DIAGEO (India’s leading beverage company) and REACHA, partnered to implement DIAGEO’s LEARNING FOR LIFE programme in Goa to support the hospitality and tourism industry through a skilling programme for youth to prepare them for employment and self-employment opportunities in the hospitality industry. The programme followed a collaborative approach; it worked with multiple stakeholders – Government, educational institutions, hotels and community football clubs – to deliver the Learning for Life programme and certified a total of 343 learners, 33 percent of which were women. Learning partners included educational institutions such as Government ITIs, Agnel Institute of Catering, Rosary College and Carmel college for women. Hotel partners included the Taj Group, the Leela Goa, the W Goa, ITC Grand Goa, Lalit Goa and the Heritage Village Resort. Football Club partners included FC Goa, Salgaocar FC and Dempo FC. The programme curriculum was delivered 100% online, due to Covid-19 restrictions, and focused on personality development and communication, enhancing life skills such as financial literacy and negotiation, and technical skills on front service, bar assistance and guest relations. Learners (above legal purchasing age) were also provided access to the Diageo Bar Academy. The Learning for Life programme also provided learners with access to expert industry practitioners through panel discussions and webinars on aspects such as entrepreneurship, life skills, recruitment and CV writing. The programme was very well received with 100 percent of project partners citing ‘excellent’ when asked about their overall satisfaction with the programme. The project end line survey brought out that 98 percent of learners ‘strongly agreed’ or ‘somewhat agreed’ that they would be able to use the learnings of the programme in their personal and professional life, were satisfied with the programme and would recommend it to others. 97 percent of learners also stated that they felt more confident about their career prospects after completion of the Learning for Life Programme in Goa. Over the next 6 months, the programme will focus on industry placements for learners as the hotel and tourism sector in Goa recovers

India is currently battling with a deadly second wave of Covid 19 that has devastated the country like never before! During times like these it is imperative to come forward and do our bit to support efforts by government, Indian Army, organisations and local communities. For the past month and a half since the beginning of this second wave, REACHA and its team members have been on ground trying to raise resources and help those who are in need. Some of the efforts so far include the following: Kashmir (Baramulla): Assisting Indian Army to combat Covid 19 by providing masks, sanitizers, PPE Kit etc. Also, enabling livelihood enhancement of local women by getting them orders from the market to make masks. These are then distributed by them in the local neighbourhood to promote covid appropriate behaviour. In partnership with corporate CSR we are assisting Government hospitals across the country, in the states of: In partnership with corporate CSR we are assisting Government hospitals across the country, in the states of: Uttar Pradesh Karnataka Jharkhand Maharashtra New Delhi Providing above with the following to fight Covid: Setting up Oxygen Plants Oxygen Concentrators Ventilators BIPAP Machine Fowler beds for covid patients Sanitizers A 24x7 Taskforce at REACHA is working closely with donors, governments, vendors and local communities to ensure that all of these items reach the designated place at the earliest and lives can be saved. This effort by REACHA is not only to fight the current crisis, but also to prepare for the future. NGOs across the country were approached by NITI Aayog (Letter attached) on 1st May 2021 to come forward and assist. REACHA is always with the government and the people of the country FOR OUR NATION!

REACHA has partnered with DIAGEO, India’s leading beverage company, to develop a series of projects under DIAGEO’s 'Learning for Life' programme in Goa. This programme combines efforts to support the hospitality and tourism industry by creating employment opportunities for women and youth joining the workforce, through a skilling-cum-livelihood programme for youth. In six months, the programme will train 340 youth for suitable employment / self-employment roles related to the hospitality industry. The programme is a placement-linked programme, with a strong component on soft skills and life skills training. Supported by the Government of Goa, the 'Learning for Life' programme will bring in CSR investment in Goa to support the tourism and hospitality industry, create an industry ready workforce and reiterate the state of Goa as a ‘responsible’, thriving and inclusive tourism / hospitality hub. (The project has started from 20th Jan 2021 and the launch of courses will be from 5th April 2021)

Sri Shashi Shanker, Chairman and Managing Director (CMD), ONGC and Dr. Alka Mittal, Director HR (DHR), ONGC visited REACHA projects with Indian Army at Chinar 9 Jawan Club, Baramulla, Kashmir on Saturday, 13th March 2021. Projects include skill development of Kashmiri youth with focus on women empowerment in trades of fashion designing, retail and hospitality; livelihood enhancement through music and culture and drug de-addiction of youth to wean them away from drugs, and counsel and motivate them towards good health and responsible careers. CMD and DHR ONGC visited the classrooms and training facility and interacted with students, staff, and army officers to gauge the program and its impact. They were provided deeper insights by Indian Army led by Brigadier Amit Dhir, Commander, 19 Arty Brigade, Baramulla and his team, on how these projects under operation Sadbhavana are transforming lives in Baramulla, Kashmir by providing a viable, sustainable, impactful and scalable model of socio-economic development for local communities. This exemplifies the positive role played by Indian Army as part of national integration and socio-economic development. On Sunday 14th MArch 2021, ONGC leaders also visited 4 houses in Uri, district Baramulla, that were reconstructed in record time through ONGC CSR support in 2017-18 by REACHA under Army supervision. These houses belonging to local villagers near the LOC (Line of Control) were destroyed during counter insurgency operations by Indian Army. Rebuilt houses were handed over to local villagers in April 2018 - this helped Indian Army change the narrative to come across as a caring entity that also rebuilds homes and lives near sensitive border areas of the country. ONGC CMD and DHR interacted with villagers/house owners and also spoke to Colonel Khan who was posted at the location during the time to gauge impact of their support. Both Sri Shashi Shanker and Dr Alka Mittal appreciated and encouraged the Army and REACHA to keep doing the good work. They pledged ONGC's continued support to such efforts at nation building. All ONGC CSR supported projects in partnership with Indian Army are aligned by REACHA to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). REACHA remains ever so grateful to Indian Army and ONGC for giving it the opportunity to serve the nation!

Happy to share that CNBC TV 18 and Genpact have covered REACHA's projects with Indian Army in Baramulla, Kashmir, supported by ONGC and Genpact. We have been partnering Indian Army in this volatile valley since 2016 bringing about positive social change. Through our people centric innovative projects, we continue to give a voice to dreams and aspirations of Kashmiri youth as part of our mission to achieve Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Indian Army has validated this role as the game changer! Proof of concept is now ready for scaling to transform Kashmir. Video Link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KqgbeuW7gp8

IBM, Goa State Government and REACHA announced a partnership to provide online courses for the state’s students, job seekers and entrepreneurs that will enhance their technical and professional skills in the presence of Chief Minister of Goa Honorable Sri Pramod Sawant Ji, Chief Secretary of Goa Sri Parimal Rai Ji (IAS), and Principal Secretary (Finance) Shri Puneet Kumar Goyal Ji (IAS). The project is aimed to foster the skills development of learners, especially village level entrepreneurs and other government stakeholders by providing industry-relevant course content through the IBM SkillsBuild program. The collaboration aims to up-skill up to 10,000 learners across 10 institutions over a period of one year. This partnership has been facilitated by REACHA!

Dr. Bhaskar Chatterjee, the CSR Man of India shares his insights Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is transforming the world today. It became a legislation in India in 2014, and since then thousands of companies have spent billions of dollars creating impact on ground to change lives and the environment for good. In this dialogue, Dr. Chatterjee (Former Secretary Government of India and a Retired IAS Officer), who started the CSR movement in India, lucidly presents how CSR is today poised to catalyze socio-economic change during the Decade of Action 2020-2030. During this decade, Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) are to be achieved by 2030 as per UN mandate agreed by its Member countries. The role of youth to achieve this target is paramount. The dialogue seeks to motivate and inspire this youth from around the world to proactively contribute and make this world a better, healthier, and a more peaceful place for everyone.

Rushabh Vora co-founder of SILA sat down with Mudit Pant to share the journey that led him to create and grow SILA. SILA is a Real Estate Services and Development company in India. Started from scratch, it now operates in 75+ cities in India, and has more than 6000 employees. Some of the key takeaways from the dialogue are as follows: - Rushabh talks about how being a student athlete at Trinity College helped him shape his personality through the years. Squash has played a very important role in his life. Working with people and teammates from diverse backgrounds has helped him to deal with different culture and become open minded. Some of the things that he learnt through this experience are work ethics, dealing with pressure etc. - Rushabh talks about taking a leap in your life to pursue your passion. For him it was the time when he decided to move back to India and work at SILA along with his brother. - The dialogue touched upon challenges that a new business faces: a) Nothing really according to the business plan - one needs to be flexible and make the required adjustments b) Periods of no sales Crunches with cash flow The important thing that is to be kept in mind is to always try to learn from mistakes. Best lessons are learnt from mistakes. There is no problem in making 100 mistakes, but it is important to analyze them and not repeat them. - As the scale of the firm changes (eg small to medium etc), the set of challenges that face also changes. The business challenges at SILA 10 years ago will be much different to the set of challenges that it faces today. However, each stage requires a different set of skillset in order to move upward. During uncertain times within the business, the key is to be process driven, get the right people (corporate culture is very important as culture drives organization) - An important attribute that you learn from playing a sport is how to lose, and how to understand and deal with losses. This directly helps in dealing with failure at work - when you lose work, lose bids etc. - The only way to keep growing is by enhancing your skillset. As a company grows in scale, one needs to do less and delegate more (to improve efficiency within the business). It is also important for a company to hire the right people, have the right processes and tech. As the leader one needs to continuously be open minded to learning new things. As the firm grows, you need to learn how to scale it in the right way and be able to crack big deals to take the business to the next level. - Rushabh mentions the importance of employees who are working at SILA. It is people who make a company, and therefore it is important to have the right people on board. It is important to continue to learn and experiment with time. At SILA hiring is based on two things: candidate needs to have the required qualification, align with the company's culture, and look for people who can and are open to learning (have an high IQ). These are the people who can pick up stuff and learn fast and can also fit in well within the culture of the company. He shares that getting hiring right is one of the hardest thing within the business. If you make a hiring mistake then it is your fault, and thereby it becomes important to live with it and train people the right way (through training, leadership development activities etc.). - Rushabh shares something that drive him everyday is to build good will. Good will for him matters more than money. - In terms of one of his biggest failure, Rushabh shares that he got into a business and realized in a few months that it was not the right place for him. He did not have the right skillset for the business. He mentions therefore it is very important to know what you do not know. He also shares that even though that specific business could not be a success, but a lot of the relationships that he made during that came in handy in his current business. - It is very important to work on your mind and body, and keep the work-life balance going. - A word of advise: Do what you like to do. Be flexible and be ready for change! Whatever happens, happens for the good.

In this dialogue, Actor and Dancer Ana Ilmi speaks with Mudit Pant about her journey that has led her to pursue her passion. Ana has been a participant in reality show India's Dancing Superstar. She has also been a choreographer in reality shows like Jhalak Dikhlaja and Nach Baliye. Apart from this, she has also been casted in Netflix film Bhangrapaale. Ana shares how she started her journey when she was in high school, how she strived to create the right balance between dance and other things that were required of her to pursue her dreams. She also touches upon the challenges that she faces in the film industry, and also how she deals with them. Lastly, she shares a few things that are a part of her daily routine, and something that can also help us add more meaning to our lives. Some of the key takeaways from the dialogue are as follows: - Ana shares the set of challenges that she faced when she was in high school as her passion towards dancing grew. She mentions that daily routine is very important and that is what lead us to our goals. She shares the importance of extracurricular activities, and how Manava Bharati (Ana's high school) played in important role in this area, and help plant those initial seeds of acting and dancing in her. - Ana shares even though she was acing her classes in science stream at school, her passion for dancing and acting only kept getting stronger and she wanted to study these. She touches upon the initial support and guidance that she got from her school teachers and also her parents. She gave up her admission in one of the top colleges in Delhi, knowing that she would not have enjoyed those years and would study something which she would never pursue after. It is very important to start thinking what you like doing, and simultaneously with that to have a good support system around you. She shares how her mind was fixated on dancing as a career with no second doubts in her mind. Even though dancing was her primary goal, Ana ensured to complete her studies on the side and join a college along with her dancing commitments. A lot of times things that are expected from us are not what we want to pursue. Ana shares the importance of meeting in the middle in these kind of scenarios For her, it was to balance the academics and dance together, which made people around her happy. Looking back, she mentions that she is glad that she got her degree as even for studying dance, basic level of education is a required. - Ana touches upon the 'hustle' as being part of her career. Anyone who is into the acting/dancing world needs to go through a constant hustle. Nothing is going to come easy. Ana mentions that there is no end to her acting journey, as she has surrendered herself to it, and now it has become a part of her lifestyle. The more pressure one starts making in terms of getting results, the harder and more challenging the journey becomes. - On coping with challenges in this industry, Ana mentions that one needs to have 0% expectations and 100% motivation. She talks about the importance of not getting overwhelmed by the failure that comes during the journey. Failure cannot become stepping stone to success if you take it to heart and not carefully analyze it. You can't be overwhelmed by the setback, you need to overwhelm the setbacks! One should not let setbacks and rejections conquer them. Rejections are common while getting selected is rare. - She also touches upon some of the challenges that she faces on her acting projects - There are so many intricacies, sometimes you do not know if it is the right project for you, sometimes you do not know if you are right for a project, sometimes you do not meet the right kind of people, sometimes you meet lovely people but it does not work out, maybe your face but your body is not right for a role etc. Therefore, it becomes very important to focus and work on yourself. For Ana, every time when she is unable to get a role that she is auditioning for she thinks that there is something more that she needs to achieve out of herself and become a better version of herself. For a failure, think that it is the universe's way to push you to become a better actor, by not giving you the role. This she shares is not just thinking, but an important part of the preparation. - Ana shares when things crack and work out for her, it is not luck it is the training that you put in all the years. She also shares a saying, when luck comes to your door be ready to open the door, which again means be prepared! - On how to make her character believable, Ana shares that she took an acting workshop where she came across the Misner technique. The technique says to be truthful in an imaginary circumstance. Now when you play a character, you create an inner world and an outer world of a character. Inner life of the character would be what the point of view is towards opposite actor, what are eating habits like, etc. She also mentions how she observes people around her when she needs to play a character. For e.g. if the character requires her to smoke and in her true self she does not smoke, then she will need to observe people around her who smoke so that she can smoothly embed that into her role. Then the outer life of a character would involve how one walks etc. Inner and outer life would basically constitute the required actor! - Ana shares being live on stage is more scary than being in front of a camera, as in front of a camera you can do multiple retakes but that does not stand true for when one is on the stage. She talks about the importance of not getting influenced by external spotlight when one is on stage. This is instilled through rigorous training sessions. She shares she is in meditation mode when she is on the stage. It is therefore important to leave your personal emotions out of stage so you are able to fully sink in to the character, who would have its own emotions. In order to constantly stay in the meditation zone, personal regime plays an important role: fitness, meditation, giving all in every practice without fail. - She shares that if one gives 1000% in practice, only 70% will come out on stage. The pressure is always there subconsciously during the final performance (but the audience will see your 100%) - Ana mentions that people are constantly looking and comparing their journeys with others. It has only become easier with the advent of social media, which leads the mind towards unhealthy competition. This can be turned into healthy competition only if one works on themselves positively. It is not wise to waste time and energy on other people's journey. In order to have a positive mindset, it is important to have a disciplined routine. - Ana shares two of her biggest learnings that she has had in her acting career so far: Patience is everything - It is an underestimated virtue. One needs to be patient as things come back if done with the right intentions. Training never goes waste - somewhere the karma, work that you put in comes back. She briefly makes a reference to law of harvest, which states that what we put in to this world, comes back to us! This is something that one needs to trust, this is how the universe works... - It is important to love life and love the present. Staying in the moment is the best one can do. By doing this one can give their 100 percent in the moment and experience it. Enjoy the process so that it does not seem like that you are doing something for a reason. Do what you enjoy, and question yourself if you are not enjoying it. Doing something to impress someone is a very short lived journey. Enjoy what you do, have trust and you will automatically see the fruits! - It is very important to sit with your self and understand what you like doing in life. Most people are doing things that they do not really enjoy doing. They are just doing it because someone said that you have to do this. Once you figure out what you like doing, then make it a part of your life. If you do what you like, then you will start liking and enjoying the process to it. It is important to find a method in the madness, make your way in the chaotic world. Figure out your personal method that works for you, and this could change with time, but it is important to try and have trust!

Asian Games, Commonwealth Games medalist and Arjuna Award Winner Saurav Ghosal shares what led him to pursue Squash as a career, decision regarding career choice that he made when he was young, how he deals with uncomfortable situations and challenges, mental training, things he does on a daily basis consciously to become a better version of himself, a word of advise to make our lives more meaningful! Some of the key takeaways coming out of the talk are as follows: - Some people figure out what they are good at when they are younger, while some are not able to. As long as one is committed to the process and the journey, one with time will be able to figure out what they are truly good at before it is too late as one is committed to it. Making an effort in the right direction therefore is important. It is important to give yourself time and space to figure out what your calling is, and understand yourself and be true to yourself. A good example given by Saurav on a basic level is knowing "how much work is needed to be done to get something done". Having a good relationship and showing your parents that you are balancing between what they want and what you want is important in order to gain their trust. The effort and the commitment breeds confidence both in you and also in people who are supporting you. It is therefore important to understand that trust is a two way street. - Actions are what create trust, words are the starting point. Therefore it is important to back up your words with the action through the effort and commitment you put in. Things would as a result turn out in a way that would keep you happy. It is important to earn trust in yourself, earn trust from your inner circle and earn trust from the society and that will create confidence in you. - It is also important to reflect on what the community wants from you in a conscious manner, as having the society by your side is a good thing. This does not mean that every action of yours therefore becomes one to appease the society. - Saurav sheds light on importance of having a degree, as a safety net and something he also did for himself. It is important as we make head winds in one area that we take a step back, and also look at picture in a larger sense. In Saurav's case despite being a top athlete, he felt it was important for him to get the degree as this is something that he would have to fall back on as a safety net if squash did not work out the way he wanted. As an athlete one massive injury can finish a career, so pursuing the degree was a no brainer for him. Even though this was his decision, but a lot of people can evaluate what fits right for them with the circumstance they have in hand. Although, it is important to look at the larger picture and take a step back during evaluation and before making the decision. - He also mentioned that throughout his life he tries to control the controllable and try not to worry too much about the uncontrollable. A nice example to this was what people think about you is not in control, but what is in our control is that we can try and work towards becoming better versions of ourselves in a continuous basis. If we are able to do this it can give us happiness internally. This also helps you grow and helps you to not get clouded with negativity from outside. Implementing this can be difficult, but one has to get away with the thoughts and be happy with what is there. - Performing under high pressure situations: Saurav says he puts himself into situations where he feels privileged to be in that position. He says that he wants to enjoy this privilege as much as he can as he knows it will not last. He has been able to play well the times he has been able to enjoy these privileges. It is important to have clarity of what we want to do. It helps us to have focus on very small details rather than the enormity of the situation. Mental strategy is not an exact science, it is something that we try and execute and through experiences get an understanding of. Once we start thinking about the finer details, our mind goes to a different space where we then might not be worried about what people think of us etc - factors that are not within our control. - Saurav talks about days when nothing works the way he wants on the squash court and it becomes difficult. Squash is a game where we are responding to what the opponent is throwing at us. Therefore, preparation becomes really important. Saurav in detail talks about many game plans that he already has in his mind before he steps on to the squash court. There are about 3-4 different game plans he has in his mind prepared before starting into a match. He gives an example of this through patterns that he plays on a squash game. He mentions that as he plays a pattern on the court, he closely observes how the opponent reacts to that pattern, and if it does not work well in his favor then he quickly adjusts to a new pattern. Other than on court court conditions, there are also many off court conditions that a player needs to consider. There are many complications that are there, but how one deals with it is what separates the best from the also ran. He also mentions how one can also be continuously switching between the different game plans they have in their mind during the match based on the reactions they are getting from the opponent. Therefore, squash is also referred as chess at 100 miles an hour as you are thinking three four moves ahead. He mentions that whatever strategy one has, execution is what actually seals the deal, and hence proof is in the pudding and recognizing what to execute and when becomes important. - It is important to reflect and recognize that who and what we are today has been made from where we come from. The experiences have molded us into the person who we are. It is important to be proud of where we come from, but also equally important to not let that pride become a discriminatory factor with people who do not align with the thoughts we might be having. - Saurav mentions that subconsciously he tries to be the best version of himself everyday. There can be days when one can make more mistakes than other days, but one can try to reflect on them and try to improve upon them the next day. It is important to see how your actions are impacting other people. If the actions are causing harm to others then it is important to take a hard look and change yourself. Always look at creating or achieving more than what anyone else might expect of you. This would help in staying humble and grounded. It is important to keep pushing your own boundaries (without worrying about anyone else), and don't be scared to push them. At the end of the day, you have to work as hard as you can for the potential that you have. generally hard work will lead you to something special. The work that you put in is like a deposit in the bank. It is just a question when that deposit matures for you, but at some point it will and for that you will need to have trust at the work (in the process) that you put in, which is not for anyone else but for yourself. If you think about this then it will help you deal with setbacks in a better way, as life is all about setbacks!