Ifep Foundation

Ifep Foundation is tucked away in Shop Number 27 on the first floor of Shagun Mall. If you know Goregaon East, you know how Gen A.K. Vaidya Marg gets during the evening rush hour; it’s basically a parking lot of cars and rickshaws out there. Inside the mall, it’s a bit different, though it isn't one of those massive, shiny new malls you see in the magazines. It’s a bit older, more of a local shopping center where people come for specific things. We are up on the first floor, so you have to take the stairs or the lift, which sometimes has a mind of its own. The shop itself is compact. We’ve got our files and our computers squeezed in, and it gets a bit noisy when the shops next door are busy with customers. There is a lot of concrete and the lighting is just those standard tubes that hum a little bit if you listen closely. It’s not the most glamorous place to spend eight hours a day, but it’s central and everyone knows the mall. We usually get our lunch from one of the small joints downstairs or just bring a dabba from home. It’s a lot of ordinary days, answering phones and trying to keep the desk organized while the Goregaon traffic drones on outside. It’s just a regular shop space turned into an office for us to manage things.