By Nitin Rao
           

The Context:

University City describes itself as:
 

When I threw down the 200 bidis — hand-rolled Indian cigarettes — they gasped. “Every time you sit in front of your open flame cooking stove,” I motioned to them, “it’s like you are smoking 200 bidis.” They were all shocked; the audience of 40 women and children fell silent.

Consider the paradox of America and India. In today’s world of industrial interconnectivity, outsourcing, and global community, the two are profoundly intertwined. Now consider the polarity of the educational destinies for the youth of each nation. Of course, there are exceptions to both. There are Indian preparatory schools, as there are American preparatory schools, where children awake to a world of ironed linen and crisp ties, the fruits of life encased in a financial hammock.

In Zambia, raising cattle is a risky business. A whole range of diseases attacks the country’s herds with depressing regularity, killing hundreds, if not thousands of cows with each outbreak. The cost of disease weighs most heavily on the rural poor — a large percentage of rural households depend on cattle to a certain extent, to ensure their livelihoods. Here, as in many parts of Africa, cattle are a traditional store of value, a kind of bank account on hooves.

“Thank You!” a villager exclaims to the Andrew Lees Trust (ALT) team. He points over to his concrete house, “I built that from money I earned growing tomatoes! ALT Projet Radio taught me how to grow tomatoes!” The ALT team had never before met this man, but their encounter was a powerful reminder of the linkages between education, information, and empowerment that their radio network reinforces.

It is undeniable that immigrants are a tremendous economic force, both here, in the United States, and abroad. Their enthusiastic participation in international workforces, combined with a propensity to fulfill economic niches, creates for them a role as potential market catalysts. In the United States, and in other international settings, immigrants are predominantly an “untapped” market resource in and of themselves. Investigation into the nature of immigrant culture has sparked an interesting plan of action to integrate them further into our national business model.

Spearheading the revolution of providing quality healthcare to the needy, Aravind Eye Hospital (AEH), Madurai, has won as many accolades from management gurus for its effective business model, as from its millions of patients. And why not? From a 11-bed Hospital in Madurai to the largest provider of eye care services in the world, Aravind has come a long way indeed.

Kishore Biyani, whose Future Group changed the country's retail landscape through unconventional ways, is taking a step further by exploring possibilities of tapping the potential of urban slums.

On the heels of setting up neighbourhood new format stores named KB's Fair Price shops, the group is toying with the idea of taking retailing to the bottom of the pyramid in urban areas -- the slums.