After quitting his corporate career in early 2008, Kalyan traveled exclusively through rural India for about 2 and ½ years, and slow-traveled for about a year through the central Indian tribal communities right from Kuchchh all the way to the Sundarbans.

Having lived with scores of families that were below the so-called poverty line and right down at the bottom of the pyramid, his views on development and poverty turned 180 degrees.

Instead of reacting or responding to the symptoms of poverty, he wanted to create a new possibility in which poverty just cannot exist. He found the idea of "creating Resilience" more empowering than that of "eradicating poverty”.

Kalyan has been living and working in a remote drought-prone village called Tekulodu in the second driest and one of the poorest districts in India (Anantapur district, Andhra Pradesh) since August 2011, to co-create ProtoVillage - the prototype of a Resilient village - that ensures ecological, social and economic wellbeing. His vision is a rural India that is a network of resilient communities.

Kalyan has an undergraduate degree in Mechanical Engineering, and Masters in Business Administration. Kalyan is a fellow of the Aspen Global Leadership Network. Join us for an interactive session with Kalyan on Sunday, 30th June, at Atta Galatta, to examine how one can build self-sufficient communities.