We expected him to be quite old, but he wasn’t. We expected him to be like Gandhi who ran the Khaadi movement to empower rural India, but he wasn’t. This man had built upon an idea that created a business model for empowering rural India, creating opportunities and generating revenue. Head Held High is not a charitable organisation, but here for transforming the rural scenario alongside many others who are already striving for the same. No doubt they are winners of many prestigious awards, including the CNN IBN Real Heroes of India. Meet the man in charge, Mr. Rajesh Bhat.
Lucky Breakthroughs
I come from a remote village in Sirsi. My parents decided to enrol me in a school at Sirsi(town), since they wanted me to come up in life. I had a difficult childhood. Thanks to my parents, teachers and well-wishers, I managed to get a reasonably good rank and got into SJCE, Mysore for B.E. My higher schooling at Sri Bhuvaneshwara College, Karkala has influenced me a lot. Engineering was really tough initially because I wasn’t fluent in English back then. I got through the campus interview and left my first job within 3 months since I didn’t like the job. Then I joined OnMobile, a start-up with less than 80-90 people then.
The Spark
I had an excellent manager at OnMobile. I worked for 2-3 years there. I got kind of lucky to have an environment where my idea to start an organisation was supported from my manager to the CTO of the company. I got the right coordinates through them. I was looking forward to do some impacting rural work and call it fate, I met Sunil, a visionary, and we teamed up with Madan to formulate this new idea.
In 2008, we had finished Proof of concept, pilot program that involved training 8 illiterate youth from remote villages of Karnataka. I did this when I was still an employee of OnMobile. It was not called Head Held High then.
Sustaining Passion
As a youngster you should find a way to convert your passion into an idea that is sustainable. Lots of people are passionate, but passion is not permanent. You get frustrated and give up if your idea is not converted into something that can sustain and help the society. Idea only sustains if it can impact the community, the society and more importantly, yourself!
Unless you have the right balance between your passion, idea, personal needs and goals, you can never sustain and scale. Lots of people have ideas, but they don’t sustain since they fall out on dedicating their life on it. A passionate entrepreneur makes out of it; a model, that can sustain, scale and grow. He does not let the passion die even when the harsh difficulties of reality hits hard. He thrives on future. His goals and visions should help him breathe!
Head Held High
Today we don’t sustain with BPO’s with which we initially made the breakthrough. Infact we have developed a training model that enables the people to live with dignity. We build skills and knowledge, which will empower our trainee to build his/her own life. We train lots of people. From not knowing a word in English, to master it, is not an easy road. Also we induce them with confidence to face anything. Today, some of them are working in BPOs, retail, hospitality and other sectors. It is very satisfying.
We have partnered with really good people, like Samuha, who helped us convince and get the rural candidates. Now we have a standard way of doing all that, we have put the process in place.
Start Up
We have gone through what every start-up goes through. Difference of opinions, clash of ideas, frustrations… It’s natural. Building a mature team requires understanding, ability to stay calm and pushing each other’s limits for better results. Awards that came our way haven’t changed our lives, but it has definitely impacted the organisation’s credibility. People view it as a really huge thing. We were extremely lucky to get those; we never applied or tried for them. Yes, it has indeed changed the way people used to perceive us. It has to be taken with a pinch of salt. If you get high with them you are certain to lose the ground!
Ideas: Ideals: India
I have different role models for different things. I think it has allowed me to grow tremendously in last 3-4 years. It is challenging to emulate them. But, that is the only way I see; to expand your skills, ideas, horizon and knowledge. Kind of people you are surrounded by will define your thought process.
At this point, rural India is really marvellous. Very exciting, so much of opportunity and a lot of ideas. Ten years down the line I tell you, we’ll be thankful that we are in rural India. Largest amount of growth in terms of shifts are happening in the rural side. India is made up of a plenty of villages and hopefully we’ll soon be the superpower.
Take responsibilities; of your life, of your society. Come out of the confusions, for you are responsible for what you are. Commit yourself to your long term goals and start moving towards it. Find a meaning for your life.