Prayana

LEAD Prayana 2016: A Recap!

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Wed, 30 Mar 2016 09:35:00 +0000

On 24th January, 107 promising students from across Karnataka and neighbouring states descended upon the VTU campus in Belagavi to mark the kick-off of the 5th annual LEAD Prayana. These students, along with 32 beginning their journey on the same day in Nizamabad, were selected from a pool of almost 500 applicants.

LEAD Prayana, which began in 2012 with just 63 students, is an annual leadership journey that takes almost 150 passionate students between the ages of 18-26 throughout India on a 14-day tour across Karnataka. Packed with site visits, role model sessions, and hands-on activities, LEAD Prayana inspires students by exposing them to individuals and institutions which have innovated and implemented solutions to major challenges. Through this leadership journey. LEAD aims to instill in the participants a need to bring change through effective leadership.

VTU played host to the Belagavi kick-off ceremony, where after the lighting of the ceremonial flame, students and honoured guests alike were treated to a rousing speech by Mr. H. Maheshappa, Vice Chancellor of VTU. While Mr. Maheshappa shared his six traits of a true leader, he noted that in fact, “leadership is an enigma, but we know it when we see it”. However, it was Mr. Maheshappa’s instructions to the budding student leaders and future entrepreneurs before him that garnered the most applause: “you shouldn't be job seekers… you should be making the jobs, being jobs providers!”

Mr. Naveen Jha, CEO of Deshpande Foundation and the person who dreamed up and made real the LEAD program in 2008, also shared the stage as an honoured guest. Mr. Jha shared the learnings from his years of leadership experience, and told the students that this leadership journey would “take them to the ocean”, but it was their choice if they would seize this monumental opportunity to develop their leadership skills by jumping in, or simply dip a toe. This is one reason why this program seems so unique: students must learn to take initiative and become leaders, rather than simply have opportunities handed to them.

The kick-off also featured speakers from the LEAD program and alumni of LEAD Prayana who shared their tips and stories with these eager new “Prayanees”, as they are affectionately referred to. After the students were sufficiently motivated to start their journey, a ceremonial flag-off was held. The first bus drove out of the VTU campus to applause, drums, and flags waving, the future student LEADers sticking their heads out of the bus windows, cheering with excitement for the two weeks ahead.

Second and Third Day at Agastya, Kuppam

From the moment LEAD Prayana’s 107 students landed, they were determined to make most of their two days in Kuppam, a village located at the border of Andra Pradesh and Karnataka. The day began with a welcome from Agastya Foundation’s Head of Kuppam Centre Mr. Nitin Desai. He inspired the students with Agastya’s mission to bring the Ah, Aha, and Haha into learning, and encouraged them to be both curious and creative in all they do.

During their stay, the “Prayanees” explored the on-site Discovery and Innovation Centers, planetarium, and joined an early morning eco-walk of Agastya’s 600+ plant species. They also did team building activities that gave back to the Agastya community, such as constructing a shack and seating area out of natural and upcycled materials.

An evening performance by Folk India was a highlight, with the foursome performing Karnataka folk songs to thunderous applause and enthusiastic dancing from the audience. Several student leaders also spontaneously took the stage, with Folk India accompanying them for folk songs from their regions including Uttar Pradesh, Andra Pradesh, and Kerala.

While in Kuppam, LEAD Prayana groups also conducted educational activities in four neighbouring villages, centering on the topics of Agastya, water, sanitation, and girls education. They also visited nearby village Gadapalli to join their Republic Day program, celebrating with the students of the village government school.

Closing ceremonies occurred as the sun started to set on the second day, closing as it started with the wisdom of Mr. Nitin Desai, his words prompted by the insightful questions of the budding leaders. “India needs that connectivity, the curiosity we teach at Agastya”, and the participants of Prayana couldn't have agreed more.

Fourth day at Organic Farm, Doddaballapur

From urban Bangalore to a rural organic farm, the student leaders from LEAD Prayana were exposed today to a multitude of worlds within Karnataka.

A morning reflection began on a rooftop at VTU’s new Bangalore campus as the sun rose, the students already moved by the experiences they have had and excited for the days to come. After the stay at VTU, it was only fitting to visit the birthplace of Visveshwarya on the way out of the city and into the villages.

Arriving in Doddaballapur, the student leaders are being hosted at internationally acclaimed organic farmer Mr. Narayan Reddy. The spritely 81-year-old addressed the group, sharing his passion for organic farming, the natural world, and living a simple life. Mr. Reddy reminded the budding leaders to “never compare themselves to the richest developed country, but the poorest man in the village”. Reddy is a proud farmer and proud of his simple life, even mentioning the shirt he wears for the day is over 20 years old, and his quick wit and good humour kept all the students amazed by his life and leadership story.

While in Doddaballapur, the students also participated in educating the villagers about the importance of sanitation and education. A tour of the farm and its techniques, home cooked meals made from the bounty of the farm, and finally a reflection session with Mr. Reddy rounded out the day.

Fifth Day at S-Vyasa and Jain University, Bengaluru

Arriving at S-VYASA by breakfast, the students were welcomed and addressed by Dr. H.R. Nagendra, Chancellor of the yoga university located just outside Bengaluru. Dr. Nagendra stressed the importance of yoga as a tool for purifying, calming, and controlling the mind and body, and its benefits for the students constantly facing the stress and emotional high and lows of entering adulthood. He also shared his philosophy of giving, encouraging the students to return to India’s history of sacrifice and service, the core pillars, by doing acts of giving (even the smallest of acts) each day. He also talked about the job opportunities in natural health and yoga, citing “IT to YT (yoga therapy)” as a source of meaningful, profitable employment in India. The students were also treated to a tour of the campus, including their world class yoga science research and treatment centers.

The afternoon saw another visit to an establishment of higher learning, Bengaluru’s Jain University. This campus was home to speaker sessions from two role models in drastically different sectors. The first was Suhas Gopinath, who became the world’s youngest CEO at the time when he started his web development company Global INC at the age of 17. Now 29, Suhas shared the amazing and wildly entertaining story of his rise into IT leadership, sharing his wisdom of the importance of “leading from the front”. He also emphasized the importance of trust, honesty, ethics, and values in leadership, offering wise words that clearly resounded with the student leaders many times not much younger than Suhas himself.

The Prayanees also heard from Naleni Shekhar, the founder of Hasirudala, and several of the beneficiaries of her non-profit’s work. Hasirudahla works to empower and offer meaningful employment and entrepreneurial opportunities to rag pickers, and it was an amazing experience to hear from some of the former rag pickers themselves. Naleni has an unmissable passion for helping these rag pickers, emphasizing inclusivity and true understanding of their lives rather than a top-down approach to helping them.

Sixth Day at Microsoft Ventures, Bengaluru

With the typical Bengaluru traffic, the Prayanees started the day with the journey to Microsoft Ventures. LEAD Prayana is full of twists and special guests, and the Prayanees were happily surprised with five accomplished leaders taking the stage during the day, rather than the stated two.

First was Mr. Musthafa PC, once a school drop-out who later held a high-profile IT job in Dubai, but returned to India to spend more time with family and give back to the community. Mr. PC is the founder of iD Fresh, an idly and dosa batter company that employs 650 individuals whom otherwise would be unemployed or not fulfilling their potential. Determine the purpose of your life, and then “ask yourself, what you will do to achieve that purpose?” Mr. PC told the audience, emphasizing the importance of giving back to the community and having strong values and sincerity in any leadership or entrepreneurial role.

The founder of LEAF, Mr. Nair, also addressed the 130+ student leaders while at Microsoft Ventures. “As long as the curiosity is there, you are young”, he told the Prayanees, in a presentation that informed about the agricultural industry and maintaining profitability in this sector that is so prevalent in the Indian economy.

While his position and title might have suggested a more serious session, IAS officer and “Mr. Transparent” P. Manivannan captured the audience with his dynamic interactive session, starting off with his “3 S’s” that define the human experience: survival, solitude, and sex. He also helped the Prayanees better understand themselves with interactive activities about our inner feelings, and this session was no doubt a highlight so far for many of our student LEADers.

The speakers concluded with Mr. Naveen and Mr. Suresh from the host, Microsoft Ventures. Mr. Naveen asked the Prayanees a profound question: “If everything is comfortable, what are you learning”?This question is all too pertinent for the students of LEAD Prayana, who face challenges, twists, and turns along the way, designed to unleash their leadership potential.

Seventh Day at Organic Mandya

All the Prayanees continued their journey to meet Mr. Mandhuchandan who was a young IT profession who left his comfortable job in the United States to sow the seeds of an organic farming movement in India. He was the role model for the day for LEAD Prayana's 130+ students hailing from across India as they visited Mandya along their 15-day leadership journey.

The 37 year-old engineer was moved by the plight of farmer suicides and the heartbreaking stories of their families and decided to work for their well being. He asked the LEAD Prayana participants to be "illogical" in pursuing their passions and get back to what our forefathers' insights on living and farming. After working for several IT companies and starting his own in 2005, Mr. Mandhuchandan thought he had achieved all he had dreamed of but he felt incomplete. He eventually realized he needed to give back to the village he came from, and returned to India in 2014 to pursue his passion for organic farming and farmer welfare.

He also added that synthetic farming has broken the flow of maintaining an ecosystem, and we must return to organic farming as our ancestors do. He wants Mandya to become an organic farmer's hub.

Mr. Mandhuchandan has also started a great initiative within Organic Mandya, Jaggery Park, that gives hope and reassurance to debt-ridden sugarcane farmers. "I feel proud to be a farmer today.. to be able to lead a healthier and happier life is a dream come true... no other job can give that immense satisfaction that farming can offer", said a farmer at Jaggery Park.

Don't wait to do what you want to do was one of the main messages Mr. Mandhuchandan shared, as well as how young people needed to change their attitude towards agriculture, not as something of the rural past. He also explained about his future plans and plans for Organic Mandya's expansion into the dairy industry, concluding the session by thanking LEAD for bringing these young leaders to Mandya to be exposed to this field of organic farming in the modern age.

Eighth day Infosys, Mysore

LEAD Prayana 2016 continued its legacy as the Prayanees got exposure on India's largest corporate legend Infosys. Their Mysuru campus is one of a kind, where corporate intelligence blends hand-in-hand with marvellous European architectural techniques.

The best part of the day's visit started with the tour of the mighty campus with the assistance of the Sushma, Harish, Nawaz and few other enthusiastic employees of Infosys. Spreading around 337 acres, it never seemed to end as students walked around the campus exploring various infrastructural excellence.

Including interesting buildings based on the Japanese origami style and a golf ball-shaped multiplex, the campus is comprised of 4 software development blocks, various recreational centers, and everything else an employee or a trainee would wish for. One of the seven multi-cuisine food courts energized all the Prayanees for their hour-long session by the young employees of Infosys. The session included the employees' journeys so far and a bird's eye view of the Mysore development center .

The Spark Infy team, formed by some active employees of Infosys, conducted an event which shed light on the importance of communication and logistic analysis for an entrepreneur. They actively answered questions about the recruitment process and the projects they were working on. The visit ended on right on schedule, which gave LEAD Prayana the chance to grab a fantastic arial view of culture capital Mysore from the Chamundi Hill view point.

Ninth and Tenth Day at Dharmasthala

Dharmastala means "place for justice", so it is no wonder it was a spiritual place to be and that the students of LEAD Prayana 2016 was mesmerized to be there. The ultimate pilgrimage for the worshippers of "Shri Manjunatha" and a charity centre for the needy helped to embed values of serving the needy with dignity in the young Prayanee hearts. People fond of this place come along to seek dharma, believing in all kinds of dhana (anna, abhay and nyaya , aushadha, vidhya).

The Institute under Pathmavibhushan Dr. Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala (SDM), provides all kinds charity and services to the needy through RUDSET Institute, SDM Trust, Shantivana Trust, medical trust, Siddhavana, and Rathnamanasa Gurukula which add more value to Indian culture. The Manjusha and his vast museum are the spotlights of this trust. Shri Kshetra Dharmastala Rural Development program and Gyana Vikas Mahila program are the rays of hope and lifeline to the Kshetra believers trying to find the path of life, not to neglect that the mahotsavas are totally a delight for the eyes. "Dharmastala is a place of realization, it is a place of love, it is a place of humble belief and people, and it is a place of faith and hope... Dharmastala is a place to be" says a student participant from Lead Prayana 2016.

Padma Vibhushan Dr. Dharmasthala Veerendra Heggade, Dharmadhikari of Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala, a well known visionary and spiritual leader, interacted with students LEADers in an interactive session organised by LEAD Prayana. He has been guiding the multitude of devotees visiting Dharmasthala and seeking solace for their pains with his wisdom and helping them to face the world. "Nobody is a leader all are servants of their duties... I'm just a normal human being who seeks the grace of God", said Heggede to the crowd, reflecting his humble nature and his position as Dharmadhikari of this holy place. The session discussed the existence of God, faith, his charity activities. the types of dana his sansthana has been doing to get people believe in goodness and life. "Sarvejana sukhino bavantun "and "anu renu rinakasta" were graceful words that the students had to take back home from the land of solace.

Eleventh day at Manipal, Udupi

Vice Chancellor and the face of Manipal University the world over, Dr. Hattangadi Vinod Bhat, integrated himself with the vibrant young minds travelling across Karnataka with the leadership program LEAD Prayana. He has been spearheading the diversification of the Manipal University course offerings, international collaborations, and instilling leadership and research skills in the Manipal students. He is the man responsible for the spectacular growth in external research, specializations in field of community medicine, and newfound involvement in service-oriented activities for the students.

Answering the questions students had for him, Dr. Bhat talked about "changing landscapes" from Hubballi to Udupi and how it helped him to realize the necessity of coming back to Manipal. His early schooling in Udupi district, after which he lived in various cities around the country with his family, made him realize that healthcare interventions produced better results when approached in other ways. He shared how his rural centre at Karkala was entrusted with the responsibility of creating a healthcare facility thanks to his tedious work.

After the session, students were taken all over the university campus, including the anatomy and physiology museum, library (one of Asia's largest), the Marina Indoor Games Stadium, and the planetarium. The students' inquisitiveness in learning about aviation, robotics, and upcoming inventions in technology was quenched during their Manipal Institute of Technology (MIT) visit.
The 15 day leadership journey then left for its next destination, Hubballi-Dharwad, after enjoying the sunset at Malpe Beach.

Twelfth Day at Akshaya Patra, Hubballi

The 14-day journey of LEAD prayana on social entrepreneurship and raising the concept of self exploring has reached its final and core destination, Hubballi.

Proving the saying that things get better when reaching the end, visit to the Akshaya Patra Hubballi, considered the world’s largest kitchen of its kind. Feeding 1.3 million school children per day, Akshaya Patra follows the most sustainable and sophisticated methods of mass cooking. Adding to that, the management stressed on the fact that Akshaya Patra is not only a feeding program but also a boost up the belief in need for education in the rural arenas.

Further visit to Kalkeri Sangeeth Vidyalay has struck the Prayanees with an ancient and most effective style of mingling arts and academics for the true nourishment of the budding minds. KSV, which is a thought provoking initiative by volunteers from various countries like Canada, France and Spain, recruits students ranging from 6 to 23 years old after making a face to face research of their socio-economic status and the child's zeal to approach academicals excellence through arts.

Day ended with the most awaited sessions of the whole journey. The interaction rather be called as
the productive flow of ideas from a legendary like Dr. Gururaj 'Desh' Deshpande to the yet to be entrepreneurs cleared almost every misconception an entrepreneur can ever have. If people are considering their obstacles as the biggest hurdles of their lives, the inspiring session by Ms. Malathi Holla definitely proved that sometimes the hurdles do give us a chance to jump higher than we can ever expect that we can.

Thirteenth Day at Deshpande Foundation, Hubballi

The 13th day of LEAD Prayana triggered its day off sessions by Dr. A. Velumani, a scientist turned entrepreneur, CEO and creator of Thyrocare Technologies Limited, world's largest thyroid testing laboratory. Born and brought up in "Luxury of poverty" which fueled his desire to start an affordable enterprise. With much experience and passion associated with thyroid, he quit is job in BARC to start his own chain of thyroid testing laboratories. With just an initial investment of one lakh rupees. A man of wit and strong determination left the session promising his presence in the upcoming LEAD Prayana to inspire the next budding youth.

The day of sessions continued with the lady Pioneer of Personal Branding in India, Tanvi Bhatt. Founder and Managing Director of Panache-India’s Premier Personal Branding Company, Tanvi interacted with students taking them to her own personal story of leaving behind engineering and evolving out to create her own space in the business field.

Surprising the audience Dr Shalini Rajneesh IAS Principal Secretary, Backward Classes and welfare Department at GoK, entered the hall to question our youngsters to challenge problems our country was facing and find necessary solutions themselves. She insisted on necessity to form self help groups in the rural areas to decrease the dependency as the civil servants to public ratio is out of reach in over populated countries like India.

Sasisekar krish CEO of nanopix spoke to the students in the afternoon session at sandbox hubli. His career of ups and downs and finally breaking the wall of failure through his great initiatives and having double a dozen patents in his name pushes prayanis to stand up and ask their queries related to virtual reality and digital image processing technologies.

Amidst successful businessmen and entrepreneurs, Zenia Tata social activist and entrepreneur with her drawbacks of jugaad and rewarding failure, the Tata granddaughter entered the hall with zeal of what she was and her courage of impacting millions of life around the globe. Executive director of XPRIZE spoke and shared about her hardships of being different and need to contribute in sweat for fruitful lives around you.

LEAD Prayana which is spreading exposure ranging from the grass root levels to even rocket science, brought Anousheh Ansari, the first Iranian woman who went to space, to bring the out of space session to the prayanees. Ansari shared her most exciting journey from Masshad to International space station and how it entirely changed her perspective towards things.

Fourteenth Day at Yuva Summit, Hubballi

Yuva summit 2016 ended its one day long session of inspiring and igniting youth around the country at Deshpande Foundation.

Yuva summit which was precided over by Nobel laureate Muhammed yunus, first Iranian private space women traveller Anousheh Ansari, Malathi holla, Shekhar Gupta, Narayan murthy and gururaj deshpande.

Lead talks, the inaugural session stood out for its miraculous student leaders and their inspirational stories. Chethan Upadhyaya a former Prayani and volunteer delivered his story of igniting disables students with a music band.

R. V Gumasthe MD of kirloskar addressed the prayanis on the importance of how people would follow your actions than your words. As the proverb says diamonds are seen inside mines... lead prayanis had to wait all the way long 15 days to meet none other than the man behind it revolution, CEO infosys Narayan murthy. His words on importance of keeping values and ethics, spirit of working as a Team.

The next speaker was introduced by LEAD functional head Ajay Suman Shukla. Though "needs no introduction". Mr Narayana Murthy, Chairman Emeritus of Infosys, earned a standing ovation, before even speaking question and anser session was conducted with the eager audience. "Its only entrepreneurs that can turn idea into jobs for others" was only one among a myriad of quotable moments with the business and IT legend.

Agasthya international foundation founder Ramji Raghavan had a very interactive session of sharing ideas to explore and expand social initiatives to develop india. "Visualise your dreams and what that you want to see, you can sense it how it comes true" said the visionary in the open air session.

The youth for change rally then began with the hundreds of Yuva Summit attendees spreading their energy and positive spirit to the streets of Hubballi as they walked to the Gateway Hotel Lakeside, led by LEAD functional head Ajay Suman Shukla and Cofounder of the Deshpande Foundation Mrs. Jaishree Deshpande.

Gateway hotel, hubli has became the host for the evening with legends for the leaders from across the country on the context of Yuva Summit 2016 and TiEcON. The evening came out to be the most inspiring and thought provoking as the role models poured each and every experience that made them what they are in the moment. Best leaders, who gifted the society around them with their innovative social models which changed scores of lives, were felicitated by Deshpande foundation aspiring more leaders of such kind.

The Last day of Prayana, Graduation Ceremony

Sooner or later everyone will discover that the important moments in lifes are not the advertised ones, not the birthdays, the graduations, the weddings, not the goals achieved, the real milestones are more simpler and heartfelt warmer. Thelast day of LEAD prayana February 7th!!

A day of graduation !!

It was the one last session!😉

The one last hug!!☹

The one last selfie, the one last groupfie !!☺

The one last food together!!

The last bus journey with your lovables!!

A day full of tears, with heart full of promises!

Biding a goodbye with the only thing in mind " it is not the end it is the beginning"!!

Leadership Journey of Kakatiya Sandbox 2015

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Mon, 16 Nov 2015 12:50:00 +0000

THE LEADERSHIP JOURNEY!

Here is an experience of the LEAD PRAYANA 2015 for the people who missed experiencing it. I hope you have the same amount of joy and pleasure that the students faced during the journey!

This is how the journeys story starts!

DAY 1: January 23^rd

The first day of the journey began with a Kick off of Prayana by all the participants and the other staff with a lot of enthusiasm and joy. The Prayanies fastened their seat belts and reached Nizamabad with the introductory tour to Kakathiya Sandbox with a lot of masti and enthusiasm.

Prayanees had a great opportunity to go to Ankapur Village, richest village of Nizamabad district; prayanees interacted with villagers and learned the technology used for farming. They also experienced how Ankapur village has become a model village.Later the participants went to Narsingpally and met a great person named Mr.V.Narsimha Reddy. He established “Ma Palle Charitable Trust” in 2007 and started water schemes and Oxygen Donation. He is a man behind ‘Save Democracy’ and other development projects of Narsingapally. The students were staying there in the village and having lot of fun and fun filled activities and were waiting for the next day’s visit.

DAY 2: January 24^th

The participants began their journey with more enthusiasm, had a lovely walk with the nature and visited the entire village. There, they got a chance to meet great personalities from the film Industry like Mr. Dil Raju and CEO Founder of SRDS Mr.Sikindar in the village Narsingapally. Mr. DilRaju is one of the most successful Telugu film producers. He has produced successful films such as Dil, Arya, Bhadra, Bommarillu, Parugu, Kotha Bangaru Lokam, MaroCharitra, Brindavanam, Mr. Perfect, and Oh My Friend. His latest releases are Seethamma Vakitlo Sirimalle Chettu, Ramayya Vasthavayya, and Yevadu.He interacted with the Prayanees for more than 3 hours and shared his life story, challenges faced during his film industry journey.

The Prayanee’s got a chance to ask questions and got inspired. Mr. Sikandar the CEO Founder of SRDS introduced the youth and gave them more inspiration by narrating about “SRDS is a non-profit organization founded in January of 2008. SRDS focuses on building rainwater collection systems that guides the resource back to earth to be stored for future use. He work to bring about awareness in rainwater conservation practices and protection and recycling of water is essential.Sikandar devised method of reduce the cost of constructing the structures and he could actually brought about package where the cost construction by 60% in rural and 50% in urban areas”.

This day ended with great zeal and zest by conducting a successful!

DAY 3 and DAY 4: January 25^th & 26^th

On a gloomy morning the participants traveled to Hyderabad with great amusement and went for a mini excursion to the CARE Hospital. The Introductory tour was taken by Mr.Mahender Pala and the journey care was by Col. Rajagopal – CHRD. These personalities gave them a lot of information through fun filled activities about the recent updating in the field of Medicine which is very important these days.

The great Cardiologist was one of the Role Model's of LEAD Prayana 2015. Dr. N. Krishna Reddy has graduated from Osmania Medical College in 1984 with honors. He completed his MD in Internal Medicine from the prestigious Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education & Research (PGIMER), Chandigarh in 1987. He did his fellowship in Cardiology leading to DM from GB Pant Hospital, Delhi University, New Delhi. He co-founded the Care Hospitals in 1997, which has grown rapidly from 100-bed strength, single hospital, and single specialty entity to more than 1500-bed strength, 12-hospitals, 6-states, and multi-specialty within a short span of 10 years. Through these experiences students learnt how to serve the society and what other people are doing to save the citizens. After the hospital visit, they were taken to a Residential school called Sri SaraswathiShishuMandir.

On the next day, in Hyderabad to keep the Prayanies fit for the rest of the journey they were guided to do Yoga and celebrated Republic day in the same Mandir.On this auspicious day the participants visited the great IIIT-H and got a chance to grab many pebbles which will turn into gold later, from great entrepreneurs like Chinmay, Venky, Sanjeev, Deepesh, Manoj and many more gave them appreciation of various fields which included Mr. Srinivas Kollipara(COO), IIT-H Foundation.

Mr.Srinivas Kollipara (Chief Operating Officer of the IIIT-H Foundation) gave them great insights about how this great Institute, runs the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. CIE is one of the largest incubation centers in the country with 29,000 sq. ft. of space and around 60 startups on site. He is an active startup consultant and mentor, and advises startups on building viable, fundable and profitable companies by refining business models and strategies in order to build sustainable competitive advantages.

DAY 5: January 27^th

The participants were very keen and had a lot of energy to visit GVK EMRI and they got a live exposure to see how 100 call centers work and also how 108 Ambulance operates in cities during emergency, GVK EMRI had a lot of deep insights which were shared with the Prayanees. They got a golden chance to interact with the Police Department and Life Savers in the centre.They were also exposed to different departments, demo mobile van and operational theaters, work place, labs and training session for all the participants and had a session with the senior most staff from GVK EMRI management.

After visiting GVK EMRI Participants relocated to HMRI 104 and interacted with Dr.Bajaj Utla, (CEO of HMRI) who holds a Doctorate in Management. He has 26 years of experience in setting up organizational strategy and development, and corporate social responsibility. He is on the board of EPTRI and Drivers ' Guild Foundation, the Chairperson of the CII Healthcare Panel in Andhra Pradesh, a member of FICCI Healthcare Panel, and on the advisory boards of several other organizations.Prior to joining Piramal | Swasthaya (Formerly known as HMRI) and Piramal Healthcare Ltd, Dr. Utla was CEO of Satyam Foundation, initiated by Satyam Computer Services ( now Mahindra Satyam). Under Dr. Utla's leadership, Satyam received the Corporate Citizen Award from FICCI in 2006 and the TERI Award in 2007. The students had a great time interacting with Dr. Utla and asked him several questions on Leadership and Social Responsibilities which helped them a lot.

DAY 6: January 28^th

They visited the great Hitachi Consulting,India and had interactive sessions with one of the role model’s of Prayana,Mr.Feroze Mohammed, Managing Director of the same company.They understood what the company does while innovating, new findings of technology and about the leadership role by the MD and also met the management team.

After this they visited the great NirmanOrganization Vidya Help Line Centre to interact with another personality named Mr.Mayur, he is a Social Worker and is passionate about Social Innovation. He is Co-founder & Governing Board Member of Nirmaan Organization. Previously, in his role in Government of Andhra Pradesh as State Mission Manager, Skill Development Mission, he led a team which trained 5000 economically backward youth and employed 2500 of them. He is a graduate of BITS-Pilani (Pilani campus) in B.E.(hons) Computer Science and B.E. Mechanical. BITS Alumni Association has conferred BITSAA 30 under 30 Award in Community Service category in BITSAA Global Meet 2014.

Well this was the last day in the state of Andra Pradesh were they were deeply saddened to go to another state but at the same time they were very excited to go to the next destination i.e. Bengaluru the great city.

After this, the participants met another 120 excited bunch of students in Bengaluru and continued with their thrilling experiences with them.To know more of their joy and exposure of other fields kindly go through the below mentioned Karnataka trip!

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Fri, 13 Nov 2015 05:07:00 +0000

LEAD Prayana a leadership journey to unleash leadership potential, from January 23^rd to February 7^th with 137 college students from throughout the country traveled across Karnataka and part of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh interacting with role models and experienced speakers and expose with their remarkable work. As the LEAD Prayana tagline suggests, students became inspired in order to unleash their leadership potential through exposure to individuals and institutions that have innovated and implemented solutions to major challenges. Through this leadership journey on wheels, the LEAD Program aims to build in youth the need to bring a change through effective leadership.

Throughout the 16 day journey, the Prayana students traveled 1,800 km to interact with more than 20 role models and speakers throughout 9 locations. Each day was full of excitement, enjoyment and learning to ensure that Prayana participants kept their energy high.

Day 1 and Day2: Belgaum

Students started their journey at VTU in Belgaum. After, the students completed their registration process; they spent the day learning about VTU and its impressive efforts. The day ended with cultural programs. Next day , the flag off ceremony was hosted by Chief Guest Mr. Vivek Pawar (Founder of Sankalp Semiconductor), Guest of Honor as Naveen Jha (CEO of Deshpande Foundation), Mr. Ajay Suman (Functional Head of LEAD and LEAD Prayana) and Dr. H. Maheshappa (Vice Chancellor of VTU).

Day3:Tumkur

LEAD Prayana participants began its third day of the journey full of energy. They did Yoga under the guidance of Dr. Ramaswamy (Executive Director of Shri Patanjali Yoga Shikshana Samiti). The students also visited Siddaganga Math and were blessed by Sree Sree Sree Shivkumar Swamiji. They also participated in community activities at the Math.

Later, in the evening students interacted with Director of SIT,Tumkur, Dr. M.N. Channabasappa . He spoke about the market scenario for the engineering students.

Day 4: Dodballapur

The fourth day of Prayana began with celebration of 65^thRepublic Day at SIT Tumkur. Director of SIT, Tumkur, hosted the National flag and spoke about the importance of constitution in a democratic country like India. After the celebration, the participants of Prayana moved towards Mavenahalli near Dodballapur where they met real life example of ''simple living and high thinking '' who is Dr. L. Narayan Reddy (National awardee of organic farming).

The participants of LEAD Prayana visited the farm of Dr. Narayan Reddy at Mavenahalli and learnt the importance of organic farming and the harmful effects of using chemicals and pesticides in farming and crops production.

Day 5 & 6: Kuppam (Andhra Pradesh)

The participants of LEAD Prayana arrived to Agastya International Foundation on Jan 27 to learn, explore and develop new perspective about their environment. During their two day stay at foundation which was on 27 and 28 of February. They created a high energy wave by working on science models and involving in community activities. The LEAD Prayana participants performed a street play in five villages of Kuppam; Mushtrahalli, Kothapalli, Dhonimadgu grama, Kamasamudra and Bangarpeth and created awareness about dowry, child marriage and superstitions. The participants also involved themselves in several community leadership activities like plantation of saplings and painting a bus stand at Salachinthanapalli.

Day 7: Bangalore

The LEAD Prayana participants spent their 7th day of Prayana journey at Bangalore with Rajinish Menon, Director of Microsoft Ventures and Team Indus. They also interacted with Ramji Raghavan, Founder of Agastya International Foundation.

The director of Microsoft ventures interacted with participants and shared life incident which caused him to achieve great heights. Students were inspired by the unique dream of Team Indus and their dedication towards it. Later in the day, students interacted with the founder of Agastya International Foundation, Ramji Raghavan and learnt lessons on how a person can follow his dream and passion to achieve what he wants and leaving very high profile job in foreign country.

Day8: Mysore

Participants began their day at S-VYASA with a session by Pro vice Chancellor of S-VYASA, Dr. H. Nagendra. He spoke about the importance of Yoga in daily life and advantages of practicing it.

After the short visit to University campus, Prayana team began their journey towards Infosys, Mysore. At Infosys Mysore, the participants spent their day at Infosys Centre of Learning. The students were marveled at the brilliant architecture and the hard work that was put in to bringing a beautiful campus of 337 acres which trains 14000 employees. Along with the campus visit, students were given a session on leadership qualities by Mr. Sundar K, Senior Lead Principal of Education and Training Unit.

Day 9 & 10: Dharmasthala

Participants of Prayana were fascinated by the holy town of Dharmasthala. The cleanliness, rural development programs, sewage treatment, organic farming, waste management are followed through SKDRDP and SIRI programs at Dharmasthala. The participants of LEAD Prayana 2015 were inspired. They also interacted with the man behind the success of Dharmasthala activities, Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade.

Day 11: Mangalore

On the eleventh day of the Prayana, LEAD Prayana participants had an educational tour to Kalbhavi cashew nut industry at Mangalore. Students saw nanoPix Cashew Sorting Machine first-hand. While cashew sorting can be a lengthy process because of the need for visual inspection, the nanopic Cashew Sorting Machine relies on its ImageIn Technology to inspect the cashew nuts more quickly and efficiently. The students then engaged in a session with Sasi Sekar (Founder and CEO, nanoPix). He inspired the students with his advice to identify passion and channel it to become an entrepreneur.

Day12: Manipal

On twelth day of the journey with LEAD Prayana 2015, participants visited campus of Manipal University and interacted with Pro Vice Chancellor of Manipal University, Dr. Vinod Bhat. He spoke about the great heights that Manipal University has reached recently. It is imparting education in all the fields including medical, management, hospitality, etc.

On the same day they reached Hubli and attended session at Seven Beans, a popular hangout café in Hubli. Mr. Gautam Ostwal, the President of TiE Hubli addressed the gathering and spoke about starting up a business. He also spoke about the advantage of having good networks.

Day 13: Dharwad

Akshay Patra (world’s biggest kitchen) and Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya (unique music school for rural kids) was the destination of LEAD Prayana on their 13th day of journey. The participants learnt about the functioning and operation of Akshay Patra kitchen and interacted with Pramod Swamiji.

Pramod Swamiji spoke about the history of Akshay Patra and how it is serving food to 9000 schools and thus covering 8 lakh students. Later in the day, the participants had a pleasurable experience of exploring the campus of Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya and interacted with the students.

Day 14: Hubli

LEAD Prayana participants 2015 interacted with Mr. Gururaj Deshpande and Mrs. Jaishree Deshpande in the morning on 14th day of their journey. Gururaj Deshpande advised students to concentrate on their health and develop the habit of yoga every day.

He said that - without health you cannot achieve much. So do not ignore health. Later in the day, the participants interacted with Gaurav Shah, founder of seven beans and Shravani, co-founder of safe hands 24x7.

Day 15: Hubli

The morning started off with a morning session with Suhas Gopinath, CEO of GlobalsInc. The students also interacted with Rashmi Bansal, Kailash Satyarthi and N R Narayana Murthy. They shared their life story and motivated students to dream big and work hard.

The Prayana students also visited the LEAD project displays and LEAD Talk sessions. Later in the day,

the students participated in the YUVA Summit, rally held to create awareness against child labour. The rally was held from Deshpande Foundation till The Taj Gateway, Hubli and it was surprised for the participants of Prayana to see Mr. Kailash Satyarthi, Mr. Narayana Murthy, Dr. Gururaj Deshpande and thousands of guest and youth accompanying with them on the rally against child labour.

Day 16: Hubli

The last day of the Prayana was spent interacting with entrepreneurs Mr. Phanindra Sama (founder of redbus.in), Mr. Raju Reddy (founder of Sierra Atlantic) and Mr. Anshu Gupta (Founder of Goonj). They had their last Prayana dinner at hotel Taj Gateway and bid farewell to each other with a heavy heart and lot of live experience and bounding with each other.

Sumana Shenoy of Udupi shares her experience of her LEAD Prayana journey 2015

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Thu, 18 Jun 2015 07:55:00 +0000

LEAD PRAYANA… the life transforming journey

It was in the holidays after a hectic 7^th semester that, I was waiting for some kind of tour for a break from the daily routine. For my surprise, on 8^th of January I received a forwarded email from the college which was an application for “LEAD PRAYANA”.

It was a journey of not 3 days, not 5 days, not even a week but a grand 16 days. What stuck my eyes immediately was an opportunity to meet the role models like Mr. Kailash Satyarthi, the 2014 Nobel peace prize winner, N.R. Narayana Murty, the cofounder of Infosys, Phanindra Sama, the redbus.in founder, Suhas Gopinath, the founder, C.EO. and chairman of Globals Inc., at the age of 25 and so many other legends whom I had seen only in the media so far!

A journey to 10 destinations across Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh, meeting role models and more than anything 15 days completely away from the routine chores made me to apply for it immediately. My application with the resume got selected for the next round of telephonic interview and I cleared it successfully too. I was one of those lucky 150 people who had been selected for the Prayana among the thousands of applications across the country. But when I told this with my best friend, the only exclamation she made was, “Are you crazy? You are going for a long tour with all the strangers!” I really didn’t have any answer for it!

On 23^rd January morning I was at Viswesvaraya Technological University (VTU) in Belagavi, which was so innovatively decorated by the young LEADers of Belagavi location. A part of the campus was filled with enthusiastic youngsters, who were finishing up the arrangements for Lead Prayana, wearing the blue t-shirt which read, Complaints start with they… Solutions start with I

The program for the first day was a VTU campus tour. It was rather a frustrating day for me since I didn’t know anyone in the crowd. But the mesmerizing cultural events that evening by the Belgaum location cheered me up.

Next day an amazing activity whose aim was to make us know one another was organized. The activity was to move randomly with the eyes closed, when the organizers inform we opened the eyes and made a group of a particular number with whoever was around us. This was conducted for a long time and each time we made new friends, knowing a maximum number of people by the end of the activity.

After the session with V.T.U. vice chancellor Dr. Maheshappa, the journey started from Belgaum which is officially known as Lead Prayana kick off. Prayana was not just visiting the sites and interacting with role models, every second of Prayana had learning with fun. Brain storming & leadership activities were conducted in the buses during journey.

Every prayani had an inspiring story to tell. There was a girl called Varsha who had just graduated from her bachelor’s degree being the topper in the whole university but was surprisingly practicing tailoring. She had denied even an offer letter from TCS. The sole reason for her craziness was she was following her dream of starting up something related to tailoring where she could train and employ hundreds of women who are in need. Such was her passion and determination in realizing her dream. Sooner or later but without any doubt she is going to realize her dream. There was another brave gentleman called Dinesh who was an engineering graduate, was all set to start up his own food processing industry unlike other common graduates.

Like these, there were countless motivating stories of my co-prayanis, which were no less than any epics.

We reached our next destination- Siddaganga Institute of Technology, in Tumakuru we had the privilege to take the blessings of Dr. Shri Shri Shri Shivakumara Swamiji the so called walking God of Karnataka, who continues his humanitarian work even at the age of 108 and follows his routine time table strictly without any laziness unlike the majority of today’s youth.

Siddaganga Mutt Education Trust provides free education to around 8,000 poor students. At the surroundings of the mutt, we conducted so many activities like organizing games for the children. We also gave them cloth lines. We collected funds from the visitors and bought necessary items for the children, made them aware of cleanliness, we even cleaned the surroundings of the mutt which were made so dirty by the tourists and simultaneously conveyed the message of clean India to the public.

Next we headed for Doddaballapur to visit the organic farmer Dr. Narayana Reddy. I witnessed the real Indian culture at the place of that ‘karma yogi’. I had never seen a person so simple living than him despite of being a well known international resource person. His methods of cultivation have been studied by international experts as well as reputed scientists.We worked in his farm along with him and lost ourselves in the arms of nature. By evening we left the place unwillingly with loads of learning and lessons of simple living.

Next we reached Kuppam of Andhra Pradesh where Agastya International Foundation is located. It is founded by Mr. Ramji Raghavan with a vision to build a creative India of “thinkers, solution-seekers, creators” by making practical hands-on science education accessible to students of government schools.

We witnessed a scientific and hyper innovative world there, where each and every concept of science was demonstrated and taught practically. It was a wonderful day at Agastya which currently is the largest hands-on science program in the world.

That evening we went to a nearby village and performed a street play with child labor as its theme with hardly any rehearsal. The play was so successfully enacted that the villagers received the message and requested us to visit them frequently.

It was a new experience for me, interacting with the village people where 90% of them were living below poverty line. Agriculture was their main profession but they did not have adequate water supply. All such miseries of the people reminded me of my ‘duty’ to serve the society.

The stay at Kuppam ended with a grand cultural evening with dandia, folk songs, dance and unlimited fun.

Then, the next destination was Bengaluru and was the most exciting one because here the 40 LEAD Prayanis of route 2, Andhra Pradesh, joined us to travel the further journey together. At Bengaluru we had an exposure visit and session at Microsoft ventures.

There was an interactive session with TEAM INDUS and it was the most inspiring, most surprising session in the whole journey. TEAM INDUS was started by space enthusiasts, entrepreneurs and industry experts, who weren’t astronauts, weren’t scientists but they just had a dream to go to the Moon.

Many people in this world say that their dream is to land on moon but they actually don’t mean it since they already consider it is impossible. But these people actually followed their dream, they contacted the ISRO SCIENTISTS and learnt from them, did a research on space science and finally with such reckless hard work, now theirs is the only Indian entity in the prestigious Google Lunar XPrize. Soon they might create the history of being the first private organization to land on moon and that would be a very proud moment for Indians.

Further in the journey, we visited Infosys Mysuru, Dharamastala -where we even had a session with Dr. Veerendra Heggade. Then we visited a cashew industry of Mangaluru and had an interaction with Mr. Sasishekhar Krish. Then we proceeded to the Manipal University campus & had a session with Dr. Vinod Bhat.

At the end of the prayana we returned to Hubballi. Next we had an exposure visit to Akshaya Patra, the world’s largest kitchen. They fed 1.8 million children daily with a hygienic, healthy and a balanced meal, just because of the fact that they realized that when the basic needs of a child are not met, education often becomes the last priority. So this meal is an incentive for them to attend school daily and continue their education.

Next we landed up in a musical world at Kalkeri. It was founded and run by foreigners who provide musical & academic education to more than 200 underprivileged children free of charges.

More than a school Kalkeri sangeet Vidyalaya is a living and working ideal where students were given modern education and also taught the ancient disciples of Indian classical music. The prime emphasis is on teaching English as the main language of communication. Even thefirst standard students speak excellent English there.

Back in Hubballi 6 and 7 February were very important days, not only for the prayanis but also for the whole family of LEAD from 5 states of the country because of the annual grand celebration, awarding and appreciating the initiatives and actions of the LEADers, the YUVA SUMMIT.

It is a renowned conference on leadership, development, innovation & entrepreneurship and is a meeting of galaxy of academicians, entrepreneurs & enthusiastic youth. The chief speakers of the summit were Mr. Kailash Satyarti and Mr. N.R.Narayana Murty. Prior to the summit, the Prayanis had moved around the entire Hubballi and collected pledges from thousands of the people against child labour in support of Mr.Kailash Satyarti’s Bachpan Bachao Andolan .

We performed flash mob at Urban Oasis mall and at the end of the performance, conveyed Mr. Satyarti’s message to the people gathered there. Yuva summit was the most mesmerizing occasion I had ever witnessed in my life. So many legendaries like Mr.Narayana Murty, Mr.Rajanish Menon, Mr.Naveen Jha, Mr.Goutam Ostwal were all gathered at the Deshpande Foundation. Young successful entrepreneurs like Mrs. Shravani, Mr.Abhishek Bendigeri, Mr. Phanindra Sama, Mr. Suhas Gopinath and countless others were guiding and inspiring the LEADers who approached them. The famous writer Rashmi Bansal was giving her e-mail address to the students who were passionate writers but needed guidance in that field. Thus Yuva Summit provided a golden opportunity for us to interact directly with the otherwise not reachable legends.

There were interactive sessions with founders of Deshpande Foundation, with Mr. Kailash Satyarti, with Mr. Narayana Murty, Mr.Phanindra Sama and also Mr. Suhas Gopinath at whose session I got the privilege to propose the vote of thanks.

Yuva summit best LEADer award ceremony was held at Taj Gateway hotel with more than thousand people witnessing the ceremony & Mr. Kailash Satyarti presenting the best LEADer award.

I had started the journey with strangers and finally it was the last day of the journey- 7^th of February. By the,we, all the 150 special and unique prayanis had become the life time closest best friends and guides of each other. We learnt a lot from each other more than what we had learnt from the role models.

Before coming in contact with all my co-prayanis, I was just like a frog in the well! Most of the prayanis who were already the LEAD members & were in the first or second year of different fields like engineering, commerce, science, medicine etc. and had completed so many projects in different fields - social, technical, agricultural, health and many more - and were making an impact in the society. They were literally following the idea of being the change that they want to see in the world.

Through prayana we got the courage to question anything, learnt excellent communication skill. We actually came out of that shell of hesitation and got that urge to achieve greater success in life by being different from the crowd. The journey taught us to be the problem solvers than being the complaint boxes. Throughout the journey we were made so close to the word entrepreneurship by providing us close interaction with successful, young and inspiring entrepreneurs.

On the night of February 7, we had a dinner party arranged for us at the Gateway hotel Hubballi. We promised our friend and philosopher, LEAD and LEAD PRAYANA functional head Mr. Ajay Suman Shukla that we would apply the learning that we acquired during those golden 16 days into life and make an impact in society.

The Prayana was not just a journey but was a package of immense pleasure; hardships at times but it instilled in us some life transforming values which would inspire us to serve our society, and in turn, the nation. With the end of Lead Prayana, the real prayana of our life had begun with a new sense of purpose and direction.

Recap: LEAD Prayana 2014

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Fri, 24 Jan 2014 10:10:00 +0000

From January 7th to January 21st, 114 college students from throughout the country traveled across Karnataka, interacting with reputable way. As the LEAD Prayana tagline suggests, students became inspired in order to unleash their leadership potential through exposure to individuals and institutions that have innovated and implemented solutions to major challenges. Through this leadership journey on wheels, the LEAD Program aims to instill in youth the need to bring about change through effective leadership.

Throughout the 14-day journey, the Prayana students traveled 1,800 kms to interact with 12 role models throughout 9 locations. Each day was packed with excitement, enjoyment and learning to ensure that Prayana students kept their energy high.

Day 1: Belgaum
The 120 students kicked off their journey at VTU in Belgaum. After the students completed the registration process, they spent the day learning about VTU and its impressive efforts. The day ended with the kick off ceremony, which included Guests of Honor and Dr. H Maheshappa (Vice Chancellor, VTU), Dr. Raj Melville (Executive Director, Deshpande Foundation) and Mr. Naveen Jha (CEO, Deshpande Foundation). The Guests of Honor addressed the students and wished them luck on their leadership journeys ahead.

Dr. H Maheshappa (Vice Chancellor, VTU)

2014 LEAD Prayana Group

Day 2: Sagar
After a flag off from VTU in the morning, the students made their way to Sagar. They got to know their travel companions along the way through various bonding activities. After arriving in Sagar, the group went on an exposure visit to Charaka. An evening session with Charaka and DESI founder, Prasanna, helped the students learn how they can cope with the mistakes in their lives. The got a taste of rural lifestyle during their night stay in Heggodu village.

Prayana Flag Off from VTU

Session with Prasanna (Founder, Charaka and Desi)

Manipal University Site Visit

Day 3: Manipal
The students spent the day at Manipal University! They begin their Manipal experience with interactive sessions with Manipal University Chancellor Dr. Mohandas Pai and Pro-Vice Chancellor, Dr. Vinod Bhat. After the session, the students were given the opportunity to tour beautiful and futuristic Manipal campus.

Mr. Sasi Sekar (Founder and CEO, nanoPix)

Day 4: Manipal
Students got to see nanoPix Cashew Sorting Machine first-hand. While cashew sorting can be a lengthy process because of the need for visual inspection, the nanoPix Cashew Sorting Machine relies on its ImageIn Technology to more quickly and efficiently inspect the cashew nuts. The students then engaged in a session with nanoPix, Sasi Sekar (Founder and CEO, nanoPix). He inspired the students with his advice about identifying passion and channeling it to become an entrepreneur.

The students left Manipal and traveled towards Dharmasthala. On the way, the students participated in sharing and more bonding activities.

Dharmasthala Site Visit

Day 5: Dharmasthala
The students started their day with an exposure visit to SIRI. Next, the students performed street skits to create awareness about cleanliness inside and outside the Dharmasthala temple. Students commented that this activity taught them teamwork and communication skills. The day ended with a role model session with Dr. Veerendra Heggade (Dharmadhikari, Dharmasthala). Dr. Heggade addressed the students regarding religion.

Dharmasthala Site Visit

Session with Dr. Veerendra Heggade

Day 6: Sullia
An exposure visit to a suspension bridge was beautiful and exhilarating. A role model session with Mr. Girish Bharadwaj, the bridge builder behind these suspension bridges, helped the students understand the necessity of improving connectivity between rural communities and urban cities.

Session with Mr. B. Girish Bharadwaj

Day 7: Mysore
The students spent the day at Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM). They visited the hospital, radio station, and different schools run by SVYM. Students enjoyed learning about SVYM, its history, and its success.

Site Visit to SVYM

Day 8: Mysore and Dodballapur

Site Visit to Infosys

Students were given a sneak peek into the future at Infosys. Students were awe struck by the cleanliness and efficiency that they saw. After a brief orientation about Infosys and its history, the students were divided into groups and given the challenge to come up with their own company and business plans to be created from a Rs. 50 lakh investment. The group then made its way to Dodballapur, near Bangalore. They had dinner and spent the night at the organic farm of Dr. Narayan Reddy (Organic farmer).

Site Visit to Infosys

Session with Dr. Narayan Reddy

Day 9: Dodballapur and Bangalore
The students started their day bright and early with an interactive session with Dr. Narayan Reddy. He spoke to the students about the importance of living a life full of simplicity and self-satisfaction. After the session with Dr. Reddy, the students enjoyed exploring his farm. The group then left the farm and made its way to Bangalore for a session with Mr. Ramji Raghavan (Founder, Agastya International Foundation).

Session with Mr. Ramji Raghavan

Prayanis Enjoying in Kuppam

Day 10 and 11: Kuppam
The students were lucky enough to spend two days enjoying at Agastya International Foundation in Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh. At Agastya, students gained excitement for learning through many hands-on activities. From constructing a model of a dear out of waste products, to trying out hands-on science projects, to exploring the surrounding nature on early morning nature walks, students were constantly engaged in learning and building upon their teamwork and creative abilities.

Community Activities in Kuppam

Day 12: Chitradurga and Hubli
The morning started off with a morning session with Dr. Sri Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru, present head of the Math in Chitradurga. He told the students about his role in the Math and spoke to them about the importance of maintaining concentration and focus in life. After the session, the students made their way towards Hubli to help with Yuva Summit preparations.

Session with Dr. Sri Shivamurthy Murugha Sharanaru

Session with Mr. T.V. Mohandas Pai

Day 13: Hubli
Day 13 marked the first day of Yuva Summit, an annual national conference on promoting leadership, entrepreneurship, and innovation within youth. The Prayana students spent the morning visiting the LEAD project displays and attending the LEAD Alumni and LEAD Talk sessions. In the afternoon they had sessions with Mr. Raju Reddy (Executive Vice President for Global Services, Hitachi Consulting), Mr. Srikanth Bolla (Founder, Aashadeep Pvt Ltd), Mr. Phanindra Sama (Co-founder and CEO, redbus.in), Dr. Gururaj Deshpande (Chairman, Sparta Group LLC), Mr. Suhas Gopinath (Founder, CEO and Chairman, Globals Inc), Mr. T.V. Mohandas Pai (Chairman, Manipal Global Education) and Mr. Naveen Jha (CEO, Deshpande Foundation).

Session with Dr. Gururaj Deshpande and Mrs. Jaishree Deshpande

Session with Phanindra Sama

Session with Mr. Srikanth Bolla

Day 14: Hubli

Community activity in Hubli

The students spent the day engaged in community activities. They were divided into groups and set out to the streets of Hubli to perform skits to create awareness for social issues. The students’ skits drew crowds of hundreds of people who came to watch.

Community activity in Hubli

Day 15: Hubli
The students learned about the social impacted created by NGOs with visits to Akshaya Patra and Kalkeri Sangeeth Vidyalaya. The students enjoyed a full kitchen tour, as well as an interactive learning session where they were able to ask in detail about Akshaya Patra’s method, outreach, and successes.Upon their arrival to KSV, the students toured the grounds and observed some of the children during their music and acting classes.

Detailed information about Role models

Jairam Ramesh (Hon. Minister of Rural Development and Member of Parliament, Government of India)

Mr. Jairam Ramesh currently serves as the Rural Development Minister. From 2000-2002 he served as Deputy Chairman of the Karnataka State Planning Board and on the Economic Advisory Council of Andhra Pradesh. Following the formation of the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government in 2004, Jairam joined the National Advisory Council. In 2009, Jairam was given independent charge of Environment and Forests. He was also the chief negotiator for India at the 2009 United Nations Climate Change Conference that took place in Copenhagen, Denmark. In addition to his work in politics, Ramesh has been a columnist for the Business Standard, Business Today, The Telegraph, Times of India, and India Today. He is a founding member of the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad.

Dr. Veerendra Heggade (Dharmadhikari, Dharmasthala)
The Dharmadhikari of Dharmasthala, Dr. Veerendra Heggade is a leader, philanthropist, educator, social reformer, and an emissary of art and culture. Dr. Heggade is the Director of Industrial Development Bank of India (IDBI). He is also a member of the National Foundation for Communal Harmony, Delhil; Shree Amarnathji Shrine Board, Jammu and Kashmirl Advisory Board of National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development; and Tirumala Tirupathi Devasthanams Development Advisory Council. He has undertaken project programs for the economic, social, and moral uplifting of poor agricultural laborers, artisans, and others.

Dr. Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande

Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande is the Chairman of Sparta Group LLC, A123 Systems (AONE), Sycamore Networks (SCMR), Tejas Networks, Sandstone Capital and HiveFire. He was also a founding investor in Airvana, Cimaron, Webdialogs and Relicore. Dr. Deshpande serves as a member of the MIT Corporation, and his generous donations have made possible MIT's Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation. Dr. Deshpande is a trustee of the Deshpande foundation. He and his wife are involved in several non-profit initiatives that include support for MIT, IIT, TiE, Akshaya Patra Foundation, Public Health Foundation of India and the Social Entrepreneurship Sandbox in India.

Dr. Ramdas M Pai (President and Chancellor, Manipal University)

Dr. Ramdas M Pai is the current President and Chancellor of Manipal University and the President of Manipal Education and Medical Group. Dr. Pai strongly believes that higher education builds up the nation’s intellectual capital and plays a vital role in the government transforming from a regulator into a facilitator and a catalyst. Dr. Pai is the son of Manipal University Founder Dr. TMA Pai. After taking over the reins from his father, Dr. Ramdas Pai made sure the university progressed to achieve its potential. Under Dr. Pai’s initiative, campuses in Pokhara, Nepal, Melaka, Malaysia, and UAE were started.

Dr. Pai joined the world of education after beginning his career as a hospital administrator. Since then, Dr. Pai has advocated for public-private partnerships in both higher education and healthcare. His commitment to excellence in both of these sectors has led to great success. Under Dr. Pai’s leadership, Manipal was given university status. Morever, in 2005-2006, over Rs. 73.91 crores were generated through the treatment of over 150 lakh patients in Manipal Group Hospitals, direct employment to more than 13,000 people, and indirect employment to over 25,000 people.

In addition to his successes within the wold Manipal University, Dr. Pai has contributed to education at the national level. He was a member of the Medical Council of India, Dental Council of India, Senate and Syndicate of Mangalore University, National Assessment and Accreditation Council, and more. In 2000 he was nominated by the Union Minister of Human Resource Development to a special six-member committee to advise the Ministry on Higher Education.

Raju Reddy (Founder and CEO, Sierra Atlantic)

Raju Reddy is the Founder and CEO of Sierra Atlantic, an IT services company headquartered in California, US. Under Raju’s leadership, Sierra Atlantic grew to be a best-in-class global services company over a period of 17 years and was consistently ranked amongst the best managed companies. Raju is actively engaged in the community and serves in leadership roles in various non-profits. He currently serves on the Board of India Community Center in Milpitas, California, and is the Chairman of BITSAA Intl, the alumni body of India’s #1 private university, BITS Pilani. Prior to this, he served as a member of the Board of Trustees for Puente, a Wharton School non-profit program which helps underprivileged communities worldwide gain access to technology. He also co-founded SIPA (Silicon Valley Indian Professional Association in 1987 and was instrumental in starting the TiE Chapter in Hyderabad.

Ramji Raghavan (Founder and Chairman, Agastya Foundation)

Ramji Raghavan’s dream to build an India of thinkers, problem-solvers and creators who are humane, anchored, and networked gave birth to Agastya International Foundation. Founded in 1999, Agastya's stated vision is to build a creative India of "tinkerers, solution-seekers, and creators" that are "humane, anchored and connected" by making practical, hands-on science education accessible to rural government schools. Agastya has so far lived up to its vision, as it currently runs the largest hands-on science program in the world. Ramji is also a member of the Karnataka State Innovation Council of Innovation. He is a recognized public speaker and has spoken at the Education World Forum, the annual INK Conference, the Clinton Global Initiative, Harvard India Conference, and the MIT Media Lab.

Dr. H Maheshappa (Vice Chancellor, VTU)

Dr. H Maheshappa is current Vice Chancellor of Visvesvaraya Technological University. Dr. Maheshappa has more than 25 years of teaching experience. He obtained his B.E. degree from UBDT College of Engineering, Davangere, his M.E. from Visvesvaraya College of Engineering, Bangalore, and his PhD in Mechanical Designing from Bangalore University. He is also a Fellow of the World Academy of Productivity Science in Canada.

Phanindra Sama (Co-founder and CEO, redbus.in)
Phanindra Sama is Co-Founder & CEO of redbus.in, India’s first and largest bus ticketing company. Founded in Aug. 2006, redbus today has operations across 22 states and offers services for ~19,000+ routes and has built relationship with about 700+ bus operators and 40,000+ travel agents. redbus was nominated by Forbes as one of the top five startups in 2010. redbus is ranked #1 amongst the fastest growing companies in India in a survey conducted by the All World Network. Phanindra is ranked #3 among India’s "Most Promising Entrepreneurs" by Business World. He was also chosen as a Global Shaper in the 2011 World Economic Forum.

Suhas Gopinath (Founder, CEO, and Chairman, Globals, Inc)

At the young age of 25, Suhas is the Founder, CEO, and Chairman of Global INC, a multimillion dollar software company that maintains a presence in the US and several European countries. He was 16 when he incorporated his country and launched his website. One thing that sets his company apart from other Indian software companies, and probably one of the key reasons for the company's success, is that the company focuses on both English and non-English speaking countries. Suhas plans to get his company listed by 2015 and has goals to start expanding into African countries.

Srikanth Bolla (Founder, Aasadeep Projects Pvt Ltd)

Srikanth is currently an undergraduate student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Having been visually challenged for most of his life, he has fought hard to overcome challenges brought on by a misconceived prejudice against disabled people. In addition to serving as a Board Member for the Samanvai Center for Children with Multiple Disabilities, an NGO in Hyderabad, Srikanth has recently founded Aasadeep Projects Pvt Ltd. Aasadeep Projects uses an innovative approach and employs disabled people to produce eco-friendly products using recycled paper and agricultural waste.

Dr. Narayan Reddy (Organic Farmer)
For more than two decades, Dr. Narayan Reddy has been a role model for many organic farmers. He is enthusiastic to innovate, experiment, learn and share. As a farmer, he surpassed national record crop yields but soon realized the ill effects of chemical farming and switched over to organic farming. His farm is a model for several alternatives, including SRI paddy cultivation and his methods have been studied by international dignitaries as well as reputed scientists. Dr. Reddy travels widely across the country, interacting with thousands of farmers and NGOs and is also a special invitee for national and international seminars and policy discussions.

Mr. P. Manivannan (IAS) (Chief Project Officer, Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project)

Known as "Mr. Transparent", IAS Officer P. Manivannan is attempting to introduce a new transparency into proceedings. When Manivannan was previously working as Commissioner of the Hubli-Dharwad Municipal Corporation, he was known the "Demolition Man" for hard decisions and their equally stern implementation. In fact, his steadfastness led to the demolition of big buildings constructed by influential people in order to make way for the construction of a public road. During the 2008 Karnataka Assembly elections, as candidates tried to lure voters through illegal means, Manivannan, a 2008 batch IAS Officer, set up 12 control rooms and 130 mobile police stations with a 20,000-strong staff to help seize illegal money and file cases against those who violated the Model Code of Conduct during elections.

Manivannan also previously served as Managing Director of the Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (BESCOM).

B. Girish Bharadwaj (Karnataka Bridge Builder)

B. Girish Bharadwaj received his B.E. Degree in Mechanical Engineering (I Class) at P.E.S. College of Engineering, Mandya, Karnataka State, University of Mysore in 1973. Afterwards, he started a small-scale industrial unit at Sullia in 1975, by the name of Rational Engineering Industries. In 2000, during the Silver Jubilee celebration, the name of the Unit was changed to “Ayasshila,” which, in Sanskrit means “Steel Sculpture.”

Ayasshilpa has been engaged in repairs of farm machinery, construction of gobar gas plants, general fabrication work and roof trusses. Since 1988, Ayasshila has been involved in building “Suspension Foot Bridges” (S.F.B.) to connect rural Indian villages to urban areas. So far, 102 S.F.B’s have been built and another 10 are in being constructed.

Prasanna (Founder, Charaka)

Prasanna is an actor, writer, director, and Gandhian who passed over his opportunity to do his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur to pursue his love of theatre. What sets Prasanna apart from other passionate people, though, is that he combined his passion for theatre with activism and led "Samudaya", a radical theatre movement for masses and workers. He later founded Charaka, a women’s co-operative society near Shimoga, Karnataka, that produces naturally dyed cotton handloom garments, which are sold under the ‘Desi’ brand name. Charaka employs nearly 200 women and has a decent turnover of a crore of rupees and each woman takes home an average of Rs. 3000 a month. The value of this money that a woman earns with clean technology and clean air here is much higher than what her counterpart in the city earns at an export-oriented garment factory.

Vijay Sankeshwar (Founder and Managing Director, VRL Logistics Ltd)

Vijay Sankeshwar is an entrepreneur and politician from Gadag. He is Founder and Managing Director of VRL Logistics Ltd., which is currently the largest fleet owner of commercial vehicles in India. Prior to founding VRL, he owned Karnataka’s largest circulating newspaper, Vijaya Karnataka.

Vijay is also the founder of the Kannada Nadu Party. He is a former Member of Parliament from the North Dharwad constituency. His other roles in politics include serving as a Member of BJP, in which he held various positions at the district and state level, Members of the Committee on Finance and Consultative Committee within the Ministry of Surface Transport, and Members of the Committee on Commerce and Transport and Tourism.

Naveen Jha (CEO, Deshpande Foundation)
Naveen Jha is the CEO of the Deshpande Foundation, India. He has been with the Foundation since its inception and has pioneered a series of youth development program, including LEAD, that helps transform the attitudes of young people into solving problems locally. Under Naveen’s leadership, the Foundation has touched thousands of lives including non-profits, students, youth, academics, and universities. He holds a Masters in International Development from Brandeis University in the US.

Shravani Hagargi (Founder, Safe Hands 24x7)
Safe Hands 24x7 is the first company in Karnataka that appoints and manages women security and housekeeping personnel to different households and organizations. By providing women security guards, Safe Hands 24x7 is able to meet the specific needs of organizations such as girls’ hostels or women’s colleges. Safe Hands 24x7 coordinates with self-help groups to recruit its female security guards from slums or villages. By employing these women, Safe Hands 24x7 is helping improve the their own livelihoods as well as the livelihoods of their families.

LEAD Prayana 2014 Itinerary

(January 7, 2014- January 21, 2014)

*Journey will start on January7th at 11 AM at VTU and will conclude at the Deshpande Foundation in Hubli on the evening of January 21st.

January 7th: Belgaum-Reporting and Hosting Day

Journey Introduction at VTU
Session at VTU with Prof. H. Maheshwappa (Vice Chancellor, VTU) and Naveen Jha (CEO, Deshpande Foundation).

January 8th: Belgaum/Sagar

· Morning Flag Off from VTU

Evening at Sagar and Role Model session with Prasanna (Founder, Charaka/Desi) and exposure visit to Charaka/Desi.
Night stay at Heggodu village near Charakha

January 9th-10th: Manipal

Exposure visit to Manipal University.

Speaker session with Dr. Vinod Bhat (Pro-Vice Chancellor, Manipal University)
Exposure visit to cashew industry and session with Mr. Sasi Sekhar Krish (CEO, Nanopix)

January 11th: Dharmasthala

Dharshana and site visits to SKDRDP and SIRI
Role model session with Dr. Veerendra Heggade

January 12th: Sullia

Exposure visit to suspension bridge
Role model session with Mr. Girish Bharadwaj

January 13th: Mysore

Exposure visit to Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement work at Saragur and Hosahalli and experiencing tribal life.

January 14th: Mysore/Infosys

Exposure visit to Infosys

January 15th: Dodballapur/Bangalore

· Hands on Mud and experiencing organic farming Mavanhalli Farm and role model session with Dr. Narayan Reddy

Panel session in Bangalore

January 16th: Kuppam

Exposure visit to Agastya Foundation and hands on science activities

January 17th: Kuppam

Full day of activities at Agastya Foundation and exposure visit to rural community.

January 18th: Chitradurga/Hubli

Session with Murga Mathi Swamiji
Exposure visit to VRL

January 19th: Hubli

Yuva Summit: Innovative leadership projects showcasing and panel sessions by LEAD LEADers
Role model session with Suhas Gopinath

January 20th: Hubli

Yuva Summit: Innovative leadership projects showcasing and inspiring speakers session.
Community Activity
Panel session

January 21st: Dharwad

Exposure visits to Akshaya Patra, Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya, Safe Hands, and Seven Beans

Destinations

Belgaum
Bordering the states of Maharashtra and Goa, Belgaum’s diverse cultural identity makes it the perfect starting point for the LEAD Prayana journey. For it is in Belgaum that the 100+ Prayanis from different states and cultures throughout India will come together with a common goal to be transformed.

Sagara
Located in the Western Ghats, Sagara is known for its proximity to Jog Falls and the historical places of Ikkeri and Keladi. Situated near Sagara is the village of Heggodu, where the Charaka and Desi headquarters is located. Charaka a women’s co-operative society that produces naturally dyed cotton handloom garments. Desti Trust is the leading marketing agency for the garments produced at Charaka. Desi outlets are currently located in Bangalore, Dharwad, and Shimoga.

Manipal
Located in the rocky hinterland of the Malabar Coast, the university town is an abode of education. With a commanding view of the Arabian Sea, this place houses the famous Manipal University that has produced some of the best leaders in every field.

Dharmasthala
The word 'Dharma' traditionally means religion, duty and righteousness. However, it also implies justice, truthfulness, and freedom from fear. For over 800 years, this noble lineage has built up this centre for religious and communal harmony. At Dharmastala, the Prayanis will learn from the past to build brighter futures.

Mysore
Mysore is famous for its festivities during Dusshera. However, the Prayanis will see a different side of Mysore at Infosys! After a tour of the beautiful historic Mysore palace, we will arrive at the Infosys Campus to get a sneak peek into the future.

Doddaballapur

In Doddahllapur, the Prayanis will be visiting the organic farm of Dr L. Narayana Reddy, a renowned farming innovator, whose techniques are at the forefront of the organic farming movement worldwide. He regularly interacts with NGOs across India and is the featured guest at many international seminars and policy discussions.

Bangalore
The Garden City will welcome the Prayanis with a warm smile and open up a whole new world of education and learning. Panel sessions will offer ample space to listen, learn, and reflect.

Kuppam
Kuppam, in Andhra Pradesh, has become an educational hub with an engineering college, medical college and Dravidian university. While here, we will be visiting Agastya International Foundation, an incredibly successful NGO that strives to bring hands-on science and creativity to all Indian children. Agastya’s vision is to build a creative India of‘ tinkerers, solution-seekers and creators’ that are ‘humane, anchored and connected’ by inspiring widespread social development, innovation and leadership through education. Agastya runs one of the largest mobile science education programs for disadvantaged children and rural teachers in the world.

Chitradurga
Chitradurga is a city featuring towering rock hills and borders. Known as the “stone fortress” (Kallima Kote), Chitradurga is most known its historical fort, Chitrakaldurga, which means ‘picturesque fort’ in Kannada, as well as Murugi Math. With a celebrated history of more than three centuries, the Math has been actively engaged in social, religious, educational and cultural activities.

Dharwad
The word “Dharwad” means a place of rest in a long travel, making it the perfect place for Prayanis to pause and reflect on what they have learned from their Prayana journey. Dharwad has historically been known as a hub for education and the arts. The Dharwad region is well provided with schools, polytechnics, ITIs, engineering colleges, and universities. In addition to its impressive list of educational institutions, the Dharwad region has also contributed great proponents of Hindustani classical music and other arts. With visits to Baala Balaga, Kalkeri Sangeeth Vidyalaya, and more, students will see firsthand just how Dharwad provides the right atmosphere to change the way we view education.

Hubli
In Kannada, Hubbali means “flowering creeper." As the name suggests, we believe Hubli will offer a promising end for the students who have come together for LEAD Prayana. Hubli has been home to individuals of national and international repute: Bhimsen Joshi, Gangubai Hangal and Gururaj Deshpande, to name a few. We want that legacy of greatness to inspire our Prayanis as they conclude their journeys and return to their homes. At the LEAD headquarters in Hubli, we end this leadership journey by bringing back a changed 'you'!

Institutions

Visvesyaraya Technological University (VTU)
Established in 1988, VTU is one of the biggest technological universities in India, maintaining affiliations with 208 colleges. With an intake capacity of 67,100, VTU and its affiliated colleges boast 28 undergraduate courses and 71 postgraduate courses. The university is headquartered in Belgaum and has three regional centers located in Bangalore, Gulbarga, and Mysore. At present, VTU has 13 QIP centers and 17 extension centers. Additionally, it has more than 2,305 departments recognized as research centers in different cities throughout Karnataka. The university has signed MoU's with various leading organizations including but not limited to IBM, Intel, Asia Electronics Inc., Ingersoll-Rand Ltd (India) and Microsoft.

Charaka/DESI
Charaka is a women’s co-operative society near Shimoga, Karnataka, that produces naturally dyed cotton handloom garments, which are sold under the ‘DESI’ brand name with outlets in Bangalore, Dharwad, and Shimoga. DESI is also an acronym for Developing Ecologically Sustainable Industries.

Charaka employs nearly 200 women. With a turnover of a crore of rupees, each woman takes home an average of Rs. 3000 every month. The value of this money that a woman earns with clean technology and clean air at Charaka is much higher than what her counterpart in the city earns at an export-oriented garment factory. 

Manipal University
Manipal University is a name to conjure with not just in India, but the world over. Although it was given university status in 1993, the seeds for its magnificent growth were sewn way back in 1953 with the setting up of the flagship Kasturba Medical College on what was then a barren hilltop. From then on, institution after institution was added and facilities kept improving to ensure that Manipal University emerged as the leading higher education provider in the country. Today with 24 professional institutions in medicine, engineering, management and humanities, the university is making a strong headway in research. Spread over 600 acres of a green expanse, the university is home to 28,000 students pursuing undergraduate and post graduate programs in diverse subjects.

Nanopix
Nanopix is an image processing and industry automation company that provides solutions based on image processing and control systems in various fields of application including sports, industry controls, biotechnology and security industries. Nanopix has a vision to be the top video and image processing application development organization of India by 2015. With products such as the Cashew Sorter, the Hand Held Vehicle Tracker, the Blood Smear Analyzer, the TrackBall, and more, Nanopix is pioneering automated efficiency with the ImageIn Technology that it develops

Dharmasthala
The Shri Kshethra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (SKDRDP) in South India is a prime example of the vital role that a well-run microfinance organization can play in meeting the energy needs of the poor. The Karnataka-based NGO provides affordable loans to families in the area, helping them buy life-enhancing renewable energy systems such as biogas plants, solar home systems, cook stoves and family-scale hydro plants. Key to the success of this highly replicable program are self-help groups that help people plan their household needs, save money and make informed choices on what energy products they buy. So far SKDRDP has provided nearly 20,000 energy loans, benefiting around 82,500 people.

Ayasshilpa
Ayasshipla, which means “steel sculptures” in Sanskrit, was founded in 1975 by B. Girish Bharadwah, a mechanical engineer and renowned bridge builder. Its stated vision is to render professional excellence in “establishing rural connectivity and assisting communities through building bridges”, and Ayasshipla has done just that. Its most acclaimed projects include the construction of “Suspension Foot Bridges” (SFB) to connect rural Indian villages to urban areas. So far, 102 SFBs have been built and another 10 are being constructed.

Infosys
Infosys was founded in 1981 by seven people with just $250. Today, Infosys is a global leader in consulting, technology and outsourcing with revenues of US$ 7.126 billion. Many of the world's most successful organizations rely on Infosys to deliver measurable business value. Infosys provides business consulting, technology, engineering and outsourcing services to help clients in over 30 countries build the enterprises of tomorrow. Infosys has a global footprint with 66 offices and 69 development centers throughout the US, India, China, Australia, Japan, the Middle East, UK, Germany, France, Switzerland, Netherlands, Poland, Canada and many other countries. Infosys gives back to the community through the Infosys Foundation that funds learning and education.

Swami Vivekanand Youth Movement
The Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (SVYM) is a development organization engaged in building a new civil society in India through its grassroots to policy-level action in the health, education and community development sectors. Acting as a key promoter-facilitator in the community's efforts towards self-reliance and empowerment, SVYM is developing local, innovative and cost-effective solutions to sustain community-driven progress. Buying in support from the community, working in healthy partnership with the government and corporate sectors and sharing its experiences with like-minded organizations have been the hallmark of SVYM's evolution over the past 28 years.

Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore (IIMB)
The Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) is an autonomous institute that was established in 1973. IIMB is among the top business schools in India. For the fifth consecutive year IIMB has been nominated the best school in the region by Eduniversal, and retained its 'Five Palmes' status as a 'Universal Business School with Major Influence' in 2012. The Institute received the NCPEDP-Mphasis Universal Design Award 2012 for pioneering work in the field of promoting accessibility and universal design and ensuring life of equality and dignity for disabled people. IIMB's career development services team won 'Best Placement Cell' in the India Today Aspire Education Summit 2012 for helping in implementing education and development in the India.

Tejas Networks
Founded in May 2000 by Sanjay Nayak with funding from Gururaj Deshpande, Tejas Networks is a computer networking and telecommunication equipment products company based in Bangalore, India. Tejas Networks sells optical networking products to telecom networks in India and in over 50 countries.

SJM Society (Math) Education Institute
Situated on the outskirts of Chitradurga, Sri Jagadguru Murugharajendra Brihanmath has played a major role in the religious history of Karnataka. With a celebrated tradition of more than three centuries, the Math has actively engaged itself in social, religious, educational and cultural activities.

Akshaya Patra
The Akshaya Patra Foundation was principally involved in implementing the Mid-Day Meal program to the children of government and government-aided schools across India. Since 2003, the foundation has been implementing the Mid-Day Meal program under the guidelines of the Government of India. Akshaya Patra is currently operating in 19 locations across 9 states of India. It is reaching out to over 9000 government schools feeding 1.3 million children year-round on all school working days. It is steadily moving towards achieving its goal of feeding 5 million children by 2020.

Agastya International Foundation
Agastya runs the largest hands-on science program in the world! Tapping the valuable resource of bright but underprivileged children, Agastya provides an environment in which they can create, tinker, and seek solutions. Through this simple formula of encouraging educational curiosity, Agastya is helping millions of disadvantaged, at-risk children escape the vicious cycle of poverty. One of Agastya's central goals is to create an education dissemination model that is cost-effective, scalable and replicable within India and in other developing countries.

Kalkeri Sangeeth Vidyalaya (KSV)
The Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya (KSV) provides musical and academic education to two hundred underprivileged children, free of charge. In addition, food, accommodation, health care and clothing are also provided at no extra cost. More than a school, KSV is a living and working ideal, where the students can blossom and realize their full potential. KSV is traditional and modern in its educational approach at all times. The modern educational program is based on the educational syllabus of Karnataka State, and great emphasis is put on teaching English as the main language of communication. Computer studies are also important to prepare the students to meet the demands of today's rapidly evolving world. Tradition is intermixed with modernity in that in addition to academics, students are also taught the ancient disciples of Indian classical music and drama.

Baala Balaga
Baala Balaga in Dharwad is a unique school that challenges the traditional educational environment. At Baala Balaga, creativity and freedom are emphasized: students do not wear uniforms and refer to their teachers as “mama” and “moushi”, as opposed to “Sir” or “Madam”.

Safe Hands
Safe Hands 24x7 is a company that appoints and manages security and housekeeping personnel to different households and organizations. The company is unique in that it provides women security guards to meet the specific needs of organizations, such as girls’ hostels or women’s colleges. Employing these women has helped improve the livelihoods of many families

Seven Beans
Seven Beans aims to change the way that people “hang out” in India. Seven Beans is an eclectic Hubli landmark that not only serves delicious coffee beverages and food, but also provides customers with a unique and meaningful experience.

VRL Logistics
VRL was founded in 1976 by Mr. Vijay Sankeshwar in Gadag with just a single truck and a bold vision. VRL gradually expanded its services to Bangalore, Hubli and Belgaum. From this humble beginning VRL has today grown into a nationally renowned logistics and transport company which is also currently the largest fleet owner in India with 3673 Vehicles (including 533 tourist buses & 3140 Goods Transport Vehicles) as of August 31, 2013.

Shikshana Foundation

India is a developing country with a large and growing population. The challenge of providing primary education to about 250 million children in over 30 different languages is a task that stretches the capacity of any single agency - private, public or the state. The Sikshana Foundation employs a model that brings together all stakeholders in children's education - the local public school, its teaching staff, its community of parents, local government bodies, private foundations and volunteers from around the world. .

The State Government of Karnataka has an “adoption” program for its public schools wherein private organizations can partner with the state to improve the quality of public education. Sikshana started by adopting three schools in 2001. The project has since expanded to more than 400 schools throughout Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat.

Sankalpa Rural Development Society (SRDS)
Water plays a vital role in the ability of communities to thrive, but increasing water scarcity throughout India is threatening the development of rural communities across the country. Mr. Sikandar Meeranayak founded SRDS in January 2008 with the vision of promoting development and ending water scarcity through modern-day rainwater harvesting. Staffed with experts in the field, SRDS strives to create and spread awareness about rainwater conservation practices and explain why protection and recycling of water is essential to our wellbeing. Using proven techniques of rainwater harvesting and exclusively practiced innovative techniques, SRDS works to resolve water-scarcity issues for rural and urban communities.

PARTNERS

Shree Kshethra Dharmasthala

The word 'Dharma' traditionally means religion, ritual, duty, righteousness and alms. It also implies justice truthfulness, freedom from fear, faith, solace, fulfillment and peace.

Dharmasthala is the prefect embodiment of the word 'Dharma' for it displays every shade of meaning with which the word is inspired from. The greatness of Dharmasthala, however, is the fact that it has added an active element to 'Dharma,' which touches the lives of people with a transformational directness that is unique. Many institutions are running under the initiative of holly Dharmasthala. SKDRDP is one of its most popular a charitable trust promoted by Dr. D. Veerendra Heggade. SKDRDP concentrates on the empowerment of rural women by organizing Self-help Groups (SHGs) on the lines of Joint Liability Groups (JLBs) of Bangladesh and provides infrastructure and finance through micro credit for the rural people. It is currently engaged in developmental activities in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Uttara Kannada, Coorg, Shimoga, Chickmagalur, Dharwad, Haveri, Gadag, Tumkur and Belgaum districts operating in 8,000 villages covering more than 17,50,000 families.

SKDRDP today works on a wide spectrum of development activities including training and capacity building, transformation of technologies from lab to land, financial inclusion, de-addiction and livelihoods. It has a client base of 30,00,000 families in Karnataka covering 25,000 villages and 200 urban centers. An annual credit disbursement in excess of Rs 25000 million has made it the biggest financial service provider in the country in the non profit sector. It has also interesting health, life insurance products.

Akshaya Patra

Close to 13.5 million underprivileged children in India are out of school and into child labour in order to earn a single meal in a day. The surest way to break out of the cycle of poverty is through education. Education can significantly improve the quality of life of a family for generations to come. When the basic needs of a child, such as food are not met, education often becomes the last priority.

Akshaya Patra is helping underprivileged children by providing them with a healthy, balanced meal that they would otherwise have to work for. The meal is an incentive for them to continue their education. It helps reduce the dropout rate to an enormous extent and increases classroom attendance.

Agastya International Foundation

Agastya runs the largest hands-on science program in the world!

Tapping the valuable resources of bright but underprivileged children and teachers in rural India, they provide an environment in which they can create, thinker, seek solutions and find them. Agastya encourage inquire from children, who are inquisitive by nature! Help millions of disadvantaged, vulnerable and at-risk children to escape the vicious cycle of ignorance and poverty! Make a donation to support our work!

Agastya is a movement led by entrepreneurs, educators, scientists, teachers and children to revitalize and transform primary and secondary education in India and provide an affordable education model that can be replicated anywhere in the world.

Through interactive high-impact grassroots education, Agastya aims to inspire and catalyze effective and widespread social development, innovation and leadership.

Manipal University

In the 58 years of existence, Manipal University has emerged as the leading higher education provider in India. Spread over 600 acres of green expanse, Manipal University is home to 26,000 students pursuing undergraduate and post graduate programs in diverse subjects. The University has a strong alumni network of over 83,000 members.

The University has created an ecosystem of teaching and research excellence making it a universally accepted destination by students. The breadth of disciplines and collaboration among constituent institutions gives unparalleled opportunity to students to cross departmental boundaries and explore different horizons.

Visvesvaraya Technological University

Established in 1988, VTU is one of the biggest technological universities in India, maintaining affiliations with 208 colleges. With an intake capacity of 67,100, VTU and its affiliated colleges boast 28 undergraduate courses and 71 postgraduate courses. The university is headquartered in Belgaum and has three regional centers located in Bangalore, Gulbarga, and Mysore. At present, VTU has 13 QIP centers and 17 extension centers. Additionally, it has more than 2,305 departments recognized as research centers in different cities throughout Karnataka. The university has signed MOU's with various leading organizations including but not limited to IBM, Intel, Asia Electronics Inc., Ingersoll-Rand Ltd (India) and Microsoft.

VRL Logistics

VRL was founded in 1976 by Mr. Vijay Sankeshwar in Gadag with just a single truck and a bold vision. VRL gradually expanded its services to Bangalore, Hubli and Belgaum. From this humble beginning VRL has today grown into a nationally renowned logistics and transport company which is also currently the largest fleet owner in India with 3673 Vehicles (including 533 tourist buses & 3140 Goods Transport Vehicles) as of August 31, 2013.

Unleash Your Leadership Potential: LEAD Prayana 2014

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Fri, 20 Dec 2013 04:51:00 +0000

LEAD is proud to announce its third annual leadership journey, LEAD Prayana.

What is LEAD Prayana? LEAD Prayana is an annual leadership journey hosted by the LEaders Accelerating Development (LEAD) of the Deshpande Foundation in Hubli. For 14 days, 100+ college students from throughout the country will travel across Karnataka, going on exposure visits and interacting with reputable role models along the way. As the LEAD Prayana tagline suggests, students will become inspired in order to unleash their leadership potential by exposing them to individuals and institutions that have innovated and implemented solutions to major challenges. Through this leadership journey on wheels, the LEAD Program aims to instill in youth the need to bring about change through effective leadership.

LEAD Prayana: Role Models and Destinations

This year’s journey includes visits to Charaka/Desi (Sagar), Manipal University (Manipal), Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala Rural Development Project (Dharmasthala), SIRI (Dharmasthala), Suspension Bridge (Sullia), Swami Vivekananda Youth Movement (Mysore), Infosys Campus (Mysore), Organic Farming at Mavanhalli Farm (Dodballapur), Agastya International Foundation (Kuppam, Andhra Pradesh), VRL Logistics Ltd. (Hubli), Akshaya Patra (Hubli), Kalkeri Sangeet Vidyalaya (Hubli), Safe Hands 24x7(Hubli), Seven Beans (Hubli).

Role models and speakers for this year’s journey include Jairam Ramesh (Hon. Minister of Rural Development, Government of India), Dr. Veerendra Heggade (Dharmadhikari, Dharmasthala), Dr. Gururaj “Desh” Deshpande (Chairman, Sparta Group LLC), Raju Reddy (Founder and CEO, Sierra Atlantic), Ramji Raghavan (Founder and Chairman, Agastya International Foundation), Dr. H. Maheshappa (Vice Chancellor, VTU), Dr. Vinod Bhat (Pro-Vice Chancellor, Manipal University), Phanindra Sama (Co-founder and CEO, redbus.in), Suhas Gopinath (Founder, CEO, and Chairman, Globals Inc), Srikanth Bolla (Founder, Aasadeep Projects Pvt. Ltd), Dr. Narayan Reddy (Organic Farming), Mr. P. Manivannan [IAS] (Chief Project Officer, Karnataka State Highways Improvement Project), Sasi Sekhar Krish (CEO, Nanopix), B. Girish Bharadwaj (Founder, Aayashilpa and Renown Karnataka Bridge Builder), Prasanna (Founder, Charaka/Desi), Vijay Sankeshwar (Founder and Managing Director, VRL Logistics Ltd), Naveen Jha (CEO, Deshpande Foundation) and Shravani Hagargi (Founder, Safe Hands 24x7).

LEAD Prayana Partners

Partners for the 2014 LEAD Prayana journey include Shree Kshetra Dharmasthala, Akshaya Patra, Agastya International Foundation, Visvesvaraya Technological University and VRL Logistics Ltd.

Subscribe to our YouTube channel to see glimpses of last year's LEAD Prayana.

A Glimpse of LEAD Prayana 2013

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Tue, 10 Dec 2013 04:54:00 +0000

Watch this video from Day 4 of LEAD Prayana 2013 to see a glimpse of what the upcoming 2014 journey will be like!

LEAD Prayana 2013: Day 4
The Prayanis began their day very early and traveled to the farming house of Dr. Narayana Reddy. Dr. Reddy has been a pioneer in organic farming and has served as a role model for many organic farmers. His farming methods provide several alternatives to chemical farming, including SRI paddy cultivation. He writes a regular column in LEISA India Magazine and actively interacts with farmers and NGOs from across the country.

At Dr. Reddy's farm, the Prayanis, learned firsthand the different aspects of organic farming: harvesting, watering of the plants, and preparing of the organic manure.

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Mon, 02 Dec 2013 12:55:00 +0000

"LEAD Prayana was a 14-day trip after which I can actually find a change in myself. I now have a willingness to do something, an urge to speak up rather than sit back and watch others. You get to learn and experience so many things that lie beyond your imagination. I learned that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back, shivering and thinking of the cold and danger, but jump in and face it."
-Anam Hudli
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Sun, 01 Dec 2013 12:53:00 +0000

"LEAD Prayana is a very good platform to learn the qualities of a real leaders and to know the things done by them in society. Direct interactions with the great personalities increase our confidence,and story behind them motivate us to do something good to society."
-2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Fri, 29 Nov 2013 13:01:00 +0000

"LEAD Prayana brings people who are in sitting in the dark into the light."
-Sandeep Palankar
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Thu, 28 Nov 2013 12:58:00 +0000

"LEAD Prayana became life Prayana for us!"
-2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Wed, 20 Nov 2013 12:51:00 +0000

"Lead Prayana is a very good platform for young leaders to showcase their managerial skills and unleash their leadership potential to the fullest and be recognized as leader in society".
-Parul
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Tue, 19 Nov 2013 12:31:00 +0000

"LEAD Prayana changed my way of thinking as an entrepreneur. It's not just about the money-ethical values and humanity are also responsible for building an institution or company that is sustainable and will help generations to come. It should have a purpose."
-Shivanand Patil
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Sat, 16 Nov 2013 09:37:00 +0000

"LEAD Prayana was a great opportunity for young aspirants to develop qualities of leadership, managing skills, and more".
-Raj Tilva
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 16:30:00 +0000

"Prayana has come into my life at such a point of time wherein I've just started to think and plan out what I want from life and how I can contribute to make the lives of people a little better. It's given me 100 different ideas and let me make 100 new friends. Whatever I turn out to be-an entrepreneur, a leader, or a change maker, I'll owe it to these 13 days of my life".
-Krutika Thakkannavar
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Fri, 15 Nov 2013 09:35:00 +0000

"I think LEAD Prayana is the best thing that one can experience. It is the best way to take out leadership qualities from students, and to motivate young people to improve their existing leadership qualities. LEAD Prayana should exist all over India".
-2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Thu, 14 Nov 2013 09:32:00 +0000

"LEAD Prayana is a very good platform for a young entrepreneur to execute his/her ideas and views for a better society."
-Yashaswini K.T.
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Wed, 13 Nov 2013 10:30:00 +0000

"It was a great experience meeting people, both role models as well as the Prayanis. It provided a good platform for networking, too. Without Prayana, I never would have met all of those people. It was definitely worthy".
-Maithri Mahesh K

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 12:30:00 +0000

From Harish Hande's session in LEAD Prayana, I learned 'Stop thinking of excuses and start thinking of solutions".
-Vaishnavi Adapa
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Tue, 12 Nov 2013 09:10:00 +0000

"I was so touched and inspired by the energy and enthusiasm of Prayana."
- Sudheer Kumashiakr
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 13:30:00 +0000

This opportunity gave us the right amount of exposure at the right time, where our ideas or thoughts shape up and require proper guidance. I hope many more students in upcoming years get this kind of opportunity. Enabling the younger, talented minds is important for building a strong, self-sufficient society."
-Ashwini S.N.

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Mon, 11 Nov 2013 09:09:00 +0000

"Travel, knowledge, experiences...LEAD Prayana is an amazing journey which has become a crucial part of my life. I was fortunate enough to talk and walk with real leaders. I'm proud of myself for taking this right step forward to help me achieve my future goals. Now I feel that eventually, I can also become a leader."
-Janapati Surya Gayathri
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 09:40:00 +0000

"The heart doesn't always lie where the brain does. Ultimately there is a place where these two are at peace with each other. That is the place where one should be. Yes, it is not easy and will never get easier. But once the mettle is put to test, anything less than that will never suffice. Challenges make a man. The biggest asset is the brain and shall never be put to rest however it should be rejuvenated. After two weeks, I was a more aware voyageur. Only time will tell where each one of us progresses, but the real journey is within. If I am at peace with myself then there is nothing else that matters. That peace comes with karma and fulfilling my sense of purpose in life, and LEAD Prayana has helped me to get another step closer to that sense of fulfillment.
Thank you for the same."
-Alysha Tharani
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Sun, 10 Nov 2013 07:22:00 +0000

"LEAD Prayana played a major role in carving us for a better future"
-Aarya Hallikeri (KLEIT, Hubli)
2013 LEAD Prayana Participant

noreply@blogger.com (LEAD) — Thu, 17 Oct 2013 05:25:00 +0000

“LEAD Prayana taught me that to do anything in the world worth doing, we must not stand back shivering and thinkof the cold and danger. Rather, we must jump in and face it.”- Anam J Hudli (GIT).