When you attain a certain status as a highly successful entrepreneur, you either continue up the corporate ladder. Or you pause and reflect, and ask yourself if this is what you want to continue doing.
Mr Prabhat Agarwal is a converted social impact investor-cum-hands-on mentor who has stepped into this comparatively smaller second category.
He was once a serial entrepreneur. He co-founded Parsec Technologies (an enterprise communications venture), Parsec Loans (a home mortgage marketing company) and Whowhere, Inc (a global people search portal). Prior to that, he worked with tech giant HCL, Feedback Ventures and RP Punj group.
Meeting him in his current simple, spartan, functional office in Gurgaon – a far cry from what he must have been used to – the 50-year-old businessman revealed how his priorities have changed over the years.
“When you work in an entrepreneurial or corporate world, you have your blinkers on. Your peer group speaks the same language, has similar aspirations and thinks that is where the world ends. Circumstances resulted in a few things happening, which made me realise this is not the real or only world.
“As I have been passionate about cycling since my childhood, I started cycling daily and got to see people around me, literally, on the street level – something I had missed seeing from an air-conditioned car. I became conscious of their problems and issues and of what was happening around me. I started doing yoga and that created self-awareness.
“In 2007 I took a year-long sabbatical, roamed the country and saw the world from a different perspective. It made me realise that I was not engaged with 90 per cent of the world around me. Neither was I contributing to solving any problems which would help those in need. That’s when I said: ‘By God’s Grace, I have enough. I need to change what I am doing.’ That’s when I realised I was also where I was, not because of my capabilities alone, but because of where I was born,” he recalled.
Mr Agarwal, a member of The Ennovent Circle (an exclusive community of impact investors, specialist service providers and mentors that collaborates to accelerate innovations for low-income markets), strongly believes education is one of the main requirements for the elevation of any society.
With this in mind, he set up Aravali Scholars in the lower-income Sikandarpur area of Gurgaon. Devoting eight to 10 hours a week, he mentors school-going children from classes 8 to 12. These students are referrals from other NGOs.
“These kids were as bright as my sons, and more hardworking. Yet they would perhaps never reach anywhere without a guiding hand. I help those with potential get into professional colleges and then their capabilities take them into the workforce.
“Initially I spent many hours there, but now the older kids who have since graduated and joined the workforce have formed a good network and help each other, especially their juniors. Those in good jobs have become inspirational role models for the younger ones… I am still constantly in touch with each ex-Aravali scholar and they call or meet me any time they need to,” he said.
Mr Agarwal proudly reveals that of the Mensa IQ tests conducted on 4,000 students from government and NGO schools, 102 made the mark, and of these, about 25 students are from Sikandarpur.
“We are now mentoring these Mensa kids.”
As I was being served aromatic masala chai, Mr Agarwal introduced Ms Mamta, who looks after the kitchen, and said: “Her daughter, 14-year old Varsha, has a Mensa IQ of 140+.”
And obviously, a better future awaits this Aravali scholar.
Mr Agarwal has many success stories to tell. One is about a boy from Literacy India, an NGO that he supports.
“This boy came to me at the end of his first year in college saying he wanted to take two years off to work and earn his college tuition fees. He would come and study with me regularly, even while working all day.
“Two years later, he got back into Delhi University and graduated. He has landed a job with asset management company BlackRock as a software engineer. His packet is about Rs8 lakhs per annum. Fantastic for a kid who couldn’t afford his Rs15,000 per quarter college fees.”
Mr Agarwal’s second pet project is JantaMeals.
While working in Sikandarpur, he realised there was a lacuna for reasonably priced, nutritious – and clean – meals for migrant workers.
“This idea was playing in my mind and meeting (JantaMeals founder-CEO) Jesse (van de Zand) was a blessing. He decided to take up the challenge. (The project) has snowballed into something very large, but there is still a long, long way to go,” he said.
Mr Agarwal also has a project for workers called SafeInIndia initiative.
“Daily, about 20 workers get injured, lose their hands or fingers in the Gurgaon-Manesar Automative belt. Over a year ago, a journalist friend wrote an article highlighting this issue.
“Along with two other batchmates from IIM Ahmedabad, we set up a facilitation centre to get them, especially migrant workers, better medical aid, insurance claims, social security benefits and rehabilitation.
“Safety issues are a big problem in supply chains and we need to ensure that the larger car manufacturers step in to take care of these issues. It’s like sitting on a time bomb waiting for large tragedy to happen,” he said.
Mr Agarwal, who got his Bachelor of Technology at IIT Delhi and his MBA from IIM Ahmedabad, was conferred the prestigious Significant Contribution to National Development Award by IIT Delhi Alumni Association.
Another of his initiatives is Bhagta Bharat. This is a very simple yet very scalable initiative started by a group of athletes in their 50s who were national champions.
No equipment or playing fields are required. Children from one of the most notorious parts of east Delhi were given motivation to run races. The initiative has had a positive impact on their lives and kept them off the streets and away from drugs.
Now the children are organising their own races, which gives them leadership qualities, and champions are being produced. There are about 10,000 children now involved in Bhagta Bharat. Of these, 50 are doing well at the national level.
Mr Agarwal said: “As I keep saying, if these kids weren’t organising races, they would be organising riots.”
Mr Agarwal also spoke about the other social causes he supports.
Beat of India, founded by his cousin Shefali Bhushan, goes into villages across India to preserve folk music and helps singers.
She gives them the royalties she earns from selling her research on them. Ms Bhushan has also written and directed Jugni, a travel musical film.
Captain Indraani Singh, who is Asia’s first woman commander of an Airbus-300 and is currently a pilot with Air India, is the secretary of Literacy India, which offers vocational training, education and employment to women.
“She was one of my inspirations for Aravali Scholars. I started with a chequebook involvement about 12 years ago, but now am involved as a mentor,” said Mr Agarwal.
“One of the things that came to mind was why can’t we create jobs in the villages themselves? The rural dwellers would be much happier in their own environment. We all see how these men and women migrate to cities to earn a living.
“How they sacrifice family and social life and even their meagre comforts. A friend started e-Gram Serve. There are six villages around him and kids learn e-publishing in a rural set-up,” he added.
Coming back full circle, Mr Agarwal revealed that he has closed some of his business ventures and sold others, yet still has few corporate involvements where he has made financial investments.
On a personal note, he counts his blessings: “My wife Ambika who in her first innings was in public relations, and now volunteers as a teacher trainer and teaches elementary and primary school kids in NGOs. “
Their two sons are at Doon School in Dehradun.
He said: “I want to focus on these three, four major projects and help them scale up. Hope my entrepreneurial instinct won’t nudge me to start something new yet!”
Get a copy of tabla! for more stories.
