Luxury Redefined

It’s hot and dry. I am parched. But the water filter runs on electricity and we do not have power. The UPS at Parikrma is powering the router, so I do have internet connection. But I know that the UPS is going to drain soon, as it only works for an hour. However the UPS is not used to power the lights and the fan in this place, and the room is quite dark and . The heat in the room is unbearable. So I move to the external room. The room is a lot cooler, because it’s quite open. But it opens to the playground! So it’s very dusty and I my mouth’s dry. However, the dust seems the less of the evils.

The marketing team is busy at work in this external room. They are sorting hundreds of business cards. Just watching them in this heat and dust was tiring. So I suggested that they should just get a card reader. One of them tells me “if you know someone who will give us a card reader or give us money for one, do let us know”. I thought about who might donate us a card reader. Interestingly enough, no one came to mind. Anyone interested in donating would want to donate directly to a cause. So what is the cause here?

I go back to the room inside to continue my work and realize that we have not had power for more than an hour now. That means the UPS has been drained dry. Thankfully we have received a grant for generators and that should help us work more efficiently. While everyone is excited about the generator, we wonder how best to use the generator. We all agree that the generator cannot be used for “luxury”. So we set out to define luxury. Is fan a luxury? How about when its 35 degrees Celsius and the asbestos roof makes the rooms hot enough to bake cookies in?

I think about “luxury” as opposed to “need”. I recollect a discussion I was having with someone from Netherlands, early last winter. He was explaining to me that he would never be able to get people from a place like Netherlands to fund sweaters for children in a country like India. Someone from Netherlands can never really find India cold, so would not consider sweaters a “need” here. While I always knew that the definition of “need” and “luxury” is subjective, I always thought that it was mostly obvious. For the first time, things are not obvious any more.

I have heard the term “luxury redefined” used many times . The visual images associated with the term are usually that of opulence and elegance. But here is a radically different image. It’s that of filtered water jumping from the “need” to the “luxury” list. That’s “luxury redefined” for me!

Snakes and Ladders

Here, at Parikrma, I have been asked to get a School Management Software in place. Most people I mention this to, wonder "There must be tons of school software out there. Why doesn't Parikrma use what is already available?" That's what I thought two months ago. I was urged not to look at Parikrma as just a school, but to really understand the concept of Circle of Life. It has taken me a while to understand this model. I use a metaphor to explain it – "Snakes and Ladders".

Children often have some goal in mind - "I want to become an astronaut", "I want to be a teacher" etc. Look at a child working towards her goal as working through a board of Snakes and Ladders. Teachers at Parikrma erect several "Ladders" for this child to help her get to her goal. These "Ladders" come in the form of curricular and co-curricular education. While she navigates through the board with the help of ladders, she faces several "Snakes" that debilitate her and pose severe risks to her achievements.

In the case of children at Parikrma, these "Snakes" are numerous and deadly.

• The lack of financial means to education. Parikrma handles this by looking to donors and volunteers for help


• The lack of stability at home. This has several implications on a child. These manifest as behavioral and psychological issues. Children are closely monitored for any signs of trouble.


• There are the secondary implications of the kind of home environment of these children. Privileged children get enjoy not just a stable environment at home, but also get their role models, the necessary exposure and the occasional additional tutoring help. In the case of Parikrma children, lack of exposure and additional help is another "Snake" to deal with.

If we continue with this metaphor of "Snakes and Ladders", then we can notice that most schools erect "Ladders". But not many deal with "Snakes" and certainly not to the extent that Parikrma does. At Parikrma, handling these "Snakes" is as much a priority as putting up all the "Ladders". The close examination of the lives of these children, more often than not, reveals one or more of these "Snakes" that pose serious risks to their education. This starts the multi-team effort of risk-mitigation. This could take several attempts and several years. Eventually, by mitigating these risks, Parikrma hopes that the children will be able to better imbibe the education imparted in class.

"Ladders" are easy to understand.

• Create lesson plans & track lesson plan delivery in class


• Track teachers and students attendance and students grades


• Create several reports – reports on students of a teacher, reports on a student, reports on trends in the whole school

The "Snakes" introduce complex requirements

• Maintaining medical / dental / mental records of a child, including all intervention details


• Maintaining behavioral records


• Monitoring the home environment of each child. Capturing details of a family like income, health, living conditions and issues like alcoholism, if any


• Recording all the exposure and extra-curricular achievements of a child so that she can be handed her "file" as she steps out into the world from Parikrma


• Reports for donors


• Recording the qualifications and availability of a volunteer, so that remedial classes can be planned

This is what the Circle of Life is. It's more than just class rooms and play grounds. It's everything from ensuring a child is not hungry in class to trying to improve the environment at home so that the child is sent to school in a happy state of mind each morning. And the school software needs to aid in all of these activities.

These complex requirements are met with an additional non functional requirement of simplicity. The users of this software are expected to be teachers. Teachers are kept quite busy by all the children in class. They barely have time to learn several new systems and do complex data entry. Hence getting bits and pieces of the software will complex things by requiring teachers to learn too many different kinds of systems.Building a software poses its own problem. Since most work we get is pro bono, development is really slowly. That means that the builders are not necessarily around for enhancements and maintenance.

So I am thinking, open source custom solution. So now I am on a quest to find someone who can build the first version. It will be interesting to see if this approach will work for Parikrma

The I-Feel-Guilty Box

As the marketing team at Parikrma prepared to go out for Change your world program campaign, a box caught my attention - “The I-Feel-Guilty Box”. It reminded me of a conversation I had had with one of our donors, back in the day when I was at Yahoo! raising funds for YEFI. “I donate to ease my guilt”, said the donor. At that time I did not think much of it. Looking at this box made me realize that the Guilt-riddance angle is perhaps more common than I earlier imagined.

But what is giving rise to this guilt? My friend at Yahoo explained that it was the hefty salary we enjoy. But is that it? A closer examination of my life helped me identify a possible explanation. My conclusion is that it’s too hefty too soon.

It was not too long ago that my parents took me to Shanti Sagar, as part of our Sunday outing. Eating out even once a week considered rather extravagant in our social circles. Starters and desserts were reserved only for very special occasions like birthdays. New clothes were reserved for birthdays or Diwalis – we had to pick one occasion each year. And here I am, using terms like “retail therapy” and “Beaujolais” in everyday conversation – terms my parents would deem expensive just to teach to us.

My life has changed. The change stares at my face everytime I watch my mother buy peas from the vendor under the flyover because it’s is Rs.2 cheaper than the vendor closer to home. The change is drastic and our parents are constant reminders of where we come from. I can imagine change, so dramatic, perhaps fostering guilt.

I do not see evidence of such change when I observe my mother and her mother. So is such change between generations unique to our generation? If yes, would the guilt disappear in years to come? If the guilt disappeared, then would “The I-feel-guilty box” remain empty?


There is another box that the marketing team uses. It’s “The I-Want-Real-Change Box”. The Parikrma team has been telling me that while fewer people perhaps use the I-Want-Real-Change, the use the I-feel-guilty box might not be sustainable. I now get why they spend so much energy on getting donors to understand how Parikrma brings about real change in the lives of these children. It’s not just about getting donations. It’s about the donor getting it, really getting it!

Donor management

Suparna, from the marketing team at Parikrma, called me on Saturday morning. She was very concerned that she might not make it on time to meet the people from HSBC, who were going to be at the school that morning. Suparna and Saki had returned at 2 AM and needed some time to catch a shut eye. Parikrmas idea of "Friday night" is executing the Change Your World in Half a Day program. The team members spend time in different organizations, talking about Parikrma and getting donations. Some organizations work during the day, some (call centres) work during the night. Hence the Parikrma team works round the clock.


So that’s how I came to spend the Saturday at school, watching the guys from HSBC install a donor software that they have built for us. The software is yet to meet our needs. But what I am learning at Parikrma is to wait patiently and smile when I wait. That’s what one does when she sees the label: FREE! Most people want to get a beer on a Friday night and wake up late on a Saturday morning. Very few will spend the weekend building software for free. These guys deserve courtesy, in the least.

So if the software does not arrive on time or does not exactly meet our needs, the only thing I can do is to politely thank them for what they have given us so far and look at them with pleading eyes, explaining to them what we really need. I then just pray that they will get the time to understand and build what we need and remain employed with their organization long enough for the software to reach us.

I really look forward to see this software up and running. An organization like Parikrma has many small and large donors. They donate towards so many different entities: children, class rooms, schools, one special meal, a Christmas cake... And all of them will need acknowledgements, receipts and reports. And of course there is the rush during tax season. It almost requires a small army to manage all of this. However, donors often do not like donating towards armies of office staff. Yet, it’s this team that sends out all the receipts, reports and reminders that these donors need.

So I wonder if technology can fix this. Suparna and Saki will perhaps still have work days stretching from 9 AM to 2 AM. But can technology give them a small break during thier work day to enjoy a cup of coffee from Adigas next door?

United Parikrma sports day

No dry fit clothes, no running shoes. But eyes firmly on the finish line and all the determination in the world to "just make it happen". This never fails to awe me.

A whole new world for me

Many people ask me how different it is to work at Parikrma. On one hand I got what I wanted. I wanted to be in an environment where there was no wastage, specifically no waste of human resources. So, I have where there is absolutely no room for wastage of anything. But then again were surprises as well.

Firstly I needed to buy a lunch box and a water bottle. No cafeteria that has 2 caterers, a salad bar, coffee day etc. Then I had to get ear plus. There is a sand pit is right outside the room I work in. That not only means that everything from my laptop to my lunch is covered in a layer of dust. It also means that the children have a throughly good time during their breaks. Anyone who has been around children knows that when children have a throughly good time, adults need ear plugs. And to think that when I was at Yahoo, people complained if we talked too loud. Ha ha!

Then I was forced to make some reality checks. I came in here claiming that I knew everything about getting Parikrma to effectively use technology. And then the issues start surfacing one at a time. The heads of schools have been given laptops. Paper less office and all right! The heads of school admits to me that she does not really carry her laptop. She looks at me pleadingly and says "I travel more than 20 km each way each day, in a BTS bus. Its too heavy". Reality check!

And then of course, there is the power failure issue. No power means no connectivity. I guess one way to look at it is that I am forced to take a break on most days. But when the break lasts more than 3 hours then its a reality check!

But the most interesting change is my understanding of ownership. Its very wholistic. There is no concept of marking territories here and owning pieces of anything. Everyone feels ownership for the entire organization. If a marketing team member is not able to do her work due to power failure, she decides to go clean messy art room cupboards. When the physics teacher leaves the school, the head of ops jumps and the head of marketing jump in and start taking classes. Yes, roles and responsibilities are not clearly defined. But yes, work gets done. And how!

I have seen ambition or passion at work. But this one is new - love. I am stilly trying to understand it. But I cannot deny that I am feeling sometihng new too. Its positive. But what exactly is it?

I am also begining to wonder if its going to make it hard for me to return to my old life. Would I ever undersand it if someone said "its not my job", or if someone complained that the cafeteria did not serve italian food or that people talk to loud. Would I be able to relate?

Vicious cycle

Embroidery class in progress
Originally uploaded by sindhoor

Today I walked into the library to find a bunch of women stitching. Preethy, the Community Development Services (CDS) team lead told me that an embroidery class was in progress. Julie Kagti of Knots on Cloth was sending trainers to train these women. This would definitely increase their employability and might increase their incomes as well. Some might even get employed with Julie herself. What a heart warming story!

The natural question that came to my mind was "where are the fathers?". Did they not want better incomes? Turns out that the fathers were either too hard working or good for nothing. The hard working ones were getting paid by the hour and could not take time off for self development. But most were good for nothing, busy drinking away what little they earned and large part of what their wives earned as well.

This is the cycle of poverty. Debts to make ends meet. Alcoholism that pushes them further into debt and distress, putting them in constant state of stress and desperation. In this state, it takes very little to push them over the edge and wreak havoc in their homes. It can range from verbal abuse to more extreme things like setting each other in flames. And one can imagine the effect it has on the children. Thus the cycle continues.

So where does one start, if the cycle is to be broken? Is literacy sufficient? How about helping augment parents earnings through self development courses? Would de-addiction program for fathers help? Would a loving environment at school compensate for what they see at home? Would exposure to role models get them to aspire to be more? Would outlets for the children's energies through many extra-curricular act ivies like art and sport be relevant?

I now start to understand what people at Parikrma mean when they say that their end goal is not to impart education, but that education is a means to break the cycle of poverty. This cyle is more vicious than I can even comprehend. And there is no one thing that will break it. Many of these activities will slowly erode it. No one really knows how much more it will take to truely make it go away.


Training in Aplique work
Originally uploaded by sindhoor