After five nights spent working past midnight, Mr. Khemka had something more philosophical in mind. With that question in mind, even years later, Mr. Khemka took off a year from business in London to return home to New Delhi to set up Youth Reach, a project that links businesspeople to charities to help disadvantaged kids. Youth Reach today boasts a network of some 10,000 people, with nearly 300 active volunteers. As more people embrace the frenetic pace of the New Economy, fewer, it seems, find time for philanthropy, making Mr. Khemka's venture even more unusual. According to the National Center for Volunteering in Britain, the number of hours young people devote to volunteer work has fallen dramatically.
Young adults appear to be growing stingier too.
This is very worrying. Today, though still involved in the organization he created, Mr. Khemka has resumed his role as a businessman. Active in the European Internet scene, he helped found e-start, an online network to link European entrepreneurs with investors and service providers. The Harvard Business School graduate is an active investor in technology companies, serving as chief executive of Vesta Group, a holding company that owns two investment funds and e-start. Frequently on the road, he also sits on the boards of a number of his family's ventures, including Sun Brewing, a chain of breweries in Russia.