Interview with Sumit Singh Gandhi, Founder, Sounds of Silence


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sumit

 

Name: Sumit Singh Gandhi

Company: Sounds of Silence

Facebook Id: http://www.facebook.com/soundsofsilenceSOS

 

 

  • Tell us something about yourself?

 I personally feel that to initiate a noble cause and be a change leader you do not need any qualification. You just need a will and a heart that bleeds for others. Qualifications wise I am a Btech engineer, who has completed his MBA from SP Jain institute of management. I was a Product Manager at GE.

Pursued a Strategic Perspective Management Course at Harvard Business School, being the youngest founder amongst a versatile group of CEO’s and founders from all over the world.  I believe that the training I received during my MBA routine, the insights I gained in leadership skills during my work tenure at GE and the overall learning and experience at HBS has given me the brainpower and the skill power that would play a key role in making SOS a success and changing the lives of millions of deaf and mute children in India and at a later date abroad.

SOS was started with a pilot project in Punjab pingalwara NGO in June 2009.

 

  • Tell us something about your business.

SOS is a leadership initiative aimed at freeing a million lives from the pain of silence and lack of expression. SOS has been started by socially responsible youngsters who want to use technology as a means of helping the hearing and speech impaired children of rural and urban India to overcome the hurdles of silence. This will be mainly done through the use of mobile phone SMS technology.

It is the first of its kind social initiative catering to the betterment of the speech and hearing impaired, that aims at the very basic requirement to understand them to empower them to communicate with people outside their small closed world, improve their English communication skills to improve their employability factor

 

  • What is your philosophy towards work?

I believe in a strong Value system which is simple yet impactful:

Treating others the way you wish to be treated:

Respect is to honor and show consideration, this respect for each individual is what forms the foundation of SOS.

Carpe Diem

“Seize the Day, putting as little trust as possible in the next”

As the ode says that the future is unforeseen, and that one should not leave to chance future happenings but rather one should do all one can to make one’s future better.

We are ONE.

“Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much”
― Helen Keller

Our Philosophy for starting SOS:

All urban youngsters in India and abroad have had SMS, texting, typing, Blackberry Messenger, Skype or atleast one of these as a part of growing up. We cannot deny that to a considerable extent all of these technological factors have helped us groom our personalities and connect us to the outside world-friends, family, colleagues, clients etc. The role played by these factors in building interpersonal relationships for normal people like you and me is undeniable.

Now let’s change tables and view technology and texting from the point of view of the Hearing and speech impaired kids. If it’s done us considerable good, we can’t even begin to imagine the kind of whole new world that will open to these kids through the medium of SMS technology!

I’m being selfish. Not for myself but for these kids who’ve never had anyone to teach them to communicate in ways other than textbooks and sign language. They’ve never had anyone to help them express themselves and feel even an ounce like normal kids of their age. I’m being selfish and taking the first step towards something so noble and complacent. I just know , My idea is genuine and Deaf/ Mute kids can see the world in totally different fashion by a plain SMS.

 

  • Whom do you admire as your role model? And why

Hellen keller. She was the first deafblind person to earn a Bachelor of Arts degree. A prolific author, Keller was well-travelled and outspoken in her convictions. Keller went on to become a world-famous speaker and author. She is remembered as an advocate for people with disabilities, amid numerous other causes.

All thanks to her will to learn, perseverance determination and brilliant guidance of Ann Sullivan she has overcome the disabilities and become a renowned author. She inspires me to strive hard to accomplish your dreams come what may. In fact our date of foundation is the same as her Birthday, 27th June the birth of a Role model for the world and an inspiration for Sounds of Silence.

 

  • “Management is core to every individual, organization & society.” Give your views on it.

Yes management teaches us how to cope with every situation in life be it as an individual, in an organization or society. We have incorporated the best of management principles and objectives to bring about a change in the society for the deaf.

Management principles have helped us to empower the team to deal with unstructured environment and make decisions,  develop sensitivity to the underprivileged constituents of the society,  develop ability to face hardships and adversities and to understand the economic and socio-cultural dimensions of underprivileged section of society.

 

  • Name 3 qualities of prime importance that a businessman should possess.

3 Qualities of utmost importance in my opinion for a businessman are:

1.    Passion for Work: You need to love what you do, put in your best with sincerity and dedication. Hard work and diligence always leads you to success.
2.    Risk Taking Ability: The most important to believe in your instincts and take the risk to accomplish them.
3.    Marketing : Good will spreads through the word of mouth and social media provides the best platform this so you must en cash on it to the fullest to market your work in the most effective medium.

 

  • According to you, what are the challenges for Entrepreneurship today?

The basic challenges for entrepreneurship today are:

Team Building: You must have the right place and the right team to support and add value at each step in your business, motivating the team to strive for perfection

Have a performance driven team that is motivated by targets but at the same time not disheartened by failure. Don’t lose hope is the motto to overcome this challenge.

Execution: Dream big with a strong execution plan is the biggest challenge to put in action your ideas, thoughts and accomplish them.

 

  • Can Entrepreneurship be taught in B-Schools/Management Institutes/Colleges?

 Yes, it sets the base for an entrepreneur to get kick started. B-schools inculcate in us leadership skills, risk taking ability, strategic outlook that form the basis to become an entrepreneur. Various events and curriculum structure help build in creativity and the attitude to achieve, become opportunistic by not ignoring any growth options. The industry exposure also helps us meet like minded people to network well.

 

  • Is the Name of the Institute from where a student pursues his/her Graduation/Post Graduation or other courses important while setting up your business?

Well at the start yes it does matter. Post graduation from the tier 1 B-Schools will provide you a strong platform and credibility that helps people trust you. It gives the adequate amount of exposure and networking opportunities that help accomplish success. But this does not imply that the other institutes do not produce successful entrepreneurs, if you have the will and determination you will succeed in life. It’s just that the brand of institute helps you get an edge over the others when it comes to networking.

 

  • Do you think today’s economy is conducive for a new venture to start upon?

If you ask me when is it the right time to live your dream, I would say NOW. The economic condition is not of that importance as compared to your dream. You need the right team, attitude and determination.

Like it is said, If you don’t build your dream…somebody else will hire you to build theirs. So begin NOW.

 

  • “Earning more & more is the motive behind any business.” Is it justifiable?

Earning money may or may not be your motive in the business, but in a team around 50 % members would be driven by monetary benefits so in that case earning more and more becomes important.

But, earning is not restricted just to money. Earning respect, trust and credibility is definitely a justified motive behind any business.

 

  • Share with us the most enjoyable moment you had experienced on work.

With a few weeks of research and numerous telephonic research…. we found our first buddies at the “Dongri Children’s Home”, Mumbai.

A  home for a number of different little stories that were once left without a title …. One such story was our star …Shahid. The first friend we made at Dongri Children’s Home.

At first we wrote a few alphabets on paper, and asked if he knew them. With a confident smile Shahid looked at us, a smile that said “Of course I have met them before”. We later wrote “Dog” and an excited Shahid expressed with his eyes and hands that he knows that too.  Same was with the word “Cat”.

Being in the smart phone genre, we volunteers too had smart phones with us. Be it the Iphone or the Blackberry…. Shahid observed us type “Dog” on the keypad as keenly as he could. Within the next few moments the excitement in this young mind grew just as the twinkle in his eyes did. When we gave him the phone, he led us to a shade nearby and sitting beside us he happily tried his hand at typing on the two smart phones. After a little difficulty in typing the first two words, the sparkle in his eyes did nothing but grew. The smile that he flashed was contagious enough to spread on to our face. An elated Shahid then took over to prove that there were many more words that he had learnt an now he can type.

The words that our young star could type on that day, made our belief in this initiative stronger. The words that he typed “Apple ball cat dog god fan hen” has now been engraved in our heart as the first step towards being the change we want to see. And our journey towards making may more such friends has finally begun…….!!

With the second visit, seeing the kids smiling and excited to see us we casually began our session with the basic A..B..C… and a kid walked up to us and showed a phone with the message “Happy” this one word just touched our hearts and truly we experienced the Joy of Giving!!!

 

 

Today, internet is the best medium to spread awareness and enlightenment. BMS.co.in is the best platform to understand the life of management students, ask queries, get advice from experts and much more. It’s basically a one stop for all management students, aspirants and colleges also. A place where all your thoughts are cleared and queries answered something that was missing some years back but is the ultimate source of info for management students these days.

 

COMPANY PROFILE

History-

SOS is a leadership initiative aimed at freeing a million lives from the pain of silence and lack of expression. SOS has been started by socially responsible youngsters who want to use technology as a means of helping the hearing and speech impaired children of rural and urban India to overcome the hurdles of silence. This will be mainly done through the use of mobile phone SMS technology.

It is the first of its kind social initiative catering to the betterment of the speech and hearing impaired, that aims at the very basic requirement to understand them to empower them to communicate with people outside their small closed world, improve their English communication skills to improve their employability factor

‘Training deaf and mute children in typed communication through SMS’—This idea struck me whilst pursuing my MBA at SP Jain Institute of management.(Social Internship program). I was working with a deaf and mute orphanage. Being a manager at heart I absolutely couldn’t live without communication and I had to find some mean of ‘talking’ to the speech and hearing impaired children. I took out my phone and started typing questions to the kids and they started replying by retyping answers. Ten and there I knew that I HAVE TO HELP THESE DIFFERENTLY ABLED CHILDREN SHED THEIR INHIBITIONS and interact without the outside world with confidence and without hesitation.

I then spent two years talking to deaf and mute schools, orphanages, ngo’s, audiologists, psychologists, teachers and corporates who would like to employ my children (deaf and mute kids that ill train). After gaining substantial information from the above mentioned I initiated Sounds Of Silence.

 

Vision/Mission-

Vision:

Our vision is deafness with dignity and equality, and a society where deaf people have equal opportunities to participate in all walks of life.

We can envision the future where deafness is no more a ‘disability’.

We see a world where they are on the same footing as the regular children. We see them laughing and teasing without a care in the world. We see them living life as it is meant to be lived.

We see a ‘brighter’ India with another battle won over!!!

Mission:

Our mission is to achieve equal access for deaf people in every area of their lives. Our mission would be accomplished the day we create self sustainable deaf and mute communities which communicate and type much more effectively than any of us.

 

 

Products & Service-

Our main objective is ease of communication in deaf and mute children through the use of cellphone SMS technology. We have been training children from Vikas Vidyalaya, Dongri Children’s home, Stephens School, CozyCot school,  All India Deaf and dumb association, Sai Garden School to name a few. Our volunteers are going all over central and western Mumbai, delhi and pune in search of underprivileged deaf and mute children’s schools/orphanages so as to teach them the art of effective communication through typed correspondence.

 

Marketing Strategy-

To reach as many people as we can to join and support our cause. The social media is our marketing platform. Within a span of just 6 months our Facebook page has got nearly 4000+ likes and that speaks for itself.

 

Existing Market Presence-

We have been training children from Vikas Vidyalaya, Dongri Children’s home, Stephens School, CozyCot school,  All India Deaf and dumb association, Sai Garden School to name a few. Our volunteers are going all over central and western Mumbai, delhi and pune in search of underprivileged deaf and mute children’s schools/orphanages so as to teach them the art of effective communication through typed correspondence.

Right now we are fully functional in two cities. A team of 45 empowering around 300 students in orphanages and schools for deaf in Mumbai and a team of 40 empowering 150+ children in New Delhi. By the end of this month we aim to kick start our operations in Pune/Bangalore.

Recently we were awarded the World Education Summit Award 2013 for bringing Innovation in Education using Mobile Technology. Awarded a special Mention Award in Vodafone DEF mBillionth Awards, South Asia. Also we won the Unlimited India contest  that supports start-up social entrepreneurs – individuals with the ideas, passion and entrepreneurial skills to bring about long-lasting solutions to the social problems around them.

 

Future Plans

At the moment we are also planning to incorporate Laptop training sessions in our curriculum to enhance their skills and to keep in sync the use of QWERTY phones and computers.

Our main objective is to break a social stereotype wherein deaf and mute children find it difficult to openly communicate with people due to lack of exposure and proper training.

Our mission would be accomplished the day we create self sustainable deaf and mute communities which communicate and type much more effectively than any of us.

In future we plan to spread out across all major cities like Pune, Bangalore, Chennai by December 2013 and eventually go international.

 

 


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