I t’s the human spirit behind the stories of entrepreneurship that attracts journalist Shobha Warrier, editorial director of rediff.com.
Her latest book, Dreamchasers — Entrepreneurs from the South of the Vindhyas, records the success stories of 28 entrepreneurs from South India.
It was launched in the presence of K. Pandia Rajan, Minister of School Education, Archaeology, Sports and Youth Welfare, at IIT Madras Research Park. The event also featured other young entrepreneurs such as Padmanaban Gopalan of the ‘No Food Waste’ Venture and Ajit Narayanan, who has developed the FreeSpeech app, which can help speech-impaired people communicate.
“One common trait among all these entrepreneurs is that they have a dream and they chase it. The way they think, approach and face challenges, is the same,” says Shobha.
The event saw a few entrepreneurs featured in the book share their stories. Siddharth Mohan Nair, who has founded a khadi denim store called Desitude to popularise khadi among the youth, was one.
Padmanaban won a lot of applause after sharing the story of his venture. The 23-year-old and his team of youngsters collect excess food from marriage halls and schools, and distribute it to the poor and needy.
Shobha, who has been interviewing young entrepreneurs since 2000, says their drive to overcome hurdles hooked her to their stories.
“One of my early stories was on rural BPO DesiCrew, started by then-20-something Saloni Malhotra, an engineering graduate. Inspired after listening to a speech by Ashok Jhunjhunwala, professor in IIT Madras, she was ready to move to Tamil Nadu and do something for the rural people, even though she did not know the local language,” shares Shobha.
Many of these youngsters were not supported by their families. “Padmanaban told me that his father is still not ready to accept his chosen field. However, things have improved. In the case of entrepreneurs, out of 10 startups, only two succeed. Society is more accepting of failure now.” The financial eco-system for entrepreneurs has also improved now, she adds.
Modern journalism does not just constitute breaking news and political interviews, but also stories of human struggle and the marginalised, feels Shobha. During her early days in journalism, she used to write features on sex workers, transpeople and homosexuals with HIV.
“I think it is our responsibility as journalists to help them cross the lakshman rekha .”
One of Shobha’s early stories was on the residents of the Cheshire Home in Thiruvananthapuram.
There, she interviewed a differently-abled person, who was a voracious reader. “I asked him, ‘Have you ever asked God why you were born like this?’ The moment I finished the question, I was filled with guilt. What right did it give me to ask that just because I was physically more ‘normal’ than him? I apologised profusely. He said I was a conscientious journalist, and could never be ‘successful’. I told him I would rather be a conscientious journalist than a successful one.”
(The book, published by Vitasta Publishing, is priced at Rs. 395 and is available at Odyssey in Chennai and on online platforms)
