The purpose of the World Dream Day held on September 25th, is to honour the dreamer, visionaries, and pioneers in each one of us. This day inspires and enables individuals, families, businesses, and communities, to emerge, declare new possibilities and take a pledge towards what they truly dream and deserve – for themselves, for each other, and the world.
As we celebrate the power of ideas, goals, and dreams, we bring to our readers a very small proportion of extremely inspiring businesses and personalities who activated their lives further to achieve what they did.
1. Neeraj Chopra won India’s maiden Olympic Gold:
Neeraj Chopra was born to a family of farmers near Panipat in Haryana. Since he was overweight, Chopra was constantly persuaded by his family to take up sports, and that started his stint with javelin throw.
He trained hard, won several medals, joined internationally renowned instructors to further improve his skills. Impressed with his performance at several national and international tournaments, the Indian Army decided to make him a Junior Commission Officer in 2017. After joining the Army, Chopra got selected for training at the ‘Mission Olympics Wing’ as well as at the Army Sports Institute in Pune.
At Tokyo Olympics 2021, Neeraj Chopra emerged as India’s first track-and-field Olympic gold-medallist with his best throw of 87.58 m.
2. Ensemble, a dream of a mother:
Ensemble Naturals is a freshly emerging company of natural hair care products and immunity drinks (akin to green and herbal teas). The makers of the products and the founders are avid researchers who travelled rigorously and drew inspiration to bring forth subtilties of flavours and aromas by blending herbs and natural oils.
Firm’s passion lies in extracting plant-based goodness and nutrition. All Ensemble products are made of fresh clean herbs, plant and nut extracted oils, and essential oils. The founder explains that the products are safe for all age groups including the children as there are no artificial ingredients used.
It is an initiative by a mother who researched hard to procure chemical and toxin free agents to relieve her ADHD child of anxiety and restlessness. She dug deeper into the hidden world of essential oils and found seemingly great solutions for several physical and mental conditions. The excitement of having discovered the goodness of herbs and oils, and the perfection with which they functioned together when blended, made her decide to reach out to millions of people with this ‘nature’s bounty’.
3. Bharat Biotech and Serum Institute for vaccination in India:
As the Covid-19 pandemic raged on, Bharat Biotech developed India’s first indigenously developed Covid vaccine, in collaboration with the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR). Bharat Biotech is now in the process of developing Covaxin’s nasal variant which is likely to be a breakthrough towards vaccination of children. Prime Minister Modi showed his trust in the company by personally getting vaccinated with Covaxin.
Serum Institute of India (SII) is a an instance of an Indian family business growing to become not just a major company, but also a global leader- the largest vaccine manufacturers in the world.
SII, at the very initial stage of global vaccine development, decided to bet millions of dollars on four vaccine candidates even before it was evident which and if any of the four including the Oxford-AstraZeneca would prove to be effective.
Today, this foresight has resulted in SII being the mainstay of India’s vaccination program, and is now manufacturing more than 20 crore doses of Covishield per month.
4. Kailash Satyarthi became the SDG advocate:
In 2014, Mr. Kailash Satyarthi was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his lifetime of struggle against the exploitation of children and young people and for the right of all children to education. He has dedicated his life to realize the vision of ending violence against children and building a world where ‘every child is free to be a child’.
He was lately appointed by UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, a Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) Advocate ahead of the start of the 76th UN General Assembly. Guterres explained, “We are at a pivotal moment. The choices we make now could put us on a path towards breakdown and a future of perpetual crisis; or breakthrough to a greener and safer world…the SDG Advocates use their considerable spheres of influence to reach new constituencies to act now and keep the promise of the Sustainable Development Goals for people and for the planet.”
5. Schools across the world successfully educated millions of children online:
Despite numerous hurdles, the benefits of modern technologies of internet connectivity, digital content, the collaboration tools; ‘THE INTENT’ of academicians plus the unwavering support of parents resulted in educating millions of children across the world during the last 1 ½ years. It is indeed the victory of human ingenuity that school education has continued in the face of the most challenging times in recent history.
The journey towards this online education was not free from struggles and tribulations. The teachers often felt under-appreciated about the extent of time and effort they needed to invest in learning and overcoming the technology and the glitches attached. Many shared about learning the basics of computers, Microsoft PowerPoint, Video Platforms from their teenage kids!
Although preparing and uploading the class-notes, sending e-circulars, online corrections, and ensuring discipline and attention from kids, through a screen, were huge challenges for the conventional academicians; many agreed that they appreciated the opportunity of learning new skills, even though late in life.
6. Elon Musk, as private entrepreneur competing with the world’s largest space agencies:
Visionary entrepreneur Elon Musk is the charismatic co-founder of PayPal (PYPL) and Tesla (TSLA), as well as the founder of Space X, Neuralink, and The Boring Company.
Musk’s early interests in philosophy, science fiction, and fantasy novels are reflected in his sense of idealism and concern with human progress. He made his passion into his business career! He works in domains that he identifies as crucial to humanity’s future – the Internet, the transition to renewable energy sources, and space colonization. He has defied critics, disrupted industries, and made advances in all three of these frontiers, via the creation of PayPal, Tesla Motors (world leader in Electric cars), SolarCity, and Space X.
All are game-changers despite their occasional rocky performances. Space X is the first to reuse space boosters and rockets, which is giving competition to the biggest space agencies in the world. These very expensive space boosters were, till now, were of one-time use only, but Space X enables the boosters to land back on Earth for reuse, which is a ‘technology marvel’.
7. One Direction made it bigger than Beetles:
In the 2010s, a group of boys on a British reality show became modern pop icons, especially with the world’s shift towards social media. They have been arguably compared and considered even better than the Beetles.
One Direction was an English-Irish boy band consisting of members Niall Horan, Liam Payne, Harry Styles and Louis Tomlinson. In addition, Zayn Malik was a member until his departure from the band, announced on 25 March 2015. One Direction have released five hit albums, Up All Night (2011), Take Me Home (2012), Midnight Memories (2013), Four (2014), and Made in the A.M. (2015). The band has won numerous awards, among them six Billboard Music Awards, seven Brit Awards, seven American Music Awards and 28 Teen Choice Awards.
While One Direction was a global phenomenon, the members have gone on to have their own solo careers after the band’s hiatus in 2015. Harry Styles, Louis Tomlinson, Niall Horan, Liam Payne, and Zayn Malik have all at least put out one album following the success of One Direction.
8. Neighbourhood self-help groups during Covid:
With the ferocity of the Covid viral attacks, especially during the second wave, the residents around the world realized that there was no time to waste, and the matter had to be taken in their own hands. The reports say that the citizens dedicated themselves to collection, authenticating, and prompt dispersal of critical information. WhatsApp groups were inundated with Covid related information – where to procure oxygen tanks and critical medicines from, which hospitals had free beds, contact details for ambulances, chemists, and lab technicians.
Several people especially women, remained on phone for 3-4 hours a day, merely verifying the phone numbers and availability of services. Some turned their kitchens into pantries to feed the families afflicted by Covid, especially when the women of the house were impacted.
Together, with humanity at forefront, the humankind has survived two deadly Covid waves. We witnessed egos getting curbed, the consciences cleansed, the genuineness prevailing….
Let’s Dare to Dream…
Monica (Managing Editor) is the quintessential researcher - she thrives on showcasing overlooked aspects that form the foundation blocks of people, places and issues. She is a social scientist by profession with masters in Economics and loves to travel.