Interview with Pankaj Dixit | Liter of Light Banglore
I hope this can inspire you to becomea successful social entrepreneur too!Why is it important to hear the story of a successful social entrepreneur?
Having the vision to become a social entrepreneur is great. Making it happen is another story!
The story of real people, like you and me, who decided to take their life into their hands and make their dreams come true, for the greater good! The story of real successful social entrepreneur, who built their success from scratch : thanks to their passion, their authenticity, and their vision!
In that frame, I had the pleasure to interview Pankaj Dixit and Tripti Aggarwal, the founders of Liter Of Light – a wonderful initiative to light up houses.
1)Thank you for accepting to share your story! As an introduction, can you please tell us
about yourself, your background, and what brought you to co-create Liter of Light
Banglore?
Tripti Aggarwal: My name is Tripti, 33 years old hailing from a village in Haryana. I am a salaried professional with background in procurement development. I am currently working with Heineken in the Netherlands, prior to that I have worked in Mumbai and Bangalore for 9 years.
I have been a volunteer through most of my life and I believe in long term volunteering as
against event based volunteering. In my opinion, it caters to a longer lasting impact.
However, in due process one tends to get connected with the beneficiaries on a deeper
level. When the engagement ends for whatever reasons, the bond is severed and the beauty of the whole process. Move to Bangalore and I was scouting potential volunteering opportunities on social media when I stumbled upon a workshop happening in Swiss embassy by Liter of Light Switzerland. I decided to go and we did an installation in a nearby slum. What I noticed, that through light you are making a long term impact yet the beneficiaries are not dependent on you. It’s a very small exchange that happens. I was wowed. And it is that Aha moment, that made me take the plunge and start the chapter in India. I asked my mentor, Pankaj to join me, and together we co created with a mission to empower communities.
Pankaj Dixit: I am a life coach and had a good stint of over 25 years in corporate. When Tripti approached me with the ideal of starting Liter of Light chapter in India, I was immediately hooked. I was fascinated by the simplicity of the idea and the potential it had for empowerment. The light is an enabler. With light available people can find many ways to improve their lives.
2)Can you tell us the story of Liter of Light Banglore ? How did the idea came, and what it
took to make it a reality?
Liter of Light is a global movement and the idea was already there as a concept, converting a waste PET bottle into a DIY light source with locally available materials. What evolved with Liter of Light Bangalore was the implementation of this concept. We started as idealists but soon jolted back into reality when we found that we need to keep on modifying our product as per the needs of our beneficiaries. There are multiple reasons why energy poverty exists, and how it hampers people. We started seeing Liter of Light Bangalore as just bringing light to communities but rather a medium to bring enablement,this light source will help people to take steps to further improvements in their life, light changing lives quite so. We do this now by thorough need assessment and if a site calls for a deserving project, we prioritise and raise funds for it. In a nutshell, it took us over 2 years, to get to a decent product development stage along with finding right vendor partners, gauge the needs in a honest and humble way, and of course the the dynamics of energy poverty.
3)So far, what has been the impact of Liter of Light Banglore?
Impact – In the last 4 years we have worked with slums and remote villages and tribal community. We have installed over 50 daylight lamps, 500 community lights and 500 study lamps impacting lives of over 5000 people in more than 15 communities all over India.We have engaged with over 500 volunteers in various schools and colleges and corporate house.
4)What is your ambition for Liter of Light Bangalore in the coming 3 years?
Our vision is to turn obsolete. We dream of an India where none is limited of opportunities in life just because they do not have access to a basic need as light. With that in perspective, our projects are really small scale in often remotest corners of the country. Sometimes catering to 20 families in an unreachable mountain/forest to over 100 families as well. Our ambition for next 3 years is to enable communities to spearhead the movement in their own surroundings. We have started to see results where volunteers/students/NGOs within the communities learn to build and install further lights with our continual support. In terms of numbers, we do not want to be ambitious as it becomes a number chase then. Our mission is to enable one person/family at a time and that often calls for keeping change significant despite the numbers.
5)Can you share with us a story of a successful social entrepreneur and/or participant of a
Liter of Light Banglore immersion experience?
Please check this video of some French scouts who volunteered for us recently:
https://youtu.be/7ML9gCgBMgM
6)According to you, and from what you see with Liter of Light Banglore what are the 3
main success factors to become a successful social entrepreneur and make a positive
change?
-Keeping your whys alive: Ask what is in for you, why are you here and never lose sight of
that.
-Keeping it simple and real: Make investment of your time worth the while by taking one step close to your goal. Do not get swayed by social media thumping or the awards, Do not just show numbers for a powerpoint presentation. Often change is subjective.
-Keep challenging the status quo: You will fail, you will lose hope. Yet keep challenging
yourself and the status quo. Asking difficult questions at the beginning and having the grit
to find solutions to the cause you choose to support will keep you afloat.
7)Do you have a final message, for a potential successful social entrepreneur who still
wonder if creating a social business is a viable career track?
Do not try to find a cause to support, find out what is it that lights your inner fire. Seek
your whys and remain true to them. They will guide you when doubts begin to emerge, choose your own definition of success whatever it may be. In the end, that is all that matters.
