Last month I completed my first year at Turiyo Foundation (TF). Thanks to all my friends and extended family, for that quiet thumbs up for everything I share. Every action counts!!

A self-funded social venture, TF is designed to be a playground for fresh ideas. We look at current challenges in early childhood education, health, and median household income in a hyper-local setting (Village #Chauddhachuli) and try out new experimental solutions. Some ideas work, but many fail. This video is a documentation of where we stand at the end of Year 1.

It is my pipe dream, to find like-minded individuals who are trying new and innovative stuff to solve myriad rural problems. Combined with macro-level structural changes (and programs like NEP2020, and Poshan Abhiyaan), I believe local initiatives can create a real and sustainable impact. Maybe someday I will launch a platform where organizations with similar mindsets can open-source our ideas, tools, and content to scale solutions faster. ‘It takes a village’, as some say.

I am disappointed by the metric monomania of the social sector like “X million served” (which is an effective fund-raising strategy) but hardly delivers sustainable results. I am big on SUSTAINABILITY – the acid test – will this program shut down when I take my eyes off it and pull back the funding support?

Such thoughts and more, cloud my mind, as we plow through the darkness. Complex human attitude, challenging political environment, rampant corruption are all reasons that make me want to run away back to the safe havens of corporate life in Mumbai. BUT, then I wake up amidst the unspoilt nature – verdant greens moistened by the autumn dew, the faces of hope and joy of the little children that troop into the school early morning and feel I need to give this my best shot.

It is no time to scale up. Let us go deep, I say.