Dear Supporters,

I started off my journey on the 1st of January and headed to a village called Manjakkudi in Tiruvarur District of Tamil Nadu. It is about 25 kilometers from Kumbakkonam. The Swami Dayananda Saraswati educational trust has set up a full fledged K-12 school and an arts & science college over there. I had heard a lot about how these two institutions revitalised an otherwise sleepy and idyllic village and was keen to go there. Co-incidentally, one of my students’ grandmother is a trustee there and I was able to establish contact with the very dedicated and able principal.
I spent 6 days in Manjakkudi, interacting with students, teachers, parents, the principal and with a few members of the administration. I spent a good amount of my time taking a few classes for the students of classes 9-12 on goal-setting and nurturing a growth-mindset. These interactions served two purposes, a) I had heard from the principal that these students are highly ambitious but lack the confidence to come out of their shell b) I figured interacting with them as a teacher and a friend would help me gain the perspective I was looking for. The enthusiasm and the hunger to do well in these students was really heartwarming.
I also later found out that Wipro has a business service center here with an employee count of over 160. The head of the business center told me that their attrition rate is as low as 3%. He also told me that this is a viable business option for large firms and MNCs because setting up such units in tier-4 towns not only invigorates the local economy, but also makes sound financial sense because the cost to the company is a lot lower.
Manjakkudi is also a very scenic village with acres and acres of paddy being grown on all sides. After school, I spent my evenings cycling to a spot I found where I was surrounded by 4 sides by paddy and could see a magnificient sunset.


From here, I next went to Kochi for the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. The Biennale is India’s largest art festival and what a spectacle it was. I spent 5 days just devouring art from 10am-7pm everyday. There were exhibits from over 95 artists and more than 120 art installations in some amazing locations in the charming locale of Fort Kochi. I have been to Fort Kochi a couple of times before but this was the first time I have gone for the Biennale and what an experience it was. The theme of the festival was “towards a non-alienated life” and the curator, Anita Dube has spent years and travelled to 32 countries to bring together all these artists and their art for the festival. The art primarily concentrated on the themes of perspective, slavery, anti-heteronormativity, LGBTQ pride, pain, modern-day technology. There even was an art installation doing a tribute to mosquitoes. For me, the Biennale was a sound learning experience. I primarily understood perspective and expression. People have expressed their perspectives in such ways that it unlocks different things in your mind altogether. I realised that appreciating art is a good trait to have for a policy maker because art helps you understand other perspectives and helps you build a 360 degree vision.



My next stop is to a school in a village called Kannarapetta, near Cuddalore. My friend here, who is just 24 is running a school there and when I asked her if I could come along, she seemed more than happy. From there, I am heading to Nagaland for 20 days where I will be working with the Kohima Institute.

I sincerely appreciate the support I have received from you over the months and years. I will certainly keep you posted.

Until then,
Take care and lots of love

Vishal

I am starting my journey today :) Thank you for your support and belief. I am very excited and I shall regularly keep you all posted about my journey. Please do reply back to this update with your address. I would like to send you something :)

Have a great year ahead and thanks again!!

Dear Supporters
A few more people wanted to contribute, so I am increasing the campaign goal a little bit more. Whatever is remaining of this trip would go towards sponsoring the education of under-privileged children in Chennai.

Thank you