Everything is off the beaten track for Shaffi Mather, a social entrepreneur and a lawyer practising in the Supreme Court. He usually fights for transparency in governance and use of public funds, human rights and civil rights. He is off to the United States (U.S.). So what's so new about that, you may wonder. He's going on an invitation from President Barack Obama's office to attend a summit on entrepreneurship in Washington DC from April 26 to 27.
Why him?
Because he dared to do it; he combined legitimate business with social service. He boasts no fancy schooling (he was the first batch of St. Antony's school and Toc-H school, Kochi, and then Sacred Heart College and St. Paul's and did his Law at Cochin University School of Legal Studies). But he went to good B-schools: Finance (University of Bridgeport), MBA (University of Pittsburgh), Leadership & Excellence (London School of Economics) and Public Policy (Harvard). Yet, after each course, he did not migrate.
Forthright
Aged 40, amiable Shaffi is forthright in his views and supports them with proof, mainly from his own experiences. Shaffi's is the brain behind ‘Dial 1298 for Ambulance', which is an emergency response ambulance service, with state-of-the-art facilities, now available in Mumbai (51 ambulances), Kochi, Thiruvananthapuram (30) and Patna (11). Incidentally, Shaffi won the Godfrey Philips Bravery Award for Social Act of Courage for the ambulance service rendered during the 7/11 Mumbai serial train blasts.
“1298 does not have enough ambulances yet to reach out to all who need it, but will be expanding services soon,” Shaffi says.
Not charity
This is not a free service, for Shaffi does not believe in ‘unsustainable charity' as he puts it. “The very rich pay more, the not-so-so-rich pay lesser and the very poor not at all. Unaccompanied or unconscious patients get free service. We do not transport dead bodies, only emergency cases.” There is a process in place to check out the status of the people who seek the services. This ambulance concept with this kind of cross subsidised fee payment is currently a case study at Harvard.
His close friend ‘right from the cradle,' Ravi Krishna (Vayalar Ravi's son) is with him on this project as also two other friends. “Legitimate profit is good. What's bad is profiteering,” he remarks. Now that gets you to his other pet mission-to-be: an anti-corruption company. It's going to be a fee-based organisation that takes up your case, if someone seeks a bribe. There have been 42 pilot cases, where the guilty have been defeated. “Generally the cost is very much lesser than the bribe asked,” Shaffi discloses. The magical Right to Information Act comes into play many a time, he reveals.
“The stronger you stand on your principles, the easier it is to fight. The first time, it's tough, but the second time, it's always easier. You just have to push for your rights,” says this TED India fellow. TED (Technology, Entertainment, Design) Fellows are a group of bright young innovators from all over the world, who are selected by a U.S. private non-profit foundation.
Like Ambulance Access for All, he is also into another project, Education Access for All. The Newton Schools he has started with Ravi Krishna and two other friends, jointly with local partners in Adimali (Eastern group) and in Beawar (Mangal school), a small town near Ajmer in Rajasthan . These schools are intended for small towns with good facilities, where children from poor families also can study with scholarships.
Next in the social entrepreneurship line is Moksha Yug Access, of which he is co-promoter. Founded by Harsha Moily in 2005, Shaffi's friend, it is a rural supply chain solutions company. In Karnataka, the company supplies knowhow and capital to manage a dairy business involving rural folks and to market the produce profitably. Microfinance and self-help groups go side by side. Doing a business that changes the lives of people for the better is what a social entrepreneur does, and that is Shaffi's ambition.
Quick success is not what he is looking for either for he has had his share of losses. While in college, he began a fast food joint in a space that belonged to his family. It ran into losses. “I had to sell my motor cycle,” he laughs. He burnt his fingers starting a bowling alley and a pizza joint in the heart of Kochi some years ago. “Those were all learning experiences. I learnt the hard way about positioning in business, about catering to the right segments,” he reveals.
The grandson of T. O. Bava, a one-time Kerala Pradesh Congress Committee (KPCC) president and K.C.M. Mather, KPCC treasurer, he feels values are what grandparents give you, for kids are often with them. His daughter Fathima, who was a second grader in Boston (while Shaffi was doing a fellowship there), had done posters of Obama for school projects, during his campaign. “So, she says, I was invited to the conference because I am Fathima's father,” he laughs. Wife Beena is a homemaker who is slowly getting interested in his school project. They live in Thevakkal and Shaffi hopes to relocate to Kerala by the year end. Meanwhile he is gearing up for the BIG meet.
