What an amazing day! What amazing people!

I am writing this entry from the office of the CEO of the marketing firm that sponsored my business visa. I don’t think I can fully describe what a blessing he has been. I have been in this country for only four days now, and I’m meeting with heads of companies and departments, he’s introducing me to one of the top photographers in Hyderabad in an hour, he’s connecting me with magazines.

The power of networking is an understatement. I could do none of this on my own. If it were by my own strengths and talents I would still be living at home taking pictures of flowers. Only through networking have I been able to work for myself in Indianapolis and now enter a completely new environment and have prospects of work. It does not matter how good I am at what I do if I cannot connect with people. Everyone knows somebody.

Ganesh picked me up from my apartment and took me to his office, the office of an IT company that deals with a lot of health care issues. He brought a childhood friend with him who has been working in Sudan in public health. This fellow is truly interesting to talk to. He has been working in NGO’s first in India, then in Sub-Saharan Africa. He is a wealth of knowledge and ideas on how to bring the masses out of absolute poverty and malnutrition.

Ganesh asked us both to talk to the management of the IT company. Manohar, Ganesh’s friend, did most of the talking, and rightfully so. He implored the management to think about how this company can help raise the Indian people out of poverty using IT as a means. How can the company take what they have learned from working in the corporate world and apply it to the social? He told them that a company can make a positive difference with the underprivileged, and they will find themselves better off as a company. These people can truly make a difference, and they want to, but they need the ideas and the means to make the difference. Manohar has the ideas. Now the action must happen. It will be truly interesting watch. This mindset seems to be rampant in the youth of India. They want to make a difference.

Today has excited me for the future possibilities. Manohar has invited me to work with him on documentaries, using imagery to make a difference. I do not know if I will work with Ganesh on any projects, but he will do anything in his power to help me get connected with the right people. Truly incredible.