DARE - Because Entrepreneurs Do

Recently concluded Tata Jagriti Yatra, a journey through various cities of India to promote awareness about entrepreneurship, took me through a very revealing story, though I joined it for a very short period of length—from Delhi to Tilonia, near Ajmer. The story was about the importance of a “piece of cloth”. As you read about it, you will come to know why I decided to write about it.

As I was coordinating with the media person on board about what time they might reach Safdarjung Railway Station, we decided that I should get going early in the morning as they might reach there at around 8. However, the person warned me that the train could get late. Being a person who is terrible in waiting, I first got up at 2:30 in night just to check the time; then at 3:30; then 4:45; and then finally at 5—the time I had set to get up. It is kind of a strange habit that I don’t use alarm in my mobile phone to make things easier! Right from the start, I had a habit of getting up on my own. Okay, enough of this personal stuff.

I took the cab and headed towards the railway station but got information that the train might be late by around 6 hours and it might reach at around 2:00 PM. I made it there and the train came at around 4:00.

Now, it was not easy for me to keep waiting given that it was a dry, cold weather without anybody to talk around at that deserted looking railway station. But when the train came, I felt a rush of excitement in me because I could see around 400 young people bubbling with joy and enthusiasm. This again, to get a bit personal, reminded me of my college days. At the same time, it underscored the theme of the journey—to excite that spirit to do something. It is better if it is excited when you are young. But apart from being excited, the day had a revelation in store.

There was a planned visit to an NGO called Goonj, which was about to be shelved but taken later on. I would say that it was worth going there and come to know how people in India suffer differently from a common need called “piece of cloth”.

Anshu Gupta, told a telling tale of how he came to know about the need of “piece of cloth” while he was searching for some journalistic stories in Old Delhi. He came across a person who used to transport dead bodies in his rickshaw cart from police. He told Anshu that during winters, his business doubles as he had to carry around 12-13 dead bodies per day as compared to 6-7 during summers.

Later, Anshu Gupta met somebody who said that he/she (I forgot the gender) hugs a dead body to avoid feeling cold. The person went on to say: “laash na tang karti hai, na karvat leti hai--लाश न तंग करती है न करवट लेती है। (the dead body neither troubles nor takes a turn)”. I remember how the group of 400 people was stunned into silence. As the stories continued, people stopped taking pictures or doing extra stuff—they started listening.

As he moved to the subject of sanitation napkins, he mentioned that a woman died because she used the blouse of an old, tattered sari and the hook of that blouse got inside her. There are areas where ladies were advised to get their uterus removed owing to the reason that there could be an infection because they did not have that “piece of cloth” to use as sanitation napkin.

There were more stunning stories about this newly found buzz-word: "piece of cloth".

What is the value of a “piece of a cloth”? For people who can afford it, it is just minimal or even unworthy of consideration. For those who can’t, it can save them hugging a dead body to save them from cold.