A few months ago Jeremy Fritzhand came to Bagru. Jeremy had left his job at a large textile sourcing company in Sri Lanka, and wanted to get back involved with Bagru Textiles. When he came back, he was amazed at how much the company had grown during the three years of his absence. We had international clients visiting every day; we were fulfilling large quantity orders, receiving an unprecedented amount of inquiries, phone-calls, and press requests. In short, the business was booming, and it was wonderful to see.
Jeremy and I started to reflect on time.
We thought about what he came to Bagru in 2010 to accomplish, why he did it, and how far things had come. We looked around us; our neighbor Chandraprakash was completing his third addition to his home since 2010, all paid for by the success of Bagru Textiles. Six years ago his house was one room. Now, he had two-stories: three bedrooms, a bathroom, washing machine, and printing workshop. The rapid development was tangible – it wasn’t even a hoax. We saw that people’s lives had truly benefited from the creation, growth, and success of Bagru Textiles.
When I received the fellowship one year ago, I was told I would be the last Minerva Fellow in Bagru. Since the program is build on the notion of sustainability, Union’s role at Bagru Textiles was never meant to be permanent.
Jeremy and I thought about the Minvera Fellows Mantra, which states:
When the work is done,
the task accomplished,
the people will say
‘We have done this ourselves.’
We have done this ourselves. Six years have passed since Jeremy arrived in Bagru. The progress of the company is praiseworthy, and the five Minerva Fellows before me played a large role in that. But, at the end of the day, nobody from Union can claim the growth belongs to them. Bagru Textiles was never Jeremy’s company, nor was it Union’s, or mine for that matter. We realized the time had come for us to depart, that the company was prepared to function without us.
One of the biggest challenges of development work is taking a hands-off approach. At some point, there is a sink-or-swim moment. You can’t hold on forever. You can’t keep a bird in a cage forever – at some point it has to fly on its own.
I was sent to India with the mission to “pass the torch” – to give the business back to “the people” in Bagru, and to ensure that the company was ready to function on its own. I am proud to say that day has come. Bagru Textiles is now running without Union’s involvement. Mission accomplished.