Lest we forgetVishy KurugantiMay 06, 20202 minsLest we forget the numerous mountains still to be climbed in India, this Firstpost photo essay reminds us. After floodwater receded from the villages of western Maharashtra in 2019, the villages were…
Returning to the Migration MemeVishy KurugantiMarch 09, 20123 minsPic: courtesy IndiaToday.in In the past week, three conversations with three different migrants in Bangalore (all working as security guards) reminded me why I need to devote more time (and blog space…
Abhay Mishra goes to Sikkim Manipal UniversityVishy KurugantiJanuary 09, 20123 minsPic: distancelearningdelhi.com Abhay Mishra (name changed for this story) is 24 years old. He’s halfway through his MBA program at Sikkim Manipal University after completing a 2-year computer course…
Calcutta's dying breed of 'human horses'Vishy KurugantiOctober 03, 20112 minsAs part of my research for an upcoming post on SMV Wheels (a social enterprise serving the rickshaw puller community), I’ve read many articles and viewed several photoessays. A photo gallery from…
Why I Like These Social Enterprises – Part 1Vishy KurugantiJuly 18, 20113 minsPic: courtesy inthroughit.wordpress.com It recently struck me that I should start adding a “What I like about <enterprise x>” section to each post. The section would include social metrics the…
Khata Kholo Har Darwaza Kholo – Eko's Branchless Banking (Part 2)Vishy KurugantiMay 12, 20113 minsThis is part 2 of our coverage on Eko‘s Branchless Banking solution play (Part 1 is here). Eko-SBI-Migrants = Win-Win-Win As you may recall from our earlier analysis (Banking for India’s Domestic…
A fresh look at the migration narrativeVishy KurugantiMay 10, 20113 minsPic: courtesy hummingbirdworld.com During one of the panel discussions at last week’s Sankalp Forum, an interesting conversation emerged. Two early-stage VCs (Seed Fund’s Mahesh Murthy and Kae Capital…
Khata Kholo Har Darwaza Kholo – Eko's Branchless Banking (Part 1)Vishy KurugantiMay 01, 20114 minsWhen you hear “no-frills banking” think of a place like this (Pic: courtesy cgap.org) [Editor’s Note: A few weeks ago I had an engaging phone conversation with Abhishek Sinha, co-founder and CEO of…
Banking for India's Domestic MigrantsVishy KurugantiApril 28, 20112 minsIndia’s 100 million strong domestic migrants contribute a whopping 10% of its GDP. As I covered in The Twentyfirst Century Kabuliwalas of India, domestic migrants are one of the missing links in India…
The Twentyfirst Century Kabuliwalas of IndiaVishy KurugantiApril 19, 20114 minsPic: courtesy upperstall.com Rabindranath Tagore (Bengali poet, novelist, playwright, painter and musician) is renowned for so many works of art that it seems almost criminal to dwell on a personal…