SANGEETHA DEVI DUNDOO (Hindu )

A quirk of fate made Sriram Bharatham and Bharathi trade their lucrative jobs for social entrepreneurship.

The office space in iridium Interactive is cluttered and spacious, all at once. We walk through a maze of cubicles where employees are busy at their workstations and then walk through a long pathway with plenty of natural light streaming in through the huge glass panes. On a row of bamboo modas, a long winding sheet of paper rests bearing a long list of names. “We celebrated the company’s eleventh anniversary recently and this list has the names of each and every one who worked with us in all these years,” says Sriram Bharatam, the CEO, as he greets us.

The spacious walkway is where ‘Iridium’ites have their morning huddle and the creative and logic teams come together to share ideas. Sriram Bharatam is an engineer who went on to studyinternational business, pursued higher education at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, returned to India to join Hewlett-Packard JV, New Delhi, working in the strategy and consulting practice. He swiftly rose among the ranks when in his 20s and then, by a quirk of fate, turned a social entrepreneur with Cause an Effect (CnE) and Iridium Interactive. Giving him company is his wife Bharathi, a chartered accountant, who never got to do accounting but revels in the social pursuits of Cause an Effect.

Ripple effect

The devastating cyclone that hit Orissa in 1999 triggered the change for Sriram and Bharathi. “We were both in New Delhi a year after our wedding. Sriram was pretty much a jetsetter. He lost his passport and we came to Hyderabad to get a duplicate passport,” Bharathi rewinds. The news of the cyclone made them want to do their bit. “We walked into a cyber cafe and created a portal for Cause an Effect and helped in raising funds for victims through Prime Minister and Chief Minister relief funds,” says Sriram. Within days, they had gunny bags full of cheques. They raised nearly 1.5 million dollars as contribution from 18 million people. “We felt responsible and accountable. We channelised the cheques to the respective relief funds,” adds Bharathi.

The effort that went towards building a global community of 18 million in just 45 days through CnE won Sriram the Kauffman Community Award for social entrepreneurship in 2004. The cushy, high paying job in New Delhi soon became a thing of the past. Sriram and Bharathi stayed put in Hyderabad and spearheaded Cause an Effect, which became a non-for-profit organisation with a focus on sustainable livelihoods, women, health, childcare, disability and much more.

Within no time, iridium Interactive was also born. While iridium became a commercial enterprise, CnE thrived on social entrepreneurship. “During the tsunami, we understood that more funds were flowing in than manpower. People needed temporary livelihood measures than anything else. We produced seven movies on topics such as mushroom cultivation, vermi compost, how to repair mechanised boats, kitchen farming, etc in four languages and shared them with our partner NGOs including NASSCOM Foundation, who in turn trained people in their centres. Around 1500 to 2000 volunteers were trained in each module; they in turn spread the message among people affected by tsunami,” says Bharathi.

From a one-room office to an enterprise that now meets requirements of more than 2000 clients within Hyderabad alone, iridium has come a long way. Even within the commercial setup, Sriram and Bharathi have donned their Good Samaritan hats. One of the many things that Iridium is credited for is the process of making websites ‘accessible’. Accessibility refers to developing websites that can be navigated by differently-abled users. What’s more? The company has employed visually challenged software developers. “It’s high time companies look beyond employing differently-abled people merely as telephone operators. Some of the people trained by us in mainstream work are now well placed in larger companies and the NASSCOM inclusion team, where there is more scope to grow,” says Sriram. In fact, Iridium is now in the process of creating voice-enabled websites to make the Net accessible to the hearing impaired.

SWOT, modules and mobile streaming

Sriram recently spent a few weeks in East Africa, testing new modules. He lets us in on what’s brewing: “We are working towards capacity building exercises for micro and small entrepreneurs. A company that has just two people also has needs policies, regulations, HR, accounting, finance management, etc but doesn’t know how to handle diverse portfolios. These are companies that aren’t able to make steady progress and reach out to new clients. We faced these problems when we started off and know what it takes. Ideally we shouldn’t have taken this long to reach where we are today.”

Sriram’s team has created ‘How to…’ modules that help small and micro entrepreneurs. Modules such as how to evaluate balance sheets and how to review a company through SWOT analysis will be soon streamed through mobile phones. “We did pilot projects in East Africa involving five countries and more than 200 clients,” informs Sriram. If logistics are worked out, expect similar modules to be introduced in India as well.

Their office is a mix of professionals with different core strengths. “We don’t strictly go by qualification. We look for people who are passionate about their work and those who can look beyond mere technology,” echo Bharathi and Sriram. And those passionate about doing out-of-the-box work have been knocking at their doors, even from premier institutes. “Right now, we have a few interns from IIT Guwahati,” smiles Sriram.

He hastens to add, “But now and then we are faced with the situation where candidates are compelled to move out because their parents want to see them placed in larger companies with fatter paycheques. Though the candidates themselves are very happy with their work, parental pressure takes a toll. Culturally, in India we are conditioned to believe that it is rude to say NO to our elders.”

Sriram and Bharathi know firsthand about parental perceptions. “Even today, our respective parents feel we should have done what our peers did — be ‘well settled’ in the US. For us, that seems like the worst thing. We’d rather work here and create opportunities for others than run away to the United States,” smiles Sriram.

As Published in Hindu

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Presentation of the first National Mental Health Awareness Day by Bharathi of Cause an Effect

We then went on with a presentation on  the Erwadi Tragedy and  about the activities done by WMFI and Banyan Tree Team. On 6th August 2001, two dozen hapless mentally ill patients were roasted alive in Erwadi, Tamil Nadu, when a fire engulfed the Moideen Badusha Mental Home. Chained to poles, they were unable to escape and their charred remains were found the next day. We then explained about the efforts by the Whole Mind Foundation of India and the The Banyan Tree in bettering the conditions of the mentally challenged in India.

We had the participants pledge support to the Mental Health Awareness Program by reading out a pledge and everyone put a green ribbon on their lapels. After this, participants were given pamphlets and extra ribbons

Candle Walk by Supporters of the Cause for Mental Health patients

which they could distribute to others. About 80 of us then set out to departmental stores, bus stops, parks etc in the vicinity of the iridium Interactive office and pinned the ribbons to others and gave them a little information about what  we were doing and why they should spread the word about these efforts. Then we lit candles at a bus stop and went on a candle walk on the return stretch to the office. At the office we read out a prayer for the mentally ill and pledged to do all we could for their betterment.

This is a very small step in bettering the conditions of millions of such patients who need our care and supports and instead are languishing in institutions and subjected to inhuman conditions.  Join us in spreading the word about this pressing but understated issue. Join us in making 6th August known as the National Mental Health Awareness Day.

If you would like information and support in taking up this cause mail us at bharathi@causeaneffect.org.

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It was on the 6th of August 2001, when at least two dozen hapless chained mentally ill were roasted alive at Erwadi, Tamil Nadu, when fire engulfed the Moideen Badusha Mental Home.

Sadly, when we enter the decadal year of Erwadi, we remain at Ground Zero to improve the lot of hapless tens of millions, suffering from one or other mental illness in the country. Needless to say, lakhs of them remain incarcerated at lunatic asylums, prisons, and street. Moreover, sufferers at the bottom of the pyramid-poor and homeless- suffer maximum and lead a life full of stigma, darkness and discrimination despite the fact that mental illnesses are largely preventable, treatable or manageable in most of the cases.

Friends, every cause needs a rallying point- 6th August, 2001, and Erwadi tragedy is the defining one for Mental Health Movement of India.

Let us all come together and Join hands together to observe 6th August, 2010 as India’s First Mental Health Awareness Day.

Request all of you to kindly participate in the “Light a Candle Program” at our premises at “6 pm on the 6th of August 2010″

Please take this First Baby Step in Creating a Purposeful Mental Health Movement

Team @
Cause an Effect Foundation,
8-3-1084/1&1A, Srinagar Colony,
Hyderabad – 500 073
Tel : +91 40 2373 0266, 6557 7602
Fax : +91 40 2373 0537

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To help spread awareness on HIV/AIDS issues “Cause an Effect Foundation” conducted a rally in SangaReddy town in Medak District of Andhra Pradesh. All major stakeholders in the fight against HIV/AIDS were brought together.  These stakeholders included various youth groups of Haridaspur village, Mallepalli village, Ambedkar Seva Samithi, School & College Students and Media, the critical cog in such awareness campaigns, all went on a two kilometer candle lit rally from the old Bus stand to the new Bus stand in SangaReddy town centre.

During the rally, the youth and students held various banners and placards on Preventing HIV AIDS.  Fliers were also distributed to the public.  Many joined in raising slogans and spreading messages about AIDS, its prevention and its eradication.  Many groups sang songs to draw crowds and increase the participation.  All this happened enroot the candle walk. This Program was designed to spread awareness with a three pronged strategy of Bringing Awareness, Educating Masses & Enabling discussion.

The spirit and enthusiasm of the volunteers, the songs, the messages, the slogans and the light created curiosity amongst people in the town centre.  This culminated into a series of queries and discussions on the subject. Some of them were curious, some confused, some just wanted to be take pictures and few really wanted to know all about AIDS- all well integrated into the Bringing Awareness, Educating Masses & Enabling discussion in spreading the message about HIV AIDS. The public joined the rally in an impromptu manner which only proves that HIV/AIDS has begun to enter into mainstream awareness. Seeing the wonderful response from the people, the students and youth raised slogans and made a huge human circle at a new bus stand, and chanted slogans.

This rally was the only event in the town conducted by a non profit organization and motivated the public to learn more about HJIV/AIDS and how to prevent it. Local leaders also joined the Candle Light rally. Mr. Sriram Bharatam, the Founder of the Foundation was ecstatic that such a rally could be conducted and claimed “any impact in the fight against HIV/AIDS is better than no impact”.

Lending his services and resources to this cause on a spontaneous basis was Mr. Jagan, a noted SC/ST leader in the area. He said “It is imperative that we come together in spreading awareness of this virus in the most vulnerable sections of the society.

It was touching to see the affected individuals participating with such enthusiasm and vigor to stop spread of this dreaded virus. According to Mr. Ramakrishna, the dynamic and enthusiastic Project Co-ordinator from Cause an Effect Foundation, “We are never short of enthusiasm when it comes to helping, only in terms of resources and money”. A few more committed resources would only amplify the impact of the work and thus help in alleviating some more suffering thus helping the motto of Cause an Effect Foundation – “for a few tears less”.

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Recently, as a representative of iridium Interactive and the Cause an Effect Foundation, I was honored with the Udyog Rattan Award in recognition of contributions towards the empowerment of the disabled. The Udyog Rattan Award is conferred by the Institute of Economic Studies in New Delhi, one among the country’s premier research institutes.

The Institute of Economic Studies was established in 1980 by a group of economists, parliamentarians and industrialists who came together to study and discuss problems concerning various aspects of the economy and economic development of India and offer their expert advice and services.

While the award itself deserves no more than a passing mention, I do believe that the work it recognized could do with a lot more awareness and support. We founded the Cause an Effect Foundation (CnE) in 1999 to help the victims of the super cyclone that affected Orissa that year. Leveraging the power of internet, we built a global community and raised funds to the tune of 1.8 million$ in just 45 days.

The CnE Foundation then went on to generate funds for the victims of the Gujarat earthquake and Andhra floods, as well as the Tsunami-affected victims across Tamil Nadu and AP. In all CnE projects, iridium Interactive functions as the commercial interactive agency, and has been highly successful in generating awareness and publicity for the various initiatives. It is heartening to see the ii management and employees wholeheartedly contribute their time and expertise to these initiatives.

A lot of the work that we do is mainly in the area of empowerment of the disabled. The process of empowering disabled people is an end-to-end value chain that spans Iridium and CnE, and is done through multiple initiatives. CnE has conducted disability camps bringing together the State Governments, transport authorities and medical personnel to issue 5000 disability certificates to the differently-abled. It has also conducted livelihood trainings that have empowered a thousand people with financial viability, and workshops in education and English language to bring the differently-abled community closer to the mainstream and services on offer through the internet.

A focus area for me personally, and for ii at large, is that of Web accessibility and usability, i.e. making websites accessible for the differently-abled. ii has been instrumental in promoting ‘web accessibility’ for visually impaired and motor disabled people, enabling them to access technology- and information-related products through the use of Internet. We work to create awareness amongst website owners (government and private) on the need to make sites accessible to disabled users, and also on promoting Internet usage within the disabled sections of the society. Additionally, we have also helped in making various websites (dealing with employment, transport and travel, education, and e-banking) user-friendly for people with disabilities, thereby promoting equal opportunities for disabled people.

All CnE initiatives are for the betterment of the marginalized or disadvantaged communities in India, be it the differently-abled, or the rural poor. For instance, another project that we are very invested in is that of livelihood training, where we have used the power of ICT to develop 7 livelihood training modules for rural farmers and fisherfolk, to train them in alternative livelihoods.

As I mentioned earlier on, the causes that we work for could always do with more publicity and more support. Being awarded a prestigious award like the Udyog Rattan focuses attention on our causes and turns the spotlight on them.
To know more about CnE efforts in these and other areas, I encourage you to visit the website (www.causeaneffect.org) and perhaps even join our community.

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