Al Kati Veeral!
E Week couldn’t have started on a better note. We were standing on the boulevard of the Marina Beach in Chennai on a Saturday morning. A slight fishy smell wafted through the sea breeze; fishing boats were onshore taking their well deserved rest. There was a mood of leisure and everything seemed to move lazily. That is until one spotted the long lines of young people hold placards, flags and banners. If the number of parked yellow coloured buses were anything to go by then these young people were from Saveetha College of Engineering, Dental, Medical and Physiotherapy colleges. They were ‘People on Mission’ (that’s what their banners read) to participate in a rally to create awareness about entrepreneurship and breast cancer.
When Sesha Sai, Joint Commissioner of Police, Chennai city, arrived, the excitement turned into restless anticipation. Even the awaiting inspectors and group of women constables came sharply to their feet. When asked to comment on the rally, the congenial commissioner said, “Students’ limited knowledge of entrepreneurship is picking up. Now they don’t want to be employed. They rather be employers and provide jobs. Also, you don’t need to be rich to be an entrepreneur. Today, anybody can be an entrepreneur.”
The flag off ceremony commenced with a speech from Gita Premkumar of Vector Indojanix Pvt. Ltd. Gita has been an entrepreneur for 22 years now. Her passion for entrepreneurship was evident when she eloquently urged the gathered students to work towards the betterment of society by becoming entrepreneurs. She said that to be a successful entrepreneur all it took was to bring out a good product and provide employment to at least 10 people.
A couple of speeches later the rally was flagged off by Gita and Dr. Mallika from the Cancer Institute, Adyar. The participants stepped boldly ahead and Saveetha’s E Cell members cheerily called out “Al Kati Veeral” (to point out the way with the index finger). They were really requesting for index fingerprint of all around as part of their E Week signature campaign to pledge support for entrepreneurship.