The Jugaad( Street Smart) Person:

Shruti is a prefinal year student of MSc (Hons.) Chemistry and B.E (Hons.) Civil at BITS-Pilani. A senior member at the Centre for Entrepreneurial Leadership where she has led many projects to success. Entrepreneurship,startups,money,microfinance,theatre are a few things that interest her.She has spent her childhood summers volunteering in the tribal belts of Bihar, Jharkhand and West Bengal for an NGO her parents are part of.She has written financials for a Bio product based B-plan that was one of the top three B-plans in her college.Her work experience as a Design, Finance and Marketing intern in different sectors & different companies right from a MNC like Texmaco Limited to a small startup like www.p2w2.com , she believes will help her run her company someday. At grassroutes she hopes to make some small yet positive difference to somebody’s life.The experience promises to help her rediscover herself in a way that would help her make some important career choices

The Budding Social Journalist:

Abhimanyu is in his final year of BE Mechanical Engineeering from BITS Pilani. In college his courses of interest apart from the discipline courses have ranged from Stock and Portfolio Management to Journalism. He has been an active part of the English Press Club and also led the team that built the college’s first automobile. During his school days he led a campaign to clean up the local river as part of the Indian Maritime Foundation’s initiative on World Cleanup Day. He has worked in the sales and marketing department of the Indian Express in the summer of 2007 and in the Ore Handling Port at Mormugao Port Trust, Goa in the summer of 2008. Having stayed all over the country Manyu can comfortably interact with people and can pick up any language within a short span.
Manyu says “Grassroutes is giving an opportunity to visit rural India and experience the work being done there in an “organized manner .I hence expect to learn a lot from the ten day road trip both in terms of knowledge and the spirit and inspiration that draws people to leave lucrative jobs to helping others. Being at the crossroads of choosing a career, I will see the joy it gives in pursuing something driven by the heart and not seven figure salaries.”

The geek :

Phaneendra is in his final year of B.Pharm (Hons.) from BITS-Pilani, Pilani Campus. His areas of interest are Software Development, Graphics, Movie Making and he is an ardent supporter of the Open Source Movement. At college, he  has been the coordinator of Dept. of CCTV for Oasis’08,  cultural fest of BITS-Pilani. The work involved video coverage of the fests, making 2D and 3D presentations for the fests and managing the Websites and Online registration. He was also one of the founders and a core contributor for BITS Linux Users Club. He is well acquainted with many computer languages and technologies. He is currently excited about learning Flex. His skill lies in understanding the technical part of the work, identifying the suitable technology, and implementing it in innovative ways.

From Grassroutes he expects to see life in rural areas and understand the problems present there. In a crucial phase of life where he has to chose a future career, he is enthusiastically looking forward for the opportunity from Grassroutes

The Developmental Worker:

Maya graduated with a B.A. in Politics in 2007 from Mount Holyoke College, in the U.S. While at college, Maya was also active in the Environmental Studies and Economics Department, on internships and teaching assistantships. She is passionate about Development Studies, particularly local stakeholder livelihoods, and has carried out field studies in several countries including, Brazil. She has since then worked on a Teaching Fellowship in a Business polytechnic in Singapore, teaching Business Communication and Economics. Currently, Maya is working with a social enterprise, “Under The Mango Tree” to help train small farmers in sustainable beekeeping for income generation, agricultural pollination and market creation. Maya is looking forward to meeting more like-minded aspiring social entrepreneurs through the GR program.

The Engineer :

Sudharsan graduated from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy in 2008. He is currently working as an R&D engineer with a telecom equipment supplier. His interests include reading books, listening to music, travelling, and blogging and occasionally fiddling with his guitar. He has good communication skills and is an eager learner. He is excited about meeting people working in the social sector, and at the opportunity to be a social journalist thanks to the grassroutes program.

The Analyst & Catalyst! :

Rashmi graduated from the National Institute of Technology, Trichy a year ago. She’s currently working as an analyst for a Sales and Marketing consultancy group in Pune. She has great communication skills and a flair for organisation. An avid reader and crossword addict, she enjoys theatre and has directed and performed in several plays. Her strong belief in basic education for all has led her to work with underprivileged children. After having volunteered at several organizations for short periods of time, she is looking forward to her first full time project as part of Grassroutes.She is excited about meeting people who are on their way to changing the world and is also keen on getting first hand experience working in the rural sector.

The Doctor :

Husain grew up in Bangalore and completed his MBBS at Kasturba Medical College in Mangalore, where he developed an interest in rural health. During his internship at Christian Medical College, Vellore, he acquired a better understanding of the issues involved. He hopes to apply the principles of evidence based medicine to achieve cost-effective healthcare in rural areas and will soon be working at a government hospital in Bangalore. His interests are books, birds (the winged variety!) and cryptic crosswords. He speaks Gujarati, Hindi, Kannada, and Tamil in addition to English. He hopes to use the Grassroutes experience to meet interesting people and to learn how NGOs work in the field