Bhanuben 46, is a native of Morbi in Saurashtra, but was born, raised and married in Ahmedabad. She lives in an urban settlement in Ahmedabad. I ask her if she is married. She bursts out giggling in response. Of course she is married! I tick it off in the form. Bhanuben tells me she… Continue reading People of Bharat: Bhanuben, Ahmedabad
Photo by India Picture on Shutterstock. In our previous blog post, we summarized preliminary findings from our ongoing work on the various factors influencing user learning and experience in the context of smartphone based digital agri-service/financial apps for the farmer segment. Here, we highlight and discuss an interesting anomaly when it comes to the usage of mobile… Continue reading The curious case of the farmer with the smartphone
“We have spice plants too”, Prabhat points eagerly, “plants with leaves that you add to food. Like oregano, rosemary, as they say”. “Herbs?” I offer, as I follow him through the small the nursery, treading carefully to avoid saplings cluttering the path. “Yes, those” he agrees. It is late evening on an early… Continue reading People of Bharat: Prabhat, Ahmedabad
Photo by Victor Moussa on Shutterstock There is a saying about how- if you want God to laugh, tell him your plans. Recently I’ve begun to suggest an addition to it- ‘If you want God to laugh, tell him your plans and your research proposals’. Project Kish was a blue sky project from inception. When the objective… Continue reading Plans, Pivots and Prayer
Over the last 4 months, we have been working on ground in Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka and Nagaland, in order to understand the role of product/interface design and other factors that influence and enhance the usability of smartphone based agri/financial services. In previous posts, we laid out the context, and our findings from an initial… Continue reading Using smartphone-based applications: Some challenges faced by farmers
“You will need to wash that off after 15 minutes”, says Mamta, instructing me on how to remove the face pack she has just applied over my face. Mamta works for a company that offers various professional services to customers in the comfort of their homes. These include salon services; customers can book the… Continue reading People of Bharat: Mamta, Ahmedabad
Photo by Tukaram.Karve on Shutterstock Meet Deepak “We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” This Albert Einstein quote has deeply inspired Deepak to pursue his entrepreneurial passion and direct his drive towards the fintech ecosystem. Deepak is an engineer and a management graduate with a keen… Continue reading Byte the Coin — Designing Digital Money for Bharat
Abstract: BotGo was started in 2007 by Ravi Panchal, an engineer, after he lost motivation to continue at a managerial role at his job. A hands-on technical person, Panchal was inspired to create an underwater tank-cleaning robot. He started BotGo by bootstrapping it with his savings and roped in his friends for key positions in… Continue reading BotGo: Determining product-market-fit for a robotics venture in India
“You see that there?” Chandrabhan says, pointing to a close circuit camera perched on top of a pole at a moderately busy intersection. “I have to stay within its range, else my supervisor will raise a complaint” he continues. He motions me to pull up a chair, so that I may be comfortable as we… Continue reading People of Bharat: Chandrabhan, Ahmedabad
Photo by shameer pk on Shutterstock In the previous blog, we discussed about the significance of informal finance in the lives of slum dwellers and outlined some of the legislations related to moneylending activities issued by various states in India. This blog discusses why informal lending market is sticky and not easy to substitute with formal lending; and… Continue reading Why formal loans may never substitute informal loans
I buy my weekly stock of vegetables from Tulsiram. His handcart is almost filled with 40 varieties of vegetables in winter; a riot of solid, comforting colors in green, white, red, yellow, purple and orange. While I regretted my purchases from elsewhere, I often wondered where he came from and how he always managed to… Continue reading People of Bharat: Tulsiram, Ahmedabad
Photo by Santhosh Varghese on Shutterstock Imagine if a person came on her/his feet or on her/his two-wheeler and offered you credit in way that seems inexpensive and customized. The lender is also able to sympathize and act as a life coach to your financial problems. Now imagine this to be a lived reality for a substantial… Continue reading How do slum dwellers borrow?