NEW DELHI: Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia and social entrepreneur Anshu Gupta on Thursday interacted with Delhi government school students of classes 9 to 12 under the Entrepreneurship Mindset Curriculum programme.
Gupta, an entrepreneur and recipient of the 2015 Ramon Magsaysay award, founded the NGO 'Goonj' in 1999 that works in the field of humanitarian relief, aid and development to support vulnerable and underprivileged people.
"You won't be able to work, or go to vulnerable and disaster-struck areas if fear paralyses you. Take all the precautions but don't let the fear overwhelm you," Gupta said during the online interaction when a student asked him if the disaster relief campaigns undertaken by Goonj were scary.
Another student asked Gupta about his work on spreading awareness about menstruation in small villages, and how such taboo subjects can be addressed.
"Misconception on women's issues isn't just limited to villages but is prevalent amongst educated people too. It is with the right intent, and honesty that one can gain the trust of the people. You gain their trust first to get the message across," Gupta said.
Sisodia said his government has designed the entrepreneurship curriculum to connect students with entrepreneurs who can guide them by sharing their stories.
"If you've seen the movie 3 Idiots, there were two types of characters - Rancho and Chatur - both successful in their own way," Sisodia, who is also the education minister, told students.
"Now if I ask you what do you want to become, what will you say? Chatur is a favourite of his teachers and does everything well but he does not have the entrepreneurship mindset that Rancho has. Chatur follows the system but doesn't enjoy it whereas Rancho enjoys his education," he said.
Sisodia said Gupta has helped disaster-struck victims for years now.
"It was inspiring to see him helping the Bihar flood victims when I visited Bihar in 2008 with Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwa," he said.