Wrinkled Oranges

Dear Friends,

While I was under the weather during most of May, a lot of inspiring things around me kept me afloat and spirited. 

A series of short one to one, legal mentoring sessions that I undertook online for the Women Startup Programme (WSP4) for NSRCEL@IIM, Bangalore opened my eyes to the diverse kind of problems that women entrepreneurs are trying to solve through their startups – some at the idea stage, some at prototype and some making revenues already. It was heartening to meet women from all over the country of different age groups and backgrounds ‘starting up’ to impact in the areas of healthcare, education, apparel & fashion, communication, food, travel, architecture, eldercare, technology, performing arts etc. While I was enamoured by every story of courage and risk taking, two women touched my heart and kept me ruminating  long after the session – Why ? Because they were working on the “WRINKLED ORANGE”.

One of them, a juvenile diabetic (from age 4) is already running a Trust for people with similar health conditions. Having completed her masters in public health administration, she is now on her way to setting up a start up that can provide an AI enabled platform for services and guidance to juvenile diabetics that even allows them to post their stories to reach a wider audience. In her I found a young, confident, articulate woman who was not perturbed by her own medical condition. There she was, gearing up to empower a whole lot of her ‘own tribe’, clearly seeing a business opportunity alongside the charitable activities. Despite joining the call from a noisy public transport in an Indian metro, she was very focussed and clear about what she wanted to convey. What she wanted to solve. What she wanted to even out in the ‘Wrinkled Orange’. 

In another session, I had a very poignant interaction with a visually impaired woman who was doing the reverse – building a not-for-profit, tech-driven platform to enable her tribe to sell their products, after successfully leading a for-profit business that teaches and trains visually impaired to use computers and technology. I heard her speak so fluently and boldly on screen and was eager to see the face behind the voice. I was taken aback when she switched on the video. She was struggling to focus on my face, even as she was referring to her prepared questions from her laptop. She knew exactly what she wanted and had the blue print of her business in her mind. Despite the lack of vision, her eyes sparkled and her face smiled. She teared up when she found a patient listener in me, willing to understand what personal challenges she has been facing since the age of 24 when she lost her eyesight. I gave her the time she needed to settle down on the conversation and assured her that deferring setting up a limited company for sometime till she moved beyond the ideation stage would help. I felt a lump in my throat when she said “ma’am you are my light-house in this hour of darkness”. I wondered who the real light-house is – between the two of us.  However, I had no doubt she was the one solving the ‘Wrinkled Orange’.

Well, I have referred to WO three times already. What is it? I was quite fascinated when I heard this phrase for the first time last week from Air Vice Marshal Shankar, who was the chief guest for the anniversary celebration of one of my NGO clients, Vonisha Foundation. He lauded the founder for picking on the ‘Wrinkled Orange’ (i.e. problems or challenges) in the society and solving them innovatively. The Foundation is working in the space of underprivileged childrens’ education, women empowerment, environment, skill development and sports. Quoting how, startups like Oyo solved a societal problem that they saw or how the first man went up on the moon thanks to a visionary leader’s dreams and determination – both through innovative solutions, he applauded the efforts of the Foundation in ‘breaking the barriers and bridging the gaps’ to transform lives. He reiterated that while many of us discard wrinkled oranges, a few like the Foundation pick them up and iron out the wrinkles that makes a difference to the society.  While all of us cannot do societal good directly, we can support such genuine NGOs in our own ways to touch lives – both theirs as well as ours. I feel satiated that thanks to my governance profession, I am able to mentor such Founders, offer pro bono services and also connect them with eager CSR donor corporates. It is an ecosystem that all of us have to build and thrive in.

Let me conclude by recalling two dreams that have inspired me this month – one, of a young woman entrepreneur from Chennai (from the startup programme) who is conducting story-telling sessions for children in remote areas as a means of improving communication. She dreams that one day a TED speaker will emerge from such children !! Second, of the Vonisha Founder Dr. Naga Subramaniam who dreams of producing an Olympic champion from the privileged (nay, they aren’t underprivileged as their teacher pointed out to us) slum children whom they groom !! 

The 288th issue of Samhita wishes all the dreamers and doers much success and joy in their endeavours.  This new look and feel publication, that comes in as a whiff of fresh air is brought to you by our new vendor-partner, Vector Vibe (https://vectorvibe.com/). Hope you like it as much as we do. As always, regulatory updates and changes started trickling in through the month and gained momentum in the last week adding much food for thought under PMLA regulations, angel tax changes and others. There is never a quiet, stable moment in the compliance world – it is dynamic, responsive and at times reactive – keeping all of us on our toes.