The Human(e) Story Smita Pranav Kothari

What makes an IIT/IIM grad to quit his high-paying job at IBM to foray into setting up an unconventional school? Clearly not logic. But neurologists have found that we don't make our decisions by logic. We make decisions in the emotional epicenter of the brain called amygdala! That explains why Sridhar Rajagopalan, Co-founder of Educational Initiatives, not only undertook the serendipitous experiment three decades ago but has been focused since then on helping children everywhere learn with understanding!

Listen to Sridhar's Humane Story and let me know if you also feel that his life/work is like concentric circles:)

Here's yet another story that proves that we humans are creatures of emotion over logic. Why else would a young engineer working at an MNC leave her lucrative job and rough it out in the social-impact sector to seek joy that money can't buy. Our changemaker in this episode not only found her joy on the service path, she was instrumental in developing the happiness curriculum for millions of children in five states of India. Suchetha Bhat, CEO of Dream a Dream, shares about the need for instilling life-skills in youngsters from vulnerable communities in order for them to thrive tomorrow, a failure story from yesterday that defines the approach in her work today and more...

This dialogue recorded at World Economic Forum 2022 in Davos which focused on climate change as one of the key themes, makes the connection between climate change and poverty. Sheela Patel of SPARC candidly shares about:

1. The effect of climate change on migration to urban areas 

2. Letting a movement brew vs interfering for instant outcomes in order for the impact to be sustainable

3. Being a long distance runner as opposed to a sprinter

Plus more...

This conversation recorded on the sidelines of World Economic Forum 2022 in Davos, could not have more in common with the theme of the conference: sustainability. One of my revelations from this chat is that one may be engaged in any mainstream work using one's hands and head, but add the community service to the mix: that's when the heart comes in!

In the fifth episode of The Human(e) Story podcast, Anant Arora --Chief Sustainability and Communication Officer at Akshaya Patra-- shares his life story, the ear-marked pages in that book as well as the underlines and between the lines.

In one of the previous episodes of this podcast, we met Anshu Gupta of Goonj whose story in the social-impact space started with kapda. In this episode, Anant strives towards the goal of Zero Hunger by ensuring food security for 18 lakh children everyday. The basic need for roti is the motivator and enabler for millions of students of our country to come to their public school and pursue their education. Who knew that food is the way to children's futures!

Listen to the episode for some soulful food for thought...

If there's one word that encapsulates Mahesh's story, it's 'energy'! Energy is very palpable when one is around Mahesh and coincidentally that's the space in the corporate world where he started his social intrapreneurship. Mahesh is now powering journeys of many social entrepreneurs as country director at Acumen. Let's hear from him about the sugary story from the field that's etched deeply in his heart, about how one can make a difference to communities-in-need while being on the job, and about his privilege of indirectly serving the under-privileged.