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Dear Parents, Teachers and Significant Others!!!

Let me extend my sincere gratitude to you for reading this letter and giving the Gandhi Fellowship Program a chance.

I am tempted to share a story of the parent of a former Gandhi Fellow who when introduced to me responded by saying, “Oh, so he is the one who misled my daughter.” It’s not half as potent as the Hindi version which went thus, Hamari beti ko bargala diye hain!

Like some of you, her parents too had sent their daughter to Miranda House (DU) so she would eventually take the next natural step – take the UPSC exam. She found her way to the rough and tumble of the Gandhi Fellowship instead. She later went on to become the Gender Lead in Bihar government that spearheaded girls’ education reform back a decade ago. She has been the Lead Specialist at Manila’s International Rice Research Institute leading Women Farmers work across the country.

Was she an exception? Or was she plain lucky? What happens to my ward? Why should she join the Fellowship? What will she get from it? What is the Fellowship in the first place? Is it even safe? How do Fellows live and work?

This letter hopes to address these – your – concerns and questions.

In 2008, when we launched our first batch of 11 Fellows in Rajasthan, Mr Ajay Piramal, our Chairperson and visionary, also Chair, Piramal Enterprises Ltd, invited the parents over for a tête-à-tête in New Delhi. He went on to announce to the anxious parents that they and their children would not regret the decision to join the Fellowship. In what was a promissory note of sorts, he committed to hiring all the young people as Management Trainees in case they failed to be snapped by the best anywhere in India. All the Fellows were placed in good organizations in the domains of their choice – and happily, the offer letters remained just that. Their careers trajectory since then is yet another story.

Today, we have 3000 plus Alumni across the world.

Give me 1000 bright young minds and I will change India, Swami Vivekanand is said to have declared years ago. It was this call to young men and women of the country that spurred the advent of India’s biggest Fellowship program.

The Gandhi Fellowship is a 23 months’ full-time residential program, or shall I say, an opportunity for the conscientious and committed young people to familiarize themselves with the country’s most pressing problems – and come out leaders at the other end.

The way I see it, the Fellowship is a springboard for each of us to skill up for the 21st century and find our individual expression of it. The Fellows do it by living with grassroot communities, understanding everyday issues and implementing creative solutions to attempt change in self, society and the local systems. You – dear parents and teachers – do so by giving them your informed and enthusiastic consent.

Parents of a former Fellow, Shruti Sriram were corporate leaders and her elder sister, a chief economist at a bank in New York. They drew a blank when their girl – an SRCC graduate – decided to join the Fellowship. She later got a scholarship to Columbia University. “My high point came when I contested the South Asia Society elections which became rough at some point. But my learnings with the Fellowship, particularly in Non-violent Communication – stood me great stead. That my family had realized the value of the Fellowship was only too evident.”

That brings me to answering why the Fellowship could be a turning point in your ward’s career and life.

The Gandhi Fellowship Program is as thoughtful about inner transformation as it is passionate about outer change. The two feed into each other. Our logo – the Möbius Strip – is emblematic of this continuum. The program is designed to help Fellows practice a cyclic process of Plan-Act-Reflect. At the end of two years, your children are equipped with a diverse skillset they don’t teach in the best of colleges. They learn to manage themselves as well as relate to and work with peers from vastly different backgrounds. Every day, their work teaches them to negotiate with conviction, influence without authority, adapt quickly to change and deal with challenges of an uncertain environment. These skills, once thought of as soft, are critical to 21st century living.

The way I see it, the Fellowship is a springboard for each of us to skill up for the 21st century and find our individual expression of it. The Fellows do it by living with grassroot communities, understanding everyday issues and implementing creative solutions to attempt change in self, society and the local systems. You – dear parents and teachers – do so by giving them your informed and enthusiastic consent.

Parents of a former Fellow, Shruti Sriram were corporate leaders and her elder sister, a chief economist at a bank in New York. They drew a blank when their girl – an SRCC graduate – decided to join the Fellowship. She later got a scholarship to Columbia University. “My high point came when I contested the South Asia Society elections which became rough at some point. But my learnings with the Fellowship, particularly in Non-violent Communication – stood me great stead. That my family had realized the value of the Fellowship was only too evident.”

That brings me to answering why the Fellowship could be a turning point in your ward’s career and life.

The Gandhi Fellowship Program is as thoughtful about inner transformation as it is passionate about outer change. The two feed into each other. Our logo – the Möbius Strip – is emblematic of this continuum. The program is designed to help Fellows practice a cyclic process of Plan-Act-Reflect. At the end of two years, your children are equipped with a diverse skillset they don’t teach in the best of colleges. They learn to manage themselves as well as relate to and work with peers from vastly different backgrounds. Every day, their work teaches them to negotiate with conviction, influence without authority, adapt quickly to change and deal with challenges of an uncertain environment. These skills, once thought of as soft, are critical to 21st century living.

Best Wishes,
Vivek SharmaVivek Sharma
Founder-Director, Gandhi Fellowship Program
Piramal Foundation

+91 9891297111
Vivek@gandhifellowship.org

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