From a renowned octogenarian’s kind gesture to a t-shirt spreading hope – the top stories of the week
This week, SocialStory witnessed Ratan Tata’s first act of kindness in 2021, along with other stories of empowerment, hope and positivity.
Chairman Emeritus of the Tata Group, Ratan Tata, visited one of his ailing employees in Pune, without any fanfare, as has been his style over the years.
Meanwhile, a single black T-shirt has travelled from India to Singapore, and then further on to Tokyo, Los Angeles and other places through an extraordinary show of hope and positivity called Project Hope.
This week on SocialStory, the stories that caught our attention stood out for kindness, positivity and hope.
Here are the top stories of the week:
Ratan Tata visits ailing former employee
If the world learned anything from the past year, it is that human connections can help bridge even the widest distances. And who better to lead by example than India’s best-respected industrialist Ratan Tata.
He showed us his compassionate, empathetic side yet again, as the business icon took the time to visit an ailing former employee at his home. According to a post on LinkedIn, the octogenarian travelled all the way from Mumbai to the Friends Society in Pune to meet a former employee who has been unwell for the past two years.
Habitat for Humanity India’s Annual Charity Golf Tournament
Habitat for Humanity India, a non-profit housing organisation for the underserved, on January 10, will be hosting the third edition of its annual charity golf tournament at the Willingdon Sports Club in Mumbai.
The charity sports event will be hosted to raise funds for COVID-19 care centres, also known as Habitat Care Centres in Maharashtra.
Professional golfers and corporate head honchos will participate in the tournament to support the NGO in its mission. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the tournament will strictly adhere to the COVID-19 guidelines for the safety of all players.
New York organisation empowering low-income women in India through financial inclusion
In a bid to make women more financially independent, three women — Michaela Walsh, Merrill Lynch, US; Ela Bhatt, Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA), India; and Esther Ocloo, a Ghanaian entrepreneur and women’s development advocate — founded Women’s World Banking (WWB) in 1976.
WWB strongly believes financial inclusion is the key to driving economic empowerment for women, and through them, their communities. And the issue is as important now as it was in 1976.
Teenager's social ecommerce startup helping artisans become economically sustainable
Even before the pandemic struck, artisans in India had been facing many problems including bad working conditions, facing exploitative practices, irregular supply of raw materials, and even problems in raising loans. Along with that, their products were being sold below the market price. As per organisations such as Chitrika and Abhihaara, the artisans would only earn between Rs 3,000-Rs 8,000 per month.
Upset with the conditions of artisans and how they were exploited, Kartikeya Goel founded Karfa, a Delhi-based social ecommerce venture that aims to provide a free and fair market to every artisan who wishes to sell their product at a profitable price. The startup — its name a conjunction of ‘kaarigar’ and ‘fashion’ — charges two percent of the price as their operational charge.
The Travelling T-shirt is building bridges and inspiring Hope across the world
In September 2020, a single black t-shirt began a journey from India to Singapore. It carried a simple message: HOPE. The extraordinary story behind this seemingly ordinary garment began on a terrace in Bareilly at 2 am in June 2020, when India was under lockdown. Siddhant Agarwal, the creative force behind Project Hope, woke up feeling like he couldn’t breathe.
He decided to do something around travel. With COVID-19 restrictions limiting the ability to explore new places, Siddhant decided to make a list of all the places that he wanted to visit. Whether it was the bustling markets of Hong Kong or the pristine peaks of the Rockies, he planned to send a message of hope that would connect people across the globe. “If I couldn't do it in person, the T-shirt would.”
Edited by Anju Narayanan