In search of a brighter world

Ujjwal and I met at the entrance of the corridor at NITIE- our MBA alma mater. Both of us arrived a day before our first day at school. It was a rainy gloomy monsoon morning in Mumbai. Ujjwal was a tall, thin, bespectacled man, with a hard-to-miss smiling, innocent face. His traditional kurta and a pair of sandals gave away his Bengali origin. He asked me for direction to the student hostel. Ironically, five years later, as the executive director of an NGO , Ujjwal is currently providing directions to thousands of less privileged children in their pursuit for a brighter future.

Ujjwal led a quiet life at college. At B-school, it was important for most of us to hold official positions of responsibilities in various school committees. These titles looked good in resumes and were perceived as proofs of our leadership skills by the prospective employers. Ujjwal was officially responsible for “nothing”. However, he was involved in all class events and always gave his best for all team events- silently. He was however a member of the rotary club and organized vaccination camps and blood donation camps for the entire school community.

After graduation, Ujjwal joined TCS, one of the top services companies in India. His father had retired by then and Ujjwal had to bear responsibility for his family. But deep inside Ujjwal did not want to join the IT bandwagon. His passion was to create direct impact in the lives of ordinary people. He realized that his IT career would take him away from the real world. Moreover, Ujjwal did not feel the career urge for an overseas career like many of his friends and colleagues. Immigration stamps in the passport are still viewed as proofs of career success in India. To Ujjwal, “West Coast” meant Mumbai and he decided to choose Mumbai as his workplace. After a three year stint, he quit TCS and joined an NGO that teaches street children, as a human resource manager.

Many of us “hope” to give it back to the society when we are either tired or retired. Ujjwal made this decision when he was 24. That speaks volume about the honesty of his desire to serve his personal mission in life. However, Ujjwal soon realized, he needs a bigger platform to create a substantial impact. And life offered him an interesting opportunity!

In 2008, “Times of India”, the most popular media publication in the country came out with a nationwide talent search for the next generation leaders in India. Reality TV has changed the world quite a lot in recent times - for the better or for worse. I do not want to comment on how I feel while switching channels between most reality shows on TV. But “Lead India” contest always reminds me of at least one example of media creating a huge positive impact. It created Ujjwal, the leader.

Ujjwal had the good sense to nominate himself. Leaders and non-leaders from all segments of the society participated in this contest. The contestants went through several rounds of interviews, debates and public voting. Ujjwal emerged as the youngest candidate among the eight finalists in the Lead India contest. When I saw his picture in the morning newspaper, my heart erupted with joy and pride. I feel socially obliged to express happiness at others success. But this was one occasion when I felt no external pressure to “feel” happy. Loving Ujjwal is so damn easy! I felt the “urge” to reconnect with Ujjwal after several years and he seemed almost embarrassed over the phone with his newly found fame. He enquired everything about my life he would have done on a normal regular conversation. Nothing changed. My respect for this man grew tenfold.

Ujjwal did not win the contest. His views about “socialism” and “quota system” did not resonate with what some of the judges wanted to hear on TV. Ujjwal expressed his original and innovative ideas on inclusive capitalism. This idealist demanded contra-vote bank ideology of absolute meritocracy at every level of the society. He believed socio-economic problems cannot be solved in isolation and education is the most powerful tool to fight against the most pressing problems in a complex nation like India.

One of the judges in the Lead India contest, Mr. Anupam Kher was a popular cine star . A social crusader himself, Mr Kher spotted Ujjwal’s talent and offered him the role to run his foundation that creates programs improving the capabilities of schools in areas of alternate pedagogy, teacher capacity and better classroom management practices. Ujjwal has to even plead to the parents in the slums to send their kids to school, everyday. The problem is compounded by age old confounding government policies and lack of good teacher training institutes. In recent times Government of India has taken some serious steps to change status quo. But there is still a long way to go.

The frenzy after the Lead India contest has died down. Ujjwal is back to real world and is currently fighting a lone battle. Providing mainstream education to under privileged children is a herculean task. Ujjwal needs support - beyond emotional support from friends. We can no longer express solidarity just by sending him an SMS vote. He needs our support with our ideas, time and money. We all need to stand by him, before he asks help. Even if he does not, we must, because this time if Ujjwal does not win, India loses.