Senthil - The real hero!_Humble Beginning, Immense outcomes

Humble Beginning, Immense outcomes
Come and visit Thennur village near Trichy. I got a chance to go there when we went to our friend Thilaga’s marriage. Here is a man who was earning Rs 2 lakhs per month 5years ago in the US. One of his ambitions, from the time he was studying in school, is to serve his village. Hence, after earning some money for his parents, he resigned his job in the US and came to his village to start an NGO in order to support the village. He is just 36 years old now which means he resigned his job when he was 31! He is also called as ‘Ilam Gandhi’ (Young Gandhi).
So, what did he do after resigning his job?? He invested Rs 40 lakhs in Thennur to build a community health center and an informal learning center. Out of the Rs 40 lakhs which he spent, Rs 31 lakhs came out of his own pocket. He started an NGO called ‘Payir’ to help this village
Have a look at his PAYIR’s building:

The community health center:



Informal learning center:

Now, he has appointed 5 people who are locals and who function as his staff. They teach proper English to the schools available in their locality.
Local staff working in Payir

And that is not all! He has created a small IT company within that village. This company has 4 employees as of now, who are all graduates from this village. They have a US client and are currently working on a $2500 project. This IT company is in the middle of a Coconut farm.
The IT company in the middle of a farm

Inside the company


Fan inside the IT company

While working in the US, he used to deposit a little money for his parents as one of his mother’s wishes was to build a house for themselves. With his savings, his parents now live in a big house at Srirangam.
But, that’s not the case with him. He lives in a small hut in that village itself.
Have a look at his room:

I asked him, how he is able to live without any earnings? His reply was as follows:
“Payir trust provides me with daily food. My trustees have agreed on this. I have built a hut for myself using my past earnings. So shelter is not a problem. I have 3sets of shirts and Vesti (Dhoti) which I can use for the next 2 years. My friends will get me a few dresses once or twice in a year. What more do I need in my life??”
Have a look at the slipper of the great man who was earning 2Lakhs a month in US:

When I asked, how he will manage in his old age, if he gets any disease, he coolly replied that he will go to a Govt. hospital where everything is free of cost.
My question is: How many of us will dare to act like Senthil? Many of us have so many dreams in life like becoming a music director, to become a cricketer, to do MBA, go to the Himalayas, help the schools where we studied, to become a district collector etc., etc. But we all lose our dreams just to earn money and want to reach a position which we call it as ‘Status’. We determine our path by seeing what others are doing. We select our needs based on what others have. We select a course to study based on the job availability and its salary rather than our interest for the subject.
Every one forgets that we have only one life to achieve our dream. Many of us chase what we do not want actually. If you still have some of your dreams unfulfilled, remember that you are the reason behind it. Start now and chase your dreams!
Senthil had a dream and he started executing it now! Believe me or not. Senthil started dreaming about Payir organization during his 11th std!

Senthil - The real hero!

Coming to the social aspect of Senthil, how many of us will leave all that we have earned and work for the benefit of others? Have we ever dreamt of doing what Senthil has done?
While returning from Thennur, only one thing was running on my mind. If everyone of us did atleast 0.1% of what Senthil has done, our India will be much better than any other country in this world!!
If many of us continue to focus on personal growth without worrying about our nation, in future, there will be many more Senthil’s around us who would have sacrificed their personal life for the welfare of this country.
Thennur is not just another village in our India map. It is a start of a new beginning for India. Thennur is a proof of the change that youth can bring in our country.

Social Leadership Workshop@IIT Madras on 25/10/09

IViL, WhiteSwan Consulting Group and CTIDES present....

The Social Leadership Workshop, IIT Madras
Venue: DOMS 101
Time: 9 AM - 4 PM
Date: 25 October 2009, Sunday

Speakers Info:
Prof. LS Ganesh - "Measuring Social Impact": Dr. LS Ganesh is a professor in the Department of Management Studies, IIT Madras. He is a prolific speaker, fosters start-ups and has been a key member of some national-level government-sponsored projects and also of projects sponsored by international organizations such as the World Bank, and the UNDP. He is actively involved in industry bodies such as the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) and Madras Management Association (MMA).

Dr. Anjali Nigam - "Consulting in social space": Dr. Anjali Nigam is a specialized professional in the field of 'Organizational Development'. She specializes in Training Development, and in offering consulting services in the areas of 'Strategic Direction & HR systems'. Dr. Nigam is a Ph.D. in Management and Business Economics along with a specialization in 'Business Enterprise Management' from the Manchester, UK.

Dave Wallack - "Microfinance Sector in India & IFMR Trust": Dave Wallack is Senior Vice President of the IFMR Trust. He has an MBA at Stanford's Graduate School of Business, he was a political campaign operative and political consultant working with the national Democratic Party as well as numerous candidates for the U.S. House, U.S. Senate and the Presidency of the United States. Speaker from Aavishkar* - "Venture Philanthropy and Rural Entrepreneurship"
Mr. Ramakrishna - "Challenges in a social venture & Rangde journey": Ramakrishna is a software consultant by profession. He has 9 years of experience in the software industry. Prior to starting RangDe.Org, he worked as Principal Consultant for Vignette Europe Ltd. Ram firmly believes that entrepreneurship in the social space is at a very nascent stage in India and there is an urgent need to incubate social businesses with a focus on social returns.

Dr. Murali Subrahmanyam- "Business in the social sector: Key strategies": Dr. Murali Subrahmanyam presently heads business off-shoring at Alliance Bernstein. He has been the COO of Quintegra Solutions Limited and Merrill Lynch India. He comes with a proven track record of successfully off shoring technology service and creating a profitably running captive from scratch..

Paul Basil* - "Incubating grassroot innovations": Paul Basil is the CEO of Vilgro, earlier called Rural Innovations Network. Paul Basil identifies promising rural innovations, develops them into enterprises, and enables their diffusion through commercial and noncommercial ventures. Through his work, Paul is extending social investment to rural areas and ensuring that the best solutions reach as many thousands of people as possible.

Indrani Singh - "Capacity Building in the Developmental Sector": Indrani Singh is an independent developmental consultant and provides training and capacity building training programmes to MFIs and developmental agencies. She has a rich experience in banking and has held senior management positions in the Syndicate Bank.