, walk out with complete satisfaction and happiness. Apart from considering it as a responsibility, Mentor on Road always enjoys answering the questions raised by the companies.                         

Following to this, Mentor on Road headed towards a meeting with Women in Technology International (WITI) in Los Angeles. 

WITI started in 1989 as The International Network of Women in Technology and, in 2001, evolved into The WITI Professional Association, the world's leading trade association for tech-savvy women. Today, WITI is the premier global organization empowering women in business and technology to achieve unimagined possibilities.

With a global network of smart, talented women and a market reach exceeding 2 million, WITI has powerful programs and partnerships that provide connections, resources, opportunities and a supportive environment of women committed to helping each other. Along with its professional association of Networks throughout the U.S. and worldwide, including Hong Kong, Great Britain, Australia, and Mexico, WITI delivers value for individuals that work for a company, the government or academia, as well as small business owners.

WITI products and services include: Networking, WITI Marketplace, Career Services/Search, National Conferences and Regional Events, Publications and Resources, Small Business Programs, Research, Bulletin Boards and more.

We discussed about the participation of women in the economy and the issues and challenges regarding it. 

They have 150,000 women members globally. We would soon be working with them and connecting them to the companies in Bangalore in December 2017. Their commitment and passion towards management and leadership is commendable. Mentor on Road was glad to have met such a wonderful team. 

                                       

Mentor on Road talked about the UN Women missions of "Planet 50-50 by 2030" and "HeforShe" initiative. It was greatly appreciated by the crowd. 

Also, met American women owned businesses and we would soon start working with them and connect them to Indian women owned businesses. More power to women empowerment.

Looking forward to an eventful journey ahead.

Jai Ho! (Let victory be yours)

Day 37 of Mentor on Road, USA

“We reap what we sow; we are the makers of our own fate. None else has the blame, none has the praise.”
-Swami Vivekananda

Today on day 37, Mentor on Road is on its way to the second most populous city in the United States (after New York City) and the most populous city in the state of California, Los Angeles. The drive from San Diego to Los Angeles was quite pleasant and scenic. 

In the evening, Mentor on Road headed to an excellent interaction arranged by the President Virendrabhai Shah and Nitinbhai Shah at Jain Centre, Los Angeles. Wholehearted thanks to Jaswantbhai Modi for letting us his support for the event. We were delighted to note that prominent personalities of Los Angeles were present in the event. 

The Jain Center of Southern California (JCSC) located in Buena Park, California is a non-profit religious organization to pursue a goal of practicing, promoting and preserving the Jain religion. It is governed by a constitution and managed by Board of Directors and an Executive Committee consisting of President, Vice President, Secretary, Treasurer, Public Relations, and ten Directors, who are elected by the Jain Center members for a term of two years.

Various events and on-going activities are planned and organized by a number of sub-groups including Mahavir Mandal, Jain Center Youth Council (JCYC), Jain Association of Young Adults (JAYA), and Jain Seniors Association. During the year many dignitaries from India and other parts of the world visit this center and hold lectures and discourses in Jainism.

Mentor on Road presented about the positive and innovative developments of New India 3.0. Also, we talked about the approach to adopt smart villages. The session was fairly interesting as remarkable, quality and relevant questions were raised by the audience to which Mentor on Road was successfully able to answer.
                    

Amratbhai and Pranavbhai shared about their brilliant work in India. It was highly inspiring to listen to their stories.

Mentor on Road is happy to announce that within a time frame of 24 hours, four villages have been adopted through emails received by us. We have already forwarded those details to our office headquartered in India. We will soon be working on all of them and we will keep briefing all our readers and supporters on what's happening with the project.

Thanks to all my friends for coming and attending the event - Manubhai Shah, Harsh Vasa, Ashok Madan, Ajay Shah who had come all the way from San Diego, Amrat bhai, Arvind bhai, Rajendra bhai Vora.

Final and big thanks to Dr. Nitin Shah, for trusting Mentor on Road and taking the effort of arranging an exceptional and well-organised event for us. Also, his better half, Kinnarben's support is truly appreciated.

We look forward to a productive day tomorrow.

Jai Ho! (Let victory be yours)

Day 35 and Day 36 of Mentor on Road, USA

Say, "This misery that I am suffering is of my own doing, and that very thing proves that it will have to be undone by me alone."

-Swami Vivekananda

Day 35 of Mentor on Road, USA started with a beautiful sunny day in San Diego after a delightful road drive of approximately 2 hours from Los Angeles.

San Diego is a major city in California, United States. It is in San Diego County, on the coast of the Pacific Ocean in Southern California, approximately 120 miles (190 km) south of Los Angeles and immediately adjacent to the border with Mexico.

With an estimated population of 1,406,630 as of July 1, 2016, San Diego is the eighth-largest city in the United States and second-largest in California.  It is known for its mild year-round climate, natural deep-water harbor, extensive beaches, long association with the United States Navy, and recent emergence as a healthcare and biotechnology development center.

The economy of San Diego is influenced by its deep-water port, which includes the only major submarine and shipbuilding yards on the West Coast. Several major national defence contractors were established and are headquartered in San Diego, including General Atomics, Cubic, and NASSCO.

San Diego hosts the largest naval fleet in the world and is home to 53 ships, over 120 tenant commands, and more than 35,000 sailors, soldiers, Department of Defence civilian employees and contractors. About 5 percent of all civilian jobs in the county are military-related, and 15,000 businesses in San Diego County rely on Department of Defence contracts.

San Diego's commercial port and its location on the United States–Mexico border make international trade an important factor in the city's economy. The city is authorized by the United States government to operate as a Foreign Trade Zone.

The city shares a 15-mile (24 km) border with Mexico that includes two border crossings. San Diego hosts the busiest international border crossing in the world, in the San Ysidro neighborhood at the San Ysidro Port of Entry. 

One of the Port of San Diego's two cargo facilities is located in Downtown San Diego at the Tenth Avenue Marine Terminal. This terminal has facilities for containers, bulk cargo, and refrigerated and frozen storage, so that it can handle the import and export of many commodities.

Tourism is a major industry owing to the city's climate, beaches, and tourist attractions such as Balboa Park, Belmont amusement park, San Diego Zoo, San Diego Zoo Safari Park, and Sea-World San Diego. San Diego's Spanish and Mexican heritage is reflected in many historic sites across the city, such as Mission San Diego de Alcala and Old Town San Diego State Historic Park.

Also, the local craft brewing industry attracts an increasing number of visitors for "beer tours" and the annual San Diego Beer Week in November, San Diego has been called "America's Craft Beer Capital."

Following are the top employers of the San Diego:

• United States Navy 
• University of California, San Diego 
• Sharp HealthCare 
• San Diego County 
• Qualcomm 
• San Diego Unified School District 
• City of San Diego 
• Dexcom 
• Kaiser Permanente 
• Scripps Health

In the evening, Mentor on Road headed towards an interaction with a group of motivated Indian diaspora at a picturesque home in San Diego. The session was immensely interactive and we came across a lot of keen participation with thought provoking issues being discussed.

Many new projects were initiated, one of them included shipping of high cost medicines from the USA to India which are not manufactured in India and are meant for rare diseases, for the poor and needy.

Also, Mentor on Road would be supporting another on-going project which is about promoting women cab drivers in India. Mentor on Road is glad to be working on such notable steps towards women empowerment in India.

After which, Mentor on Road shared the concept of smart villages. Several members from the group had decided to adopt their villages on which we would soon start working. Mentor on Road is truly thankful to San Diego for providing us with such great opportunity and support towards completing our mission of developing our mother land, India.
        

The next day, Mentor on Road headed towards a wonderful meeting with a software company in San Diego. We would soon be working with them on increasing solar power optimization through storage management in India.                                      

There is a saying by Napoleon Hill, “The starting point of all achievement is desire.” Concluding on this point, Mentor on Road feels blessed to have received such a great response just at the beginning of our leg 2 journey. It is truly because of the desire and hard-work that has enabled us to reach so far successfully.

Hope the journey ahead stays as exciting and fruitful as it has been till now.

Jai Ho! (Let victory be yours)

Day 34 of Mentor on Road, USA

“When an idea exclusively occupies the mind, it is transformed into an actual physical or mental state.”

-Swami Vivekananda

Mentor on Road, USA is all set to start its journey of leg 2, road drive. The journey of leg 1 had been full of pleasant memories and successful meetings with start-ups, corporates, small and medium enterprises, women business empowerment institutions and Indian-American diaspora.

Mentor on Road is excited to continue this journey of meeting new people with the goal of bringing both the nations together, India and the USA, with full rigour and enthusiasm. 

We started driving on 4^th June from Boston and passed through states of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland, Washington DC, Virginia, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona and California. Driven 6305 kilometers / 3856 miles till now and will drive 15,450 kilometers / 9602 miles in total. We have now entered the 21^st state of the road drive – California.

Today is the 34^th day of our journey (including the days of leg 1). The first stop for the leg-2 drive is at Los Angeles.

Los Angeles, officially the City of Los Angeles and often known by its initials L.A., is the cultural, financial, and commercial center of Southern California. With a U.S. Census-estimated 2016 population of 3,976,322, it is the most populous city in the state of California. 

Nicknamed the "City of Angels" in part because of how its name translates from the Spanish, Los Angeles is known for its Mediterranean climate, ethnic diversity, and sprawling metropolis. Los Angeles is also famous as the home of Hollywood, a major center of the world entertainment industry. A global city, it has been ranked 6th in the Global Cities Index and 9th in the Global Economic Power Index.

The economy of Los Angeles is driven by international trade, entertainment (television, motion pictures, video games, music recording, and production), aerospace, technology, petroleum, fashion, apparel, and tourism. Other significant industries include finance, telecommunications, law, healthcare, and transportation.

In the 2017 Global Financial Centres Index, Los Angeles is ranked as having the 19th most competitive financial center in the world, and sixth most competitive in United States (after New York City, San Francisco, Chicago, Boston, and Washington, D.C.)

Los Angeles is the largest manufacturing center in the western United States. The contiguous ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach together comprise the fifth-busiest port in the world and the most significant port in the Western Hemisphere and is vital to trade within the Pacific Rim.

The city is home to the following companies in the Fortune 500:

• Occidental Petroleum Corporation
• Health Net, Inc.
• Reliance Steel and Aluminum Co.
• AECOM Technology Corporation
• Oaktree Capital Group, LLC
• CBRE Group, Inc.

Los Angeles is often billed as the "Creative Capital of the World", because one in every six of its residents works in a creative industry and there are more artists, writers, filmmakers, actors, dancers and musicians living and working in Los Angeles than any other city at any time in history.

The performing arts play a major role in Los Angeles' cultural identity. According to the USC Stevens Institute for Innovation, "there are more than 1,100 annual theatrical productions and 21 openings every week. The Los Angeles Music Center is "one of the three largest performing arts centers in the nation", with more than 1.3 million visitors per year.

Since we did not have any events or meetings to attend on the first day of our leg 2, we decided to explore the beautiful city. We took a walk in the streets of Los Angeles. There is no great fun in reaching the destination quickly without challenges, real fun is when you walk the journey and there is pain in your legs.

We also went to the Santa Monica State Beach in the evening where we enjoyed some beautiful family time together. Santa Monica State Beach is a California State Park operated by the city of Santa Monica.

The beach is located along Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica. It is 3.5 miles long and has parks, picnic areas, playgrounds, restrooms, as well as manned lifeguard stations, the original Muscle Beach, bike rentals, concessions, a few hotels, a bike path, and wooden pathways for warm days and beach-goers with disabilities. Visitor activities include volleyball, surfing, stand up paddle-boarding, and swimming.

                               

          

Tomorrow, Mentor on Road would be heading towards San Diego, to continue the interactions with the American companies and Indian diaspora.

Hoping for an eventful journey ahead.

Jai Ho! (Let victory be yours)