May 13, 2019
A heartwarming airport reunion causes Prajna Khanna, our Head of CSR, to reflect on the real-world impacts of the Dharma Life initiative
As I hauled my bags onto the scanning belt at the security at Lucknow airport, I heard someone call out my name from the back of the line.
It was a work trip, visiting the operations of Dharma Life, our partner in Uttar Pradesh, so I wasn’t expecting to bump into anyone I knew. I turned around to big smiles from Aarti, one of the Dharma Life Entrepreneurs, who was accompanied by her husband Rajeev. And they were on my flight!
“It’s our first flight ever,” Aarti told me, as we caught up on the other side of security. She was going to represent Dharma Life at a forum in Delhi with her husband. Dharma Life, an initiative co-sponsored by Signify, provides solar lantern libraries for rural communities that are off-the-grid.
It also trains entrepreneurs who sell solar lanterns to earn income and develop their entrepreneurial skills. Aarti is one such individual, and the fact that she was representing Dharma Life at a public forum told me that she had flourished in the program.
And the big nervous smiles on their faces let me know that this was an impressive and exciting milestone for the two of them.