tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-78942105019589608922010-03-25T13:54:52.701-07:00Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.comBlogger25125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-71645290099701542262010-02-08T07:18:00.000-08:002010-02-08T07:29:45.353-08:00

Kranthi Kode, who was one of the facilitators in our Beyond Borders event last week, sent in this amazing reflection:I felt that the film and the event evoked different responses from the attendees. If there is anything common in all these responses, I think it is the profundity.One of the attendees I talked to apparently came to the event with a mindset of winning the 'debate' with his

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-76885887069785572172010-02-05T21:05:00.000-08:002010-02-08T07:31:27.934-08:00

On Jan 29, 2010, Pakistanis, Indians, Muslims, Hindus and South-Asian Americans came together to watch Shabnam Virmani's powerful film, "Had-Anhad: Bounded Boundless; Journeys with Ram and Kabir." After watching the film, the audience broke up into smaller groups to reflect on what their own identities. Thereafter, we came together as a larger group, to share reflections. Here is a video

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-17787502678591259222010-01-18T10:11:00.000-08:002010-03-25T13:54:52.981-07:00

Prof. Ronald Howard spoke at the Social-M Challenge's inaugural event (Converge 2010) in a panel discussion with Prof. Stan Christensen. Prof. Howard was brought to the panel by Sarvodaya. The discussion captures some deep-rooted wisdom for self-development. If you're seeing this in an email, click here to watch the video.

Neil Patelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-62608607661635643612009-11-17T09:16:00.001-08:002009-11-19T09:13:53.329-08:00

Last Sunday, a team of 9 Stanford students headed to serve at the magical Karma Kitchen in Berkeley. Pavi Mehta, lead coordinator of Karma Kitchen that week, wrote in the following:There were nine of you, fired up and ready to go when Viral and I arrived just after nine on Sunday. The largest set-up crew we've ever had, arguably the most sincere and most definitely the only crew that's arrived

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-4492820276866200232009-10-19T10:45:00.000-07:002009-12-23T09:00:28.297-08:00

On Thursday, Oct 15, 2009, we had a deeply inspiring talk given by a man who has spent six decades in active service and meditation. The talk was featured prominently by the Stanford Daily.Dr. Ariyaratne started off by sharing the secret of meditation - that of becoming a scientist of the mind. By observing what goes on in the mind, we can go toward developing equanimity. He warned us against

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-69457263221257723732009-10-18T15:00:00.001-07:002009-10-18T15:11:17.479-07:00

Imagine a speaker who starts off with the question, "What is your 1000-year plan?" This was Prof. Anil Gupta, a man who has stretched the boundaries of intellectual property rights to bring it to rural innovators, who are normally ignored by mainstream society.Speaking to a diverse group in the Summer Quarter (Aug 2, 2009), Prof. Gupta shared the story of Shankaracharya, a young monk who started

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-79262717110802020042009-09-27T15:20:00.001-07:002009-10-01T15:04:11.355-07:00

We took a table at the Stanford Activities Fair in White Plaza last Friday, from 12-4 PM. This time, it was a different activity fair for us. Our focus was to find ways of serving the community, and two voluntary activities that took place in this spirit were the distribution of an orientation document (Mental Muscle) and wisdom scrolls.Wisdom scrolls have their genesis in Wednesdays, and are a

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-9418807451825465012009-07-13T21:59:00.000-07:002009-07-13T22:07:44.399-07:00

Dan Pallotta's talk which was co-sponsored by Sarvodaya along with the Decisions and Ethics Center is finally online, courtesy of the Stanford Center for Professional Development.For those of you who've missed Dan's talk, you can watch it embedded in this post below.For those receiving this post through email, you can view Dan's talk on Blip TV.

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-1064619940292429952009-05-29T11:16:00.000-07:002009-05-29T15:14:25.895-07:00

Madhu and Meghna are modern-day heroes, who've followed their heart to serve society by making films that inspire us to serve. We had the good fortune last Saturday to hear their personal story, interspersed with clips of films they've made and films they've inspired others to make. It all started when, at a critical moment of decision-making, they received a $3,000 state-of-the-art film camera

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-83365738131420899762009-05-29T00:16:00.000-07:002009-05-29T10:34:48.199-07:00

Last week, about 25 students and community members attended a 2-hour workshop with Jullien Gordon, the "Purpose Finder". With Jullien as our fearless leader, we each answered the golden question: What is my personal and professional purpose?Jullien has developed a day-long course, called "Driving School for Life", that leads students through a process of articulating one's own purpose. The

Neil Patelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-68609306458191875522009-05-19T05:45:00.000-07:002009-05-19T05:51:14.767-07:00

This article refers to a March 2 talk by Nipun Mehta -- here's the full video.My perspective on Nipun Mehta is that of an outsider -- to Sarvodaya, to pay-it-forward schemes like the Karma Kitchen, and even to writing blog posts (this is my first). But it is impossible to spend more than five minutes with the man and not come away sharing his sense of infectious enthusiasm, awe, and wonder of the

someonehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02406681737269609140noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-38995280306942975512009-05-06T17:03:00.000-07:002009-05-28T08:44:20.372-07:00

Thanks to the many hours volunteered by Sandeep Reddy (MS&E 09), we now have Nipun's talk online. Many Sarvodaya members attended this talk earlier in the year. Just like his earlier talk helped us set the tone for Sarvodaya at Stanford when it first started, this talk cements our fundamentals and reminds us why we have come together. A must-watch, if you are new to the gift economy.You can watch

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-56177234285854803782009-03-27T01:03:00.000-07:002009-04-04T21:34:42.691-07:00

This week Somik and I attended a gathering with a storied, decade-long legacy:Eleven years ago, three people decided to sit in silence for an hour, in an everyday Silicon Valley living room. No teachers or gurus. No set agendas or proposed beliefs either. Just silence for an hour every week with one strong principle -- when you change within, the world changes.Wednesdays are a grassroots

Neil Patelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-15325124816967528512009-03-10T12:59:00.001-07:002009-03-10T22:11:44.167-07:00

Last night, a group of kindred spirits came together to create a space of sharing, brainstorming service. Here's what the group came up with, over a sumptuous South Indian dinner and improv theater..Thoughts/Ideas in no particular order:Sarvodaya will be an incubator for selfless thought experimentsGoing to restaurants and picking up leftover food. Serve food to the needy. Emulate DC Central

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-68336904857555054732009-02-26T11:04:00.000-08:002009-02-26T13:33:56.125-08:00

Thanks to Mitul, Sarvodaya has a group page on facebook. Please join and feel free to invite others! Look for news and events to come through the group in the future.I also want to recognize Mitul for stepping up in making this happen. Somik and I talked today about creating a "culture of stepping up" with Sarvodaya. It is great to see an individual doing something small but important for others

Neil Patelnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-28774844958485185432009-02-24T18:42:00.000-08:002009-02-28T11:18:00.706-08:00

Along with 25 others - a fearless group of five Sarvodaya members ( set out on Valentines Day with one objective: spread the love in San Francisco!A group of friends gathered together in the city early Saturday morning to prepare bag lunches with vegetarian sandwiches, chips, fruit, and other snacks. Together with some hand-made Valentines cards and 'Free Hugs!' signs, the crew split up and hit

Neil Patelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-59743787215731527342009-02-24T18:41:00.000-08:002009-05-14T20:19:23.202-07:00

When Ravi Gulati was an MBA student at IIM-Ahmedabad, he barely knew what a non-governmental organization was. Years later, he spearheads Manzil, an innovative education NGO in Delhi. Working with children living in and around Khan Market, an area with a significant low-income population, Ravi started started with one student. From his living room, he started teaching math from the absolute

Neil Patelnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-21897833087295132352008-04-20T11:09:00.000-07:002009-02-28T11:13:51.919-08:00

Tenzin led us through Tibetan Buddhist meditation that involved slowing down our breathing, then empathizing with someone we feel connected to, and finally, enlarging our circle of compassion to include the entire world.At 8 pm, Tenzin then gave us a talk on the history of Tibet after which, we had a vigorous round of discussion, with people sharing deep emotions. Toward the end, we did a

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-39755315026184027472008-03-29T08:06:00.000-07:002008-04-21T11:46:38.185-07:00

Prof. Clayborne Carson spoke at the Sarvodaya meeting on March 6th. He gave an eloquent speech about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and his efforts in America. Prof. Carson spoke about the many who had come before Dr. King, such as Rosa Parks, in the fight for civil rights in America. He made a strong point that we should not forget the many people involved in the fight to end segregation in the US.

Roshannoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-59145958334386663602008-03-11T21:40:00.000-07:002008-03-11T21:43:48.801-07:00

Last night we had an opportunity to interact with various dynamic personalities and got them to share their experiences with us. Kabir, of Indicorps, shared his experiences and thoughts about rural upliftment in India. He started off his project in India with Indicorp as a summer intern and ended up extending it for three years. It was heartening to learn about his commitment to make a difference

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-65348720611389835682008-02-25T23:46:00.000-08:002008-04-24T08:01:35.116-07:00

It was indeed a pleasure to be present at the talk by Prasadji last Thursday. He opened our eyes to the real meaning of Gandhian philosophy.He told us an inspiring story about food wastage in one the Sarvodaya youth camps. Despite constant requests by the camp organizers not to waste food, most of the attendees were leaving a lot of food on their plates. Finally, not knowing how to prevent this

Tanushreenoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-67006279849658262342008-02-16T18:11:00.000-08:002008-02-16T18:41:59.051-08:00

We started with a quick update on our Valentine Day action. The plan was carried out and a member who was at the scene reported that the admin who received the box of candies rushed to her colleague's office with an excited, "Look what I got!"We had the pleasure of Joe Madiath's company today.Joe has been working on water and sanitation for rural communities for over thirty years now. He has

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-48383866907530785452008-02-07T21:07:00.000-08:002008-02-07T22:10:11.327-08:00

Our meeting today generated interesting ideas. We agreed to host Sarvodaya Prasad's talk two weeks from now, and next week, we'll have Prasadji interact with us on a more personal level. Sarvodaya Prasad is the general secretary of Sarvodaya in Andhra Pradesh and he has been working hard to create a network of campuses around the world united on Gandhian thought. His interactions with some of our

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-24761908337924318972008-01-31T23:38:00.000-08:002008-02-24T15:27:55.953-08:00

A large network of kind souls did incredible acts of kindness to pull together tonight's event. The Graduate Students Council started it off by passing our budget unanimously, and were very gracious to accept our entry at the last minute. People we didn't even know came forward. Someone dropped off their amplifier and speaker. Another got a microphone. Someone in the audience had a mobile set of

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7894210501958960892.post-65895080646901725442008-01-24T20:33:00.001-08:002008-01-24T23:23:18.903-08:00

We talked about focusing on the community around us at Stanford. It is a trap to start thinking of volunteering in old-age homes, etc.. because our purpose is to cultivate kindness and kindness is not something that should get triggered only in old-age homes. We must practice kindness in the environment we are in.This thought was agreed upon by all present. Based on this, we brainstormed ideas

Capital Socialist/Social Capitalisthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13941503481395242135noreply@blogger.com0