Rishab

Volunteer at Shivganga Jhabua (Working on Holistic Rural Development with the Bhil community) | IIT Roorkee

[Sridhar Vembu @svembu]

Open letter to Indians in America.
--
Dear brothers and sisters from Bharat:

Like I did 37 years ago, you arrived in America with no money but with a good education and cultural heritage from Bharat. You achieved outstanding success. America was good to us. For that we must remain grateful - gratitude is our Bharatiya way.

Yet today, a significant number of Americans, may be not the majority but not too far from it either, believe that Indians "take away" American jobs and our success in America was unfairly earned.

You may think the next election will fix this, but your choice would be between people who hate our Bharatiya civilisation and people who hate civilisation itself. That is the "hard right" vs "woke left" battle. You are mere bystanders to that conflict.

Meanwhile there is one thing that is true now and will be true in the future: the respect Indians command world-wide will substantially depend on the fortunes of India herself. If India remains poor, the woke left will give us moral lectures with pity and the hard right, different moral lectures with scorn ("hellhole") and we must not confuse either with respect.

Respect in today's world, along with prosperity and security, comes from one source: a nation's technological prowess. India produces sufficient brain power to achieve that prowess but alas we exported so much of that talent, particularly to America. As we develop that prowess in India, our civilisational strength will assert itself.

As difficult as it is for many of you to contemplate this, please come back home. Bharat Mata needs your talent. Our vast youthful population needs the technology leadership you gained over the years to guide them towards prosperity. Let's do it with a missionary zeal.

Respectfully
Sridhar Vembu

[Sucheta Dalal @suchetadalal]

Make her famous. It is our duty to stand by the rare officers who dare to do their job fearlessly. She has put her future on the line for us. Let us reciprocate by standing with her!! 🫡🙏🙌🏽🙌🏽

[Rishab @rishab_seth10]

Shri S K Basheer participated in Jhabua Darshan Yatra for 2 days (30-31 August 2025) along with 150 students, professionals and #social_workers to understand the community driven #sustainable_development model in Jhabua.

[Rishab @rishab_seth10]

Jhabua Darshan #Yatra Experience shared by Shri S K Basheer (Trustee, Eklavya Foundation)

I am very happy to share my memorable experience of visiting the Shivganga #movement, where the Bhil community is working together for holistic #rural_development in the villages of Jhabua

[Rishab @rishab_seth10]

7️⃣ Youth & Volunteers: I was very impressed that most volunteers had come from across India, living and working with Shivganga. The youth of the Bhil community—two generations—are now actively involved in this movement. Interacting with the Gurukul students was heart-warming.

[Rishab @rishab_seth10]

Ganeshotsav and the activities are mediums for growing #unity in the villages and an opportunity for identifying the social_leaders . Shivganga then nurtures them through different community #empowerment camps and technical trainings

#ganeshotsav 
#positive_change

[Rishab @rishab_seth10]

Social festivals in Jhabua are becoming the ground for #Social_Leadership Generation in Jhabua.

Teams from several #villages of Jhabua were part of Samajik Utsav Prashikshan Varg organized by Shivganga from 17 - 19 Aug 2025.

#rural_empowerment
#holistic_development

[Rishab @rishab_seth10]

The participants planned for organizing the ten-day Ganesh festival in their villages and took #training in various activities like archery, tug of war, kabaddi, matki-phod, flute playing, visual presentation and decoration, samudra manthan,narrating story of Raja Bhagiratha, etc

[Paras Chopra @paraschopra]

The #1 mindvirus you have to prevent from catching is the compulsion to please other people.

It’s so ingrained that you won’t even realise you’re doing things to seek others’ approval.

But do things because you’re having fun, even if they garner no interest from others.

[Bhavin Turakhia @bhavintu]

Sensational headlines that shame a founder on his apparel versus support them on their net contributions is everything that is wrong with media (social and press)

Today's trending news: Unacademy CEO Announces No Appraisals While Wearing $400 Burberry T-Shirt, Internet Reacts

So what is the point being made?

* Had Gaurav's wardrobe comprised of t-shirts worth $4 versus $400, could this situation have been avoided? Would the $394 per t-shirt saved have materially impacted the profitability or growth of Unacademy positively?

* Is it that it was insensitive of him to be wearing semi-luxury apparel whilst communicating his message?

I for one will make my judgements from the content of his communication, and the humility in his acknowledgement of having made a mistake rather than the label of his clothing

Being a Founder is a lonely job. Ben Horowitz summarizes it in his book - "The Hard things About Hard Things". Founders face constant uncertainty and change. It is an emotional rollercoaster. It involves tremendous personal sacrifices. It often comes at the cost of personal relationships, physical health, mental health, personal happiness and more.

The edtech businesses in many a country have faced existential crises. India perhaps leading the pack. Unacademy is amongst the last companies standing in the country in this space. Certainly it is not free from challenges. Every company goes through their trials and tribulations.

I empathize with every individual at Unacademy. It cannot be easy to receive this announcement. I can state from experience that Founders take no pleasure in these decisions. It is always with a heavy heart. It is not motivated by personal gain.

However, I can say, that this is a Founding team who have on several occasions slashed their own compensations, taken paycuts, aligned their incentives to the performance of the company, and toiled towards the betterment of access to education in the country. This is a company that has created and maintained 1000s of jobs in the course of its history, and provided low cost, affordable, high quality education to lacs of students.

If the media and the community wishes to help humanity, then lets celebrate Founders during their wins and support them during their trials as opposed to reducing the legacy of an organization and its founders to the logo of their clothing

This is not the first and will not be the last of the challenges Unacademy may face in its journey. I will continue to cheer from the sidelines knowing that the Founders, the leadership and the entire organization will brave these and other tough times in the relentless pursuit of democratizing education in the country, and, irrespective of the foibles, flaws and failures they have and will continue to have a net positive impact on the lives of many.

@unacademy @gauravmunjal

[shobhit mathur @shobweet]

My article with @sureshpprabhu in the Economic Times today. Higher Education Institutions are now facing a moment of reckoning. They need to reinvent themselves on the face of disruptive trends. Can they rise up to th challenge? It begins by answering fundamental questions

[Sridhar Vembu @svembu]

Switzerland has 9 million people (fewer than Chennai) and has 3 official languages with equal status and one smaller language still used. All the children receive their education in their respective mother tongues.

India can do this. We must believe!
https://t.co/kG86l6vjBz

[Abdaal Akhtar | ଅବ୍ଦାଲ୍ ଅଖ୍.ତର୍ @abdaal]

It is almost completely forgotten today, but there was a time when a giant wall made of thorny bushes and dead vegetation snaked its way for some 4000 km throughout India - from Kohat in NWFP to Sonepur in Odisha. This was the Customs Line, better known as the Great Hedge

[The Cultural Tutor @culturaltutor]

The Danger of Minimalist Design

(& the death of detail)

A short thread...