English: The Jawaja Experiment, an early precursor of grass-roots NGOs, was led by Ravi Matthai. Jawaja village is located in Rajasthan, India. Seen here are Ravi Matthai and Raaj Sah with villagers in 1975. Sitting on the chair is Ravi Matthai, the first full-time Director of Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA). The individual with beard and long hair is Raaj Sah, subsequently Professor at the University of Chicago, who worked on the project during and after his MBA studies at IIMA. Among his contributions to the Experiment were that Ravi Matthai and he together were the first on the ground and, starting from nothing, they began organizing and implementing the work of poverty alleviation. The project focused on Jawaja's leather and handloom artisans, the two poorest communities at that time.