They started their journey last week by catching a ferry from London to France and will then cover Europe, Russia, China, Pakistan and India. What started off as an adventure of a lifetime for five London-based friends – Owais Amiri, Kirti Puthran, Ram K, Shivashish Misra and Vamsi Salla, is now a mission to support and raise funds for SOS Children and Association for India’s Development (AID). In addition to this, the ‘Nomads’ as they are called are also campaigning and spreading awareness for Equal Rights for Children, a UN-backed initiative, in countries they cross on the way by visiting schools and program sites.
The group plans to reach Mumbai between October 3 and 5 after completing 10000 kilometers on road. But interested to know what countries will they be crossing? Their challenging road trip will take them across Europe, Central Asia, China, Pakistan and Russia among other countries. They are currently travelling through the vast plains of Uzbekistan, Kyrgyzstan, Kazakhstan and will then head over to the rugged mountainous range of the Himalayas.
These ‘Nomads’ have raised close to £7000 in pledges through supporters, corporate sponsors and pre-charity challenges including a badminton tournament and a Bollywood charity night before they embarked on their journey.
Members of the group have been posting their updates regularly on their Facebook page called 5NomadsOnWheels. Apart from this they plan to blog about their experiences in various countries after they reach Mumbai. The group is a wonderful example of following your passion. It’s never too late to try adventure in life. And tying your adventurous outings with good cause is like icing on the cake.
Young people have a certain responsibility towards the society and Nomads on Wheels have shown how one can tie the two together and try and make this society a better place to live. Kudos to the team!
India at a crossroads
The UK-India Business Council (UKIBC) organized a wonderful panel discussion last week to discuss India’s outlook and business opportunities under the new Narendra Modi-led BJP government. An extremely vibrant discussion touched on various topics ranging from branding in India to infrastructure sector, success stories and much more.
The panel discussion, moderated by Financial Times journalist Ravi Mattu, included Ravi Venkatesan, former Chairman of Microsoft India and Cummins India, Rt. Hon. Patricia Hewitt, Chair of UKIBC, Alan Blake, Immediate past CEO, JCB, Anu Madgavkar, Senior Fellow, McKinsey & Co. and Philip Bouverat, Director, JCB.
The discussion started with Ravi Venkatesan discussing his latest book called “‘Conquering the Chaos: Win in India, Win Everywhere’ published by Harvard Business Review. Ravi who is currently a venture partner at Unitus Seed Fund which invests in early stages social enterprises, is also the founder and chairman of Social Venture Partners India, a network of engaged philanthropists addressing social problems through venture philanthropy.
Ravi’s book celebrates the distinctiveness of India as a place to do business. The essence of it is those who learn to be successful in India can succeed in other unfamiliar and difficult environments as well. Ravi gave various examples from McDonalds to JCB and so on where companies have been successful because they hire the right people and follow a strategy. Alan Blake of JCB agreed with Ravi.
Some other topics that the panel touched upon were the new Modi government and what this meant for longer term economic strategy. They also discussed outlook for multinational organisations looking to invest in India and how India can learn from the Chinese model. Some very interesting points were raised about India’s federal system of government and how policies affect different states.
The discussion ended with a very lively Q&A discussion with the audience and a networking session that gave immense opportunities for guests to meet and interact with each other. Take away from the discussion? If you succeed in India you can succeed everywhere.
