Another ‘road not taken’ story

IIM grads opting out of placements to start their own venture are no great news these days. But when one destines to sell vegetables on the streets of Bihar, with a bigger dream of making Bihar the vegetable hub of India, it demands applause. Especially when the person is an IIM Ahmedabad topper!

Kaushalendra, popularly known as ‘MBA sabziwala’ among his customers, hails from a family of agricultural background. Currently he is on a well set path of achieving his dream, as he has tied up with over 250 vegetable growers in Nalanda and Patna districts of Bihar. He has also come up with a unique push-cart capable of carrying 200 kilos of vegetables, with an attached weighing machine and is ice cooled to keep vegetables fresh for 5 days, sold under the brand name ‘Samridhi’. Kaushalendra says it was his childhood dream to contribute to the development of rural Bihar.

More news here.

From rags to riches

A crorepati who lives in a hut!

The awe-inspiring story of a first generation entrepreneur! Sarath opens up his mind about the hardships he faced while making his company a success. I particularly liked the following statement he makes.

Quoting Sarath,
We talk about India shining and India growing, but we should ensure that people do not die of hunger. We can be a developed country but we should not leave the poor people behind. I am worried for them because I know what hunger is... Thoughts that are quite in line with the article by Pankaj Mishra about which I wrote in this post.

Sarath is a classmate of mine from IIMA's MBA programs. I hope that his story will be an inspiration for each and every one of us to start something similar and take India to one of the topmost countries in the world.

Have a business idea and need funding?

If you have a business idea and require money to start it, attend ‘Start-up Showcase’ during Manfest of IIM Lucknow. To encourage entrepreneurship in India, with other initiatives, IIM Lucknow has also come up with something solid.

You can present your business idea in front of a panel of judges and investors and the winner will secure funding up to 200K dollars. More details here and here.

Entrepreneurship, the next Indian way?

I was reading an article that came on rediff which talked about a few young entrepreneurs who started something that they were passionate about and then succeeded in it. A techie who started a restuarant, a gamer who started a gaming company, another techie who started a resort; great and inspiring stories!

I have always felt that India is a land of family owned businesses. Almost all the big business names in India have the same story behind it. I know, there are a few Infosyses out there, but then, when you take the larger picture the names you would hear would be nothing but the Tatas, Birlas, Ambanis, Wadias, Bajajs, etc. Okay, when they all started they did it through the entrepreneurship way, but the point is there isn't enough entrepreneurial ventures in India being started these days, not to the extent that the country can produce.

Is it because of the lack of availability of funds? If it was 10 years ago I would have definitely considered this sentence, but now, with a lot of Venture Capital Funds operating in India, I would not agree to that. During this year's placement at IIMA, along with companies, a few VC Funds also visited the campus to hear whether the bright minds in the country have got any bright ideas with them so that they can pour the required money to let those ideas see the light of the day. Now, that was a welcome change. Hmm.. India is not only shining but changing too!

I hope the talents in our country would get inspired by the stories such as those posted by rediff and do some thing substantial to take our country towards the next era.