27th December – Feeling the Pulse of the Yatra Part I

I got up at around 5.00 am on the 27th for my branding duties. The train was still and apparently standing on some station. And the train was in complete darkness. So most of us who had got up had to go and take a bath on the station bathroom!! It was quite an adventure being armed with a dozen things in one hand and waiting in a queue for girls to quickly come out. In this entire time pass, I missed the branding duties. So to make up, I became part of the crowd management team and ended up losing my voice!

As the light dawned, I realized I was on the Kochuveli station of Kerela. At around 7 we got onto the buses to head to IISE (Indian institute of social entrepreneurs). There we were supposed to meet the first two of our role models; Mr. G. Vijay Raghavan, the founder of India’s first IT Park as well as Paul and Sabriye, the founders of IISE.

Story behind Technopark – “Don’t Let Yourself Get Pushed”
A 50 acre Technopark was started in the year 1991 in Kerela, a state considered unfriendly for business ventures. The obvious reason behind this notion was the ruling communist government. Today, after a lot of hardships, government bureaucracy and union troubles, Vijay Raghavan’s Technopark is spread over 500 acres accommodating 150 IT and ITES companies, proving employment to 20000 IT professionals.

So how did he do this? What was his plan to combat and fight the government? Actually, nothing!! He didn’t fight the government at all. He worked along with it. Technopark is a Public private partnership with the Kerala Government. When Kerala’s Chief Minister E. K. Nayanar wasn’t too convinced about the Technopark project, Raghavan took him to the Silicon Valley to explain to him the benefits of an IT park. Raghavan actually managed to convince a communist leader, who in March, 1991, went on to lay the foundation stone of his dream project! But troubles were not over. The communist government lost power in late 1991 and the state heads changed. Technopark was off the new government’s radar. Raghavan had to start from the scratch once again. He met up with the new CM to make a new presentation. He was once again successful in convincing the CM, who ultimately ended up sanctioning Rs. 16 crore for the project!

In all the setting up, he faced a lot of union issues. There were people who wanted him to hire more employees. He faced pressure from government officials who wanted him to hire ‘their’ people. Politicians wanted him to give advertisements in newspapers. Raghavan had troubles from the electricity board that wouldn’t provide electricity till he paid a reasonable amount of ‘fees’. He fought all of them and he fought them smartly. Raghavan left us with an advice which I guess will stay with me forever, “Don’t let yourself get pushed.”

'Balwadis' go the branded way!

Step into a neighborhood pre-school and you wouldn’t be able to relate any of what you see to your childhood memories. The swanky school office, the air-conditioned classrooms, and the expert teachers will amaze you. It will intimidate you but also welcome to the world of branded pre-schooling.

The pre-school market in India currently stands at around a whopping Rs. 394 crore. The last few years has seen a growth of almost 28.3% per annum. The new generation of pre-schools like Kangaroo kids, Euro kids and Globetrotters boast of a splendid infrastructure, well trained teachers and a fixed child teacher ratio. These professionally run pre-schools are replacing the humble balwadis in the urban towns.

Lina Ashar, Chairperson, Kangaroo Kids says, “When I first started out in 1993, there was no market for pre-schooling but today parents understand the importance of pre-schools.” Ashar feels that this change has been due the social and economic changes India has witnessed in the last decade. “Both the parents are working but they don’t want the child to be with maid, they prefer the kid to be at a pre-school with other kids,” believes Ashar.

The child is supposed to develop by 80% in the first five years of his life. The pre-schools in through their syllabus concentrate on developing the gross motor and fine motor skills of the child. The gross motor skills mean coordination of the limbs which developed by jumping and hopping while the fine motor skills are about finger eye coordination, hand to mouth coordination and so on.

All of this doesn’t come cheap. The average fees charged by these branded school is about Rs. 50, 000 per annum. But the parents don’t seem to be complaining too much. It is because maybe with both the parents working, the household income is almost double too. Kamal D’Mello who sends both her children to pre-school feels the fees is worth the expenditure. She says, “The teachers are very accessible and I can go and monitor my children anytime of the day.” However there are parents who feel that the fees is too high but they are still ready to spend that extra buck. “It is expensive, but then the syllabus is well researched and the kids get to do a lot of extra curricular activities too,” feels Karyn Felsinger whose two year old son goes to a branded pre-school.

And it is not only about educated upper middle class. The aspiration level of Indians is rising across the board. The business houses are eager to cater to every segment of the society that is ready to spend extra for his/her child’s education. Shri Krishna, CEO of Birla Edutech which also runs a pre-school chain called Globetrotters feels the want for a better future has percolated to lower levels of the society too. “Today, I don’t have a pre-school chain for the lower segment of the society but I would love to have it one day because now they have the ability to spend too,” he elaborates. Rajesh Bhatia, MD and CEO, Treehouse Education too feels, “Education has an aspiration value to it. Families in smaller towns also want the best for their kids.”

Maybe twenty years back, at two years a child would be just learning to walk and talk in the confines of his home but today this tiny toddler is not only on the way to realize a million dreams for his parents but also carries a burden of being a consumer of a multi-crore industry.