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'Can we give young India the tools to solve the problems the country or society faces and uplift the community?'
Manav Subodh, an entrepreneur based in Bengaluru, met President Droupadi Murmu along with 15 young changemakers his organisation has created in different parts of India.
These young people were mentored by 1M1B, a non-profit organisation Subodh founded.
"Changing the lives of 10 people can be big; changing the life of one person itself is big," Manav Subodh tells Rediff.com's Shobha Warrier in the first of a two-part interview.
Working for the corporate world
Intel had wanted to start a programme for youth on entrepreneurship for the Arab world as a peace-making effort based on the belief that the conflict in the region was because there were no opportunities for the youth.
As I was working on public policy at Intel at that time, I was asked to conceptualise a program (Intel Youth Enterprise) for the Arab world.
My programme was to engage the youth in creating solutions for them and their family so that they will not be a part of the conflict.
In 2010, we launched it in the Arab world and it was a phenomenal success.
Then, we launched it in the under-served areas in other developing countries like Africa, South America, etc where young people didn't have access to opportunities.
That made me think, if I can do such a programme outside my country, why can't I do it in my own country when there is a huge pool of young talent with immense potential.
The question I had in mind was, can changemaking and problem solving of the world be the new mantra for success?
Who are the changemakers?
A changemaker is one who responds to problems in society like the problems in the healthcare system, farming, climate crisis, gender equality, and so on.
These are big systemic issues, but we expect the government to solve all our problems.
We expect somebody, not me or you, to take care of issues. When you expect somebody to do things for you, that somebody is nobody. Instead, why can't you be the somebody?
The question is, can we give young India the tool to lead and solve the problems the country or society faces and uplift the community?
In the corporate world and the start-up world, everything has to be scalable. I felt we didn't have to look at everything from the point of view of growth and numbers.
Changing the lives of 10 people can be big; changing the life of one person itself is big.
Leaving the corporate world to start a social impact venture
Leaving the corporate world, leaving a very well-paying job and jumping to work for the youth, was actually a huge decision and a panic moment for me.
I had to think about my family and the future of my two small kids. Of course, the EMI on my house also!
I did a lot of freelance assignments and consultancy on public policy so that my income is supplemented.
I also got a senior fellowship at University of California at Berkeley and as a part of that, I worked on case studies and implementation of youth programs in India.
Naming the venture 1 Million 1 Billion (1M1B)
I call the organisation I started a social impact venture, and not an NGO or a start-up.
From the beginning, I wanted to name it 1 Million 1 Billion (1M1B).
It was rather, the purpose of my life; that is, to create a million people to impact a billion lives.
I started working in a village in the west Godavari region in Andhra Pradesh first. That was because I got an opportunity to work with the then chief minister Chandrababu Naidu's office.
I also started working in Uttarakhand. As my maternal grandfather was a farmer there, I felt I had a moral responsibility to work in his village.
Trying to create young entrepreneurs in the villages
I was so inspired by Mr Narayana Murthy that I wanted to create many Narayana Murthys in the villages by giving them opportunities.
It was conceived as a start-up and entrepreneurship focused programme.
We asked the youngsters to come up with ideas that would impact the community, and then chose seven ideas from them.
That was when I realised that the young people in the villages wanted jobs, and they were not inclined to become entrepreneurs.
Their first priority was to put food on the table and not take risks.
I learnt that majority of the boys dropped out of school by the time they were 16, and 50% of the girls stopped going to school after they were 15.
As a person going there with a corporate mindset, the reality I saw was an eyeopener for me.
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/Rediff.com