There has to be a fine balance between society, government and the market – samaj, sarkar and bazaar.
I attempted to seek that balance through a dialogue between samaj and bazaar.
In 2008, Rohini Nilekani, chairperson of NGOs Pratham Books and Arghyam, moderated an eight-part television series called ‘Uncommon Ground’. Conceptualised by Nilekani, a former journalist, the show had an unusual premise: it put together, on the same platform, one business leader and one social leader and encouraged them to talk, nonconfrontationally, about the issues closest to their common area of work from the point of view of their divergent ideologies.
Type: Interview
Uncommon Ground: Path to India’s future
In 2008, Rohini Nilekani did the near-impossible by bringing sets of for profit business leaders and not-for-profit social leaders together on a TV show for focused debates on issues crucial to India’s future. Now, she has turned those discussions into her latest book, Uncommon Ground.
The author-social activist-philanthropist spoke to Sangeetha Chengappa ahead of the book’s launch in Bengaluru on Thursday.
Entrepreneur Wisdom – Discussion – TiE Stree Shakti initiative
Rohini Nilekani and Rama Bijapurkar share their views on women entrepreneurship Chat Over Chai.
We aim to provide a book in every child’s hand: Rohini Nilekani, Pratham Books
New Delhi : In a memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with Pratham Books (NGO), publisher Pearson Longman has agreed to set aside part of the proceeds it receives for every school title sold in India, which will then be used for the cause of the underprivileged children across the country.
BEHIND THE IT REVOLUTION –
IT companies may bring in their wake a certain culture of work and play which may veer away sharply from Bangalore’s pre-IT days, but the city is trying hard to keep its integrity.
“The city has evolved.. It has grown madly in every direction, planned and unplanned, grown with granite and glass, with bricks and mud and tin as well,” says Rohini and adds that it never seems to be bursting at the seams like the other metros. The roads are definitely better, street lighting and the signages are improving.
‘Challenge creation of islands in society’
Rohini Nilekani is essentially a philanthropist at heart and passionate about development issues. The fact that she has featured in the Forbes’ list of Asia Pacific’s 48 ‘Heroes Of Philanthropy’ for the second consecutive year proves this.
She speaks to Shruti Khairnar on middle class values and corporate social responsibilities.
India’s NGO Sector is the most diverse in the world
Writer and philanthropist Rohini Nilekani, wife of Infosys co-chairman Nandan Nilekani, has been deeply involved in development issues for many years now. She is the trustee of Akshara Foundation, which works to bring literacy and teaching programmes to poorer children; she co-founded Pratham Books, a non-profit publishing enterprise to produce high-quality, low-cost books for children in several Indian languages; end, with a private endowment, she started Arghyam, an NGO committed to sustainable water for all, in 2001.
It’s hard to be a working mom
We may know Rohini Nilekani as the wife of one of India’s most successful entrepreneurs and for her tireless good works. But was life always this struggle-free? Here she reveals what being a mother means to her and why she fears for her children’s future.
focus on philanthrocapitalism: myth or reality?
What Rohini Nilekani sees as innovative and different about the way she’s doing things is the way she has brought together the opportunities that coming into money has given her and her earlier work in the social sector, with ‘all its emotional charge towards equity’.
CNBCTV18 – Nandan helps me think logically: Rohini Nilekani
One wonders how different her life story would have been, had she not fallen in love and married one of corporate India’s brightest entrepreneurs. But Rohini Nilekani says while her bank balance may look very different, her outlook to life and her aspirations remain the same. For 26 years, she has given Nandan Nilekani the support he needed to make Infosys the billion dollar company it is today. Her activism continues to flourish as she engages with various organizations to change the social fabric of this country. She is a fiercely independent woman with a mind of her own.