'I aspire to make a difference'

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Courtesy : Rediff

IIT-Madras graduate Apoorve Dubey.

"I aspire to make a difference in the lives of people around me," says Apoorve Dubey, who at 26 delivers motivational lectures in schools and colleges, works as a software engineer with Symantec and has also written a book The Flight Of Ambition.

"No, I may not be able to change the world. But that should not stop me from changing someone's world," says the IIT-Madras graduate, who also volunteers with the Akshar Bharti programme, an initiative meant for taking quality education to the underprivileged masses.

The programme, which began two years ago, has about 140 libraries across the country.

Apoorve is also an executive member of the Kalinga Kusum Foundation which addresses rural education via vocational centres.

When you ask him how it all began he recalls his days at IIT-Madras.

"A friend took me to a small house close to our campus where a couple lived with some 20 children!" he says. "Most of them were between two and 14. As I wondered why they had so many children when they clearly couldn't take care of them, the friend mentioned that all but two of the kids were adopted!"

All of them, Apoorve says, spoke Tamil, a language he did not speak nor understand. Yet he could feel a deep sense of filial bonding.

"I was shocked to learn that it was an orphanage. The couple had two children; the rest of them had nowhere to go. But all of them stayed like a family. It was difficult to distinguish between the couple's real children and the adopted ones. Muthukumar and his wife Kala treated each of them as their own," he says.

The way the couple treated the adopted kids left an indelible impression on Apoorve. It was then that he made up his mind to make a difference to society.

Whenever he is asked what inspired him to write The Flight of Ambition, images of that small house in Chennai flash before his eyes.

The other person who left a lasting impact was a mathematics teacher at school. "Towards the end of his lecture," Apoorve says, "the topic of discussion would invariably drift towards the greatness of India. You knew he was genuine and wasn't making things up. When we were passing out, we asked him what we could do for the country."

The teacher had a very practical answer: "He told us to simply be honest and do our job in the best manner we could. 'Don't think too big; just look around you and you will have plenty of problems to solve. If you don't fix the problem, no one else will', he said."

"It is imperative that we look to eradicate the problems that we see around us and look beyond narrow boundaries of religion and region," says Apoorve.

Having set up knowledge centres and libraries, Apoorve Dubey now plans to set up medical aid facilities. "We are collaborating with some doctors and will conduct health workshops. Providing medical aid, especially to the rural areas, is very important."

He is busy reaching out to young minds through seminars in schools and colleges to catch 'em young. "Kids are very receptive. Their minds are fertile. I am planting seeds and I am convinced each and every individual will shine like a star."

Image: Apoorve Dubey teaching a class
Photographs: Apoorve Dubey

They sell trash to save lives

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Shail Shah is a 23-year-old IT engineer. He works with Adani Wilmar, a leading edible oil company, but there's something else that keeps this young go-getter busy.

In his free time, Shail along with 65 other young people from Ahmedabad , come together to raise money for deserving, needy families, distribute food and supplies to slum-dwellers and spend time with orphans and old-aged.

While the social activities of this group are varied, one of the more commendable efforts is Shail's initiative to raise money for dialysis patients. He along with 25-year-old Palakh Jain have been raising money by visiting homes, and picking up and selling old newspaper and other recyclable material for the last four years.

People who hear of them through word of mouth or recent news reports call them up and they arrange for the paper or other trash to be picked up. This is then sold at the recyclers', who give them a slightly higher rate than the normal. And this money is channeled into the fund -- a fund provides patients suffering from kidney failure with dialysis. "It is not a one-time expense," explains Shail. These patients need dialyses on a weekly basis and, costing about Rs 12,000-15,000 per month, it is out of reach for many.

But why have they chosen such an unconventional route to raising money? "Well, when you just ask people for money whatever the cause may be, they are reluctant. They are not sure of whether the funds will be utilised for the right purpose, whether the funds will reach the people who need it. This way they can contribute without actually having to give us their money."

The first patient he reached out to was a lady who suffered renal failure during childbirth. Being from an impoverished background she needed help and approached Shail. He extended his assistance from his own pocket but as he learnt of the many others who were suffering just for lack of money, he decided to mobilise funds through his network of friends.

"Another patient, a rickshaw driver, approached me saying that if I could just help him with one week's dialysis, he would live for a week longer enabling him to earn enough money for the next week's session," says Palakh.

So far they have raised Rs 1.72 lakhs but Shail is looking to the future with caution. "While we do want to help more people, we don't want to risk neglecting our older patients. Since dialysis is a recurrent expense we need to ensure that all our patients are taken care of."

The duo has tied up with the Gujarat Kidney Foundation and a panel of six nephrologists. It is from here that deserving patients are identified and assisted. They also collaborate with the Thackershy Trust, where dialysis is administered at a nominal rate. Candidates are screened to make sure that they are truly in need of assistance. The nephrologists charge a marginal amount, which is then covered by the fund.

Apart from this they are also involved in other social activities. They visit old-age homes every fortnight, a school for mentally challenged children every week where they interact with the children and organise dance parties, distribute khichdi and blankets to slum dwellers. A friend's parents have donated two vehicles to the cause, which are used to transport volunteers and supplies every week.

It all began with a drive home from a party. It was winter and this group of youngsters saw people shivering in the cold. This sight prompted them to rustle up some funds to buy them blankets. Since then the group has grown, as has their scope of activity.

And what does the future hold? "Five years down the line, no Indian should die for lack of funds – that is our goal, and we are working towards it," says Shail, brimming with hope and confidence.