a good proposition

One of the things the country is going gaga over is the current PM. Great. He does seem to be making all the right noises and is promising an administration that works. Only time will tell what will actually happen. In any case – my vote was going for his party for a very simple selfish reason. A few years ago, I came to the conclusion that all of them are equally bad, but at least the right winged BJP when in power started the amazing road project called the golden quadrilateral. Thanks to this at least we got some great arterial roads linking the country. When Jasmine and I bought our second home, we were completely short of cash and therefore we needed a vacation we resorted to driving holidays to save time. I used to always tell Jasmine to go on a driving holiday. For many years she steadfastly refused. But I guess the lure of saving so much money was too much to refuse and she agreed. Then we were hooked and we went to places as far as Hampi or Udaipur in our car for a vacation. So my vote was clear. I get my road and you get your vote.

This time the route of the Congress has been complete. With less than 50 seats they are not in a position to even be the head of the opposition. This has the supporters going gaga. Public memory is notoriously short. 10 years ago when congress won without a PM candidate everyone expected the Italian born Sonia to take the post. When she gave the mantle to the affable Manmohan Singh, people thought it’s a wonderful thing. He was the toast of the nation and everything he did was awesome and path breaking. Especially his honesty. His wife was interviewed and was asked about the rising cooking gas prices. She knew the price and was hopeful they don’t rise. The PM’s life was simple enough that his wife was hands on in the managing the household on simple budgets. Ten years hence the poor guy was pilloried in media and on jokes and was seen as an honest man but who couldn’t speak or say anything against the high command. Let’s see what Modi has to offer. Right now he is living the PR dream.

So coming back – everyone seems to enjoying the amazing mandate that the PM got. A complete destruction of the opposition. Now here is where I turn turncoat (is that a double negative) but yes, now I am lamenting the lack of an opposition. The joker in the pack in this election was the AAP party. Born out of an opposition to corruption, this party contested the Delhi assembly polls to come in with a slim mandate and became the ruling party. After that the media turned on him and he started doing the wrong things to be in the limelight. Possibly he was doing a great job on basic governance but his last stand was to sit in a dharna outside the parliament. The CM doing a dharna in his own state. That was kind of weird. He lost some support in his own backyard. Then he contested the National elections in 400+ seats only to win 4. He hardly even made a dent as a party spoiler.

All over the AAP was lampooned. Which is possibly a fait thing but still his value to the country as a mad crazy opposition was too valuable to loose. He seems governed by his own agenda. He seems to be anti everything, he seems to be directed by his own mad passion for opposing. He is the classical opposition and for a democracy to thrive we need him. So now I would love to be with him.

While browsing around – I came to this site www.prop4rev.com. A bunch of young film makers set out to document the opposition to corruption movement and ended up following and documenting the start of the AAP party. They didn’t realize the goldmine they were onto. And they shot a real load of footage. Post which they needed money for postproduction. Here is their video

Now I normally don’t open my purse strings for charity. I don’t even donate to any party. My charity is limited to those around me. In the past I used to give for some social cause but that too is something I have stopped. I rather help people I know, touch and feel. But this seemed too good and close to my heart to resist.

Young kids deciding to shoot an anti-corruption movement find themselves in a sea of revolution. A crazy bunch of committed individuals trying to change the country. Then they go online and decide to raise money. On the website they shoot a great video and make a compelling case. Then write some nice lines and put figures against which you can see what to get in addition to warm fuzzy feelings. I opened my kitty.

A few days later I get this email from them thanking me and telling me that they achieved their funding goal.

Dear Jaimit,

Thank you for contributing Rs.**  towards our initiative, Proposition for a Revolution. You have been one of the first few to participate, and we really appreciate your gesture.

Thanks to well-intentioned and generous people such as yourself, we have already raised over Rs. 12,00,000. As you might have seen on the website, that Rs.12,00,000 was our minimum target.However, this is only the beginning.  

This is what we need to complete an initial rough cut of the film.  After this, we will also need funds for other imperative post production costs, like sound design, music work, colour correction, etc., and eventually also for publicity towards release, outreach to cinema theaters across India, etc.  We truly feel that the film should reach out to as many people as possible.

Your contribution has helped towards making this happen. Thank you. We urge you to continue sharing the campaign, and supporting the initiative.  

Visit our website: www.prop4rev.com

Like us on: www.facebook.com/prop4rev

Follow us on: www.twitter.com/prop4rev

Subscribe to us on: www.youtube.com/prop4rev

This is also the beginning of a political dialogue in the country, wherein we can voice and put into action the change we wish to see around us.  We would like everyone to become part of this dialogue.

We will keep you updated with progress on the project over the next few months.  This is your project too, now.  

Best Wishes,

Khushboo and Vinay

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Cute and nice. I must appreciate their effort. Well done.  Worth my pennies. They also very cleverly hid the fact that they need more money after post production in the appeal but slipped it in the emailer. Solid marketing buggas these kids have turned out to be. Nice job. A great proposition!

a money raising experience

Yesterday was a typical Sunday night. I was in bed reading a book by 930pm. and I was asleep by 10. We like to get to sleep early on Sunday night in preparation of the huge week ahead. While I was half asleep, I thought I heard a doorbell. I argued about the rality of it in my sleep before deciding that it was a real doorbell and I hastened to answer it. I opened it to find a kid near the opposite neighbour door. A real tiny kid with a satchel in across his shoulder, with specs and a Sunday best attire. He must have been all of three feet tall. I later wondered who must have helped him ring the doorbell. He hardly might have reached there. Nevertheless, seeing me open the door, he came to me and I could see he had a board in his hand with a paper clipped on. He came to me and said “uncle, you have to write your name here, address here and phone number here” pointing to the place in his place. It was an excel sheet with something written at the top and a list where everyone could write their details. A ha. This sweet kid was on a money collection mission sent by his school. He then added the line he crucially forgot. “You also have to give ten rupees or more if you want to.”I figured that bit looking at the form.
I studied in a convent school. The whole point of schooling seemed to me to collect money for charity. Every occasion we would get a form and a purpose. Someone is ill or some building needs repair or like half the time, we did not even bother what the purpose was. My brother used to absolutely hating begging and I probably took cues from him. I did not particularly like it. I grew up to kind of hate it. When I speak about this to a few colleagues, the standard response was that they hated it as well as kids. I know a lot of tough things build character. Buts what the theory of begging... does ringing bells and asking for money might help overcome initial shyness and awkwardness? What a pain.
Luckily I had a tenner in my wallet. He did not have any change. I asked him where he kept the money. A ha, the satchel served that purpose. I put it in the satchel, and asked him where he stayed. My larger worry was that a kid (he was in the first standard) was roaming out alone at ten pm ringing bells and asking for money on a Sunday night. He happened to stay in my building on another floor.
Luckily I think things have improved over the years. I think people are more in tune with donating, knowing that schools keep sending these kids all the time. I have a policy of always playing up when a kid comes in. I know what shit I went through. I don’t ask stupid questions; don’t bother about, school or purpose. I just see if the kid is a genuine bloke and pay up. Put him out of his misery fast enough. Typically to overcome shyness the kids also hunt in pairs. Two of the same school run around the building together and fill their forms in a pre agreed algorithm.
Luckily for this kid I was the last one. And at 10pm it was about time. I question the logic of the school to send a kid from the first standard begging. I don’t really blame the parents. He would about 6 to 7 years old. I later glanced over the form and saw the purpose and school. Oops. Why was I surprised? It was my alma mater, my school, Don Bosco at Matunga. Oh god. They were renovating the boarding quarters and I was even eligible thanks to my donation for an entry into a raffle that gave me the chance to win ‘exciting’ prizes. 20 years and things have not moved a bit.
Come one guys. Stop it. There are many interesting and better ways to raise money than begging. Nobody paid to get a chance to enter a raffle. They paid because they saw this poor kid being sent on a mission from his school. I remember how the teachers used to publicly praise the kids who managed to get more money and the ones that got in less. The vice principal once went from class to class to show the form of an outstanding student who got a lot of money from his relatives and friends for a cause.
Sometimes the cause is genuine. Some kid in school who got cancer and needed money for treatment. Sure it’s important to lend a hand, but I do feel that the schools overdid it. Not just my school but I remember all the kids in all the schools doing it. I did also feel that the convent schools were more in tune with this than others.
So now. It is a charitable foundation that surely runs a pretty decent school. I did learn and owe quite a bit to my school and I also realise that they need funds. The school is today also kept in a great shape for the kind of fees it charges and I do assume that not a large portion of it might be lost in transit. The facilities and the ground and the buildings look in good shape. So how else should they raise money?
Well the great old way – ex students. Students who have made it big and still feel a bit for the school and its mission. They have an ex students association. They meet on some predetermined Saturday, but when I went there I only found old political basterds and a coterie that did not want to change things. There is a thriving community on the social networking sites and sadly our idiots aren’t there. Or least haven’t yet managed to reach us there. If there is a simple engagement program that is open and transparent, I guess, raising money won’t be that difficult. There are many people who want to engage and give something back. You just have to give them a reason. You might get stuff in kind or cash or endowments. It can’t be that difficult. There is surely enough money around. Also the fact is that schooling is highly localised and at least 50% of the community probably still stays around the same area. But that is still a shitty argument when the web breaks all geographical barriers.
My college principal made it a great art of keeping in touch with some celebrity students who passed out. I mean the industrial house type guys. He regularly gets the community to put money on the table. But contribution can also be in simple ways. I teach at my college because my teacher once called me and asked if I could come in. She understood that I wanted freedom to teach and money was not my motivation. For 200 bucks an hour there was never enough meat in teaching money. But I have time to give and students got a decent prof from the industry. Better than the other older ‘professional’ teachers. And at that rate how could the professionals give in their best. Thje ex students came up whenever she called and contributed however she wanted them to. Money was the last thing on anyone’s agenda.
If suitably engaged would most of the ex students say no. I don’t think so. Do we know enough of ex students to cough up around300 bucks each? That was the amount that young kid raised. 30 homes into 10 each. Surely. I guess most would even give a predetermined amount just to stop the kids from going out. I am game for a couple of thousand bucks a year... easy. No questions asked, only stop current students from going around with a bowl.