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Why be a
Gandhi Fellow?

BE THE CHANGE

A meagre 25-thousand rupees a month. You won’t die but your PL (supervisor) won’t let you live. Neither will the DM (District Magistrate) who might simply tell you, you are so good, do more please. May even invite you to set up your office next to his… all depending on what you bring and which side of the bed you got up from. That is if you slept at all – at a friendly Sarpanch’s house or a simple Dalit woman’s hut. Chicken curry or Chiwda – your hunger will be the greatest leveller.

You will be part of a melting pot in full fury, your peers will be sweating it out doing things with the community in spaces as diverse as water, health, education. You could cry about losing your identity as a Drop or celebrate the immensity of your Ocean. The choice will be yours.

So, here’s the thing. You will learn to collaborate in the face of challenges. You will celebrate diversity. You will build life-long bridges across cultures. You will focus on solutions. You will be wiser for your pain and stronger for your suffering. And when your community immersion family invites you for their child’s wedding, you will know you have arrived.

Every Gandhi Fellow is encouraged to observe the world around them at close proximity, plan interventions and create impact through innovation. The work done during the fellowship goes a long way in moulding one into a nation builder.

DO YOUR PURPOSE

It’s the earliest morning hour. Harvard? No, Oxford. Columbia, maybe? A scholarship would be the cherry on your cake. You’re dreaming a vivid and intense dream in your sleep. In remote Sikkim, some villagers are already sipping the great appetite suppressant, the black tea, before an early breakfast of coarse rice. Every day, they stock their meagre meals in their stomachs. Who knows if there will be food for 12 hours! In a faraway Bihar village, a class 8 girl is also dreaming of a scholarship – just so that her father doesn’t have to steal dinner from her little brother’s plate to get her through. It’s harvesting time in Udaipur. The distant middle school is a ghost. Children have gone out to the fields to harvest grains with their parents. Asking them to attend school is as good as asking them to stay hungry. Or as bad. In Seriya village, Nanjiba has sent his young son to get milk for 5 rupees so one of your kin can have morning tea…. And you are still tossing on your big city lounge between development and data, education and policy.

So, here’s the thing. How about learning to weave a mat before you knit your international education dream? Broom that mud floor and sweep out the lack in the life of a Santhali community? Hang out with goats? Bathe with buffaloes? Play blocks with bored little boys in an Anganwadi or get the Panchayat moving? Raise money for a sports-field for young girls along with boosting your own confidence? Help organise Nutrition Day with that ASHA worker which will actually make your University application shine. Wake up. That’s the best way of making your dream come true.

TRANSFORM YOUR SELF

You are this ambitious, itching-to-change-the-world person. But who wants to listen to you – a naive and immature 20-something? How you wish you knew how to have their ear. To stand at the power doors, fearless and confident of what you have to offer. It’s tough. But it is possible. Because it is a skill that you can learn – to influence without authority. And learn alongside those critical but very acquirable life-skills of vulnerability, patience, humility, some madness and most importantly, reflection. Because that’s how you will carve out a window in the wall, get that district official, that BDO or that Sarpanch moving on making a village pond or ensuring institutional deliveries of expectant mothers. And one day, you will serendipitously see that you have also learnt how to get your significant others to cheer and actively participate in your life choices.

So, here’s the thing. A tough hike out from metropolitan India to rural Bharat it will be. But it will also be worth every hitch. What awaits you there is joy when a Headmaster’s wife tells you her husband is a changed man since you taught him NVC – non-violent communication. A smiling ASHA worker who you helped become as cool with her multiple apps as you are with your gadgets. And, of course, roads from Kalahandi, Korba, Lakhisarai to Goonj, Google and your destiny – all yours for the asking.

Aspirational Framework

The 23 Months Gandhi Fellowship journey unlocks a personalised path to growth for you along with  diverse groups of fellows & equips them with leadership skills to create positive, large scale and lasting change in society by tackling pressing social challenges

  • Self Awareness
  • Self Management
  • Self Motivation
  • Positive Psychology
  • Cultural and Territory Knowledge
  • Role-specific Knowledge
  • Building Social Impact Solutions
  • Enable High Impact on Field
  • Technology integration
  • Leverage Data for Impact
  • Collaborative work
  • Facilitation
  • Stakeholder Management
  • Team Management
  • Communication and Presentation
  • Project Management
  • Change Management
  • Education Sector Knowledge
  • Systems and Process Thinking
  • Strategic Management
  • Development sector Knowledge
  • Business Modelling
  • Fundraising
  • Marketing and Selling
  • Policy Influence
  • Public systems charge

Gandhi Fellowship Values & Principles

Non Violent Communication
Growth Mindset
Influence Without Authority
Grit And Resilience
Integrity
Entrepreneurial Abilities
Denominator Thinking
Sustainability Focus
Excellence

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Gandhi Fellow?

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