Published 04th October 2026
Nayakanti Prashant
3rd Gen Banker & Citizen Lobbyist – Bengaluru
https://in.linkedin.com/in/prashantnayakanti
The Intro
Bombay Shaving Company has chosen to look beyond today's
business and invest in tomorrow's young entrepreneurs.
The fascinating part is that a promise made today may meet its
defining moment years from now.
The Trigger
The Anandi Fellowship, an initiative of Bombay Shaving
Company, is built around a wonderfully long horizon.
Identify young talent.
Support the journey.
Give young people the opportunity to learn, explore and
discover what they may want to build.
And, when the time comes, potentially back a Fellow with ₹1
crore in seed funding.
That is what caught my attention.
Not just the ₹1 crore.
But the distance between the promise and the possible
investment.
If the first investment is expected only around 2032 or later,
today's promise will travel several years before it becomes an actual
opportunity.
And that makes the journey fascinating.
The best part of the distance is that it may look long, but
the time just moves on.
Prospective Audience
This observation is for the young student who may one day
become an Anandi Fellow.
For parents who watch their children's ambitions evolve.
For teachers and mentors who help shape those ambitions.
For entrepreneurs and the wider startup ecosystem.
And perhaps for anyone who believes that investing in a young
person's potential requires patience.
And, patience is a rare commodity now a days
ACT 1 — THE PROMISE
Imagine being a student today.
Class 11.
Class 12.
First year of college.
You are still discovering what you might become.
And then comes an opportunity that says:
Your entrepreneurial potential matters.
The Fellowship doesn't appear to be only about writing a
cheque.
It is about identifying young talent early and supporting the
journey that follows.
And somewhere ahead lies the possibility of:
₹1 crore in seed funding.
That makes the promise unusual.
Because the money is not necessarily the beginning.
The young person comes first.
ACT 2 — THE JOURNEY
Now imagine the calendar moving.
2026.
The Fellowship begins.
Then 2027.
2028.
2029.
2030.
2031.
The student grows.
Learns.
Experiments.
Changes.
Perhaps discovers an entirely different idea.
Perhaps decides that entrepreneurship is not for them.
Or perhaps, one day, says:
I want to build.
That is when today's promise may meet tomorrow's ambition.
And that is what I find particularly beautiful about the idea.
The journey comes before the investment.
The capital may come later.
ACT 3 — THE ₹1 CRORE QUESTION
And that brings me to one small thought.
The first investment may happen only around 2032 or later.
By then, the world will have moved on.
The economy will have changed.
The cost of building a company may have changed.
The startup ecosystem may have changed.
But the number in the promise could still read:
₹1 crore.
So I wonder:
₹1 crore today.
Will ₹1 crore in 2032 carry the same meaning?
This is not a criticism of the Fellowship.
Quite the opposite.
The question comes precisely because the idea is thinking so
far ahead.
A promise designed to travel several years into the future
naturally makes us wonder about the value of that promise when it finally
arrives.
What that should mean — if anything — is entirely for the
Fellowship and its future stewards to decide.
CITIZEN OBSERVATION
There is something admirable about making a promise to a young
person today while accepting that the real opportunity may come years later.
The Fellowship is planting the thought today.
The young person may build the future tomorrow.
And somewhere in between sits that ₹1 crore promise.
So my observation is simple:
A long journey deserves a long-term promise.
And perhaps, as the years pass, the value of that promise will
be worth watching too.
CLOSING
I like what the Anandi Fellowship represents.
Believe early.
Nurture patiently.
Back boldly when the time comes.
Bombay Shaving Company has put a number to that future
possibility:
₹1 crore.
Today, it is a promise.
One day, perhaps, it will become an investment.
And when that day comes, the number will still say ₹1 crore.
Which leaves me with just one citizen thought:
₹1 Crore Today.
₹1 Crore in 2032?
Same number.
Different time.
And perhaps, a very different journey behind it.
Absolutely. I would keep both short, warm and consistent with
CO56's appreciation-led tone.
April 11 — Proposed Digital Transactions Day
A digital journey is not always about a payment.
It can also be about a promise, a record, an opportunity and
the systems that support a person over time.
The proposed April 11 — Digital Transactions Day is an
opportunity to recognise how thoughtfully designed digital journeys can create
trust and continuity beyond a single transaction.
CO56 makes me think of another kind of digital journey:
A promise made today.
A journey that unfolds over years.
An opportunity that may arrive tomorrow.
Perhaps that too is part of the larger conversation around
digital trust, continuity and inclusion.
Disclaimer
This Citizen Observation is a personal and appreciative
observation. It does not represent Bombay Shaving Company, The Anandi
Fellowship, its partners, mentors, Fellows or any other organisation associated
with the programme.
The reference to ₹1 crore and a possible future investment is
based on publicly stated information. The thought “₹1 crore today versus ₹1
crore in 2032” is only a citizen observation about the passage of time and the
future value of a long-term promise.
It is not a criticism, financial assessment, investment advice
or recommendation regarding the Fellowship's structure, terms or
implementation.
Observe. Draw one line. Leave the
rest.
The Joy of Digital Transactions
Nayakanti Prashant
3rd Gen Banker & Citizen Lobbyist – Bengaluru
Advocating Digital Transactions Day (April 11)
Author’s Blogs
https://prashantrandomthoughts.blogspot.com
https://prashantnepayments.blogspot.com
https://innovationinbanking.blogspot.com
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