Three Idiots, Multiplied

Pre-independence, a simple yet intelligent solution called the charkha (the spinning wheel), introduced by the father of the nation, Mahatama Gandhi, ignited a revolution of self entrepreneurship throughout the country.

Later in 1960s, while the demand for milk kept rising, Verghese Kurien, united milk producers in the White Revolution and raised production.

Around the same time, famines were believed to be the wrath of God until agronomist Dr M S Swaminathan brought about the Green Revolution.

Now, most urbanites think problems of illiteracy, poverty and unemployment, faced by their counterparts in rural India, will get solved on their own.

Aditya Natraj is an exception. An MBA from Insead (France), he believes people need to be familiarised with the issues so they can device solutions. "Gandhi, Kurien and Swaminathan had a deep understanding of the problems they addressed.

To create such leaders again, it is crucial to create an understanding of today’s scenario," he says.

So he created a programme called 'Gandhi Fellowship Programme' that aims to familiarise the urban educated young with the real challenges of the country and make leaders of them.

His two-year programme is designed to pick students from elite undergraduate colleges such as St Xavier's, Mumbai, Shriram College of Commerce and Jamia Millia Islamia, Delhi and Vishwa Bharati University, Shantiniketan, West Bengal, among others.

These interns get a stipend of Rs 14,000 per month to get familiar with the problems of the underprivileged parts of the country.

During their induction they drive auto rickshaws, work in fields and sew clothes to support themselves. "This experience exposes students to aspects of India they have never experienced before," says Natraj. "When they form interpersonal relations with the community in order to survive, they undo some of their conditioning."

It's been three years since Natraj started the programme and the numbers have been growing. While the first two batches of the programme (2008 and 2009) had only 11 students, the third had 40. This academic year, the numbers have swelled to 115.

Natraj believes the root of India's problems lie in its failing education system and municipal schools. "Headmasters of municipal schools are not trained. They are functional agents but don't know how to engage children with education," he says.

During the major part of the Gandhi fellowship programme - about 16 months - students work closely with principals of municipal schools.

At the end of the programme, students fired by their experiences most often move on to initiate projects to address the issues they feel strongly about. Initially, sceptical parents feared their children would be wasting years if they enrolled.

However, as many of the former students have started innovative community-oriented programmes - women empowerment in Bihar, revival of handicrafts in Gujarat and Rajasthan, organic farming in Uttarakhand and education for the underprivileged in Maharashtra - more and more of them are buying into the fellowship.

Corporate institutions have also become more open to funding the programme. The fellowship, in short, has become a thinking undergrad's MBA in real-world issues.