Try This India

3rd of July, 2010
I woke up late (9 am) on this day. And in an hour's time, I was the owner of a domain name called "trythisindia.org".

How it started:
In a recent discussion with Ree, we talked about several ideas that would make life better for someone other than ourselves.
One of the ideas i had was to connect orphanages and old age homes and make the most of the potential that has to offer. There is a clear symbiosis there that has likely not been explored enough (Children need to be loved, adults need to love, there is so much an older person could teach to the younger lot, children love to perform and the folks from the old age home would be happy for the entertainment and so on).
I don't know if this connection has been made before - but i believe there is potential in this idea - certainly potential enough to try it.

I thought about this and similar ideas for a lot of that night. I think there are many simple ideas like this that are imminently do-able.
Then there may be the more complex ones that need more man-power and money. My belief is those are do-able too... if there is a forum to garner this support.

What is 'Try This India'...
Try this is meant to be such a forum. It is a forum where ideas and plans that have social relevance can be channeled, where people who like your idea can vote in to it, discuss and plan this idea with you and work with you to give your idea a try.
Small ideas are not only welcome, they are likely to be the main play for this forum. Because the most important thing for an idea to be tried is that the thought of trying does not appear daunting to the do-ers. The requirements should be clear and easy to commit to.

What i would like to do for this group:
Over a period of time, i would like to build awareness around what this group is ... enough awareness so corporates are happy to be associated with it and to sponsor ideas that appeal to them.
Interestingly, sponsorship of ONE idea is actually more than just that - it is the sponsorship of IDEATING. Because if even one idea can be sponspored, then this should mean that there is hope to ideate on bigger and more impactful things, to find sponsorship for these and inshah allah to try them.

Why i started this:
Truly... I started this partly to assuage my guilt about never having done anything useful for anyone but myself.
I am also doing this because i would really like to be a part of something i truly believe in.
So it was between doing 'Try this' and stalking Ranbir Kapoor.
I am led to believe by my husband that stalking is not okay, so 'Try this' it is.
I joke ... Please don't imagine i am trivializing this venture. Not my intention.

What it needs:
This needs time, people and money. I appear to have made the easiest committment so far - i have put in the money required to set this up. I have the domain name (trythisindia.org) for 5 years. (FYI - I have also got the .com, .net and .info free with this.)
All the rest of the hardwork i have not only not done, i have also not thought about when i will do. I am writing about this nonetheless - as a note to myself about the big plans i have for this forum. So i dont forget. And if it does not do anything worthwhile a year later - i feel really really guilty about it.

So long story short - this is the committment (today). I will do my very best to complete the set-up (website etc), and try at least 2 ideas through this forum in the coming 6 months.

I have to say i am really not sure about my ability to contribute enough to make this venture a success. But the work so far has been done with good intentions and in good faith and that is probably a decent start.