It’s been a long journey. Though it was not an arduous one, it had its fair share of twists and turns. On this journey, I met many souls who are doing fabulous work for the betterment of disabled individuals in India.
It all started in Oct 2020, when I had my first encounter with a personal hero of mine, Sakshi Chauhan who battled against all odds (and her disability was the last one) to play a sport she loves, basketball, and went on to represent INDIA. Then a life-turning event where I met my mentor, Sujith Kumar sir. He pushed me in the right direction, time and again gave me guidance, and gave me opportunities to share my story (not to mention – the first one being in front of the entire HR community, which included Mr. Richard Lobo). Thus began my journey as a motivational speaker.
On this journey, I met an incredible set of encouraging individuals. Anand Mohanram ji, the amazing work done by NHRDn Hyderabad (Ranjani Vijayaraghavan) chapter. I also had the honor of being in the elite name list such as Ravikumar S- President and Deputy COO, Nandan Nilekani- Co-founder and chairman, <my name> :); followed by Pravin Rao- COO and Shri Gaur Gopal Das. My home ground was Infosys where the HR always encouraged me to take center stage at various town halls. I couldn’t thank them enough.
While I started with intentions that I wanted to share my story; Sujith Kumar sir helped me draw a meaningful message out of it. and he asked me to dream about an impossible dream. Well, who hasn’t seen the RED DOT of TED, where individuals share their stories, to inspire the world? So I thought- wouldn’t it be wonderful to be there on stage and have the RED-colored TED sign behind me?
so yes, that’s exactly what I wanted. To be on the TED Stage, Sujit sir asked me to declare my intention. He asked me to invite each and every one of the listeners to hear my Ted talk, even then when I wasn’t even sure how this would ever come true.
and the universe answered in the form of Rahul Rajusree ji. he invited me for a TED TALK at TEDxKanniyakumari. while the event had its fair share of coronavirus challenges, the decision was made to have the TED Talk virtual. and It brings immense joy to declare that my TED talk video has been released on the official TEDxKanniyakumari channel this weekend. all I can say is that it’s a proud milestone in the long journey.
This is dedicated to my mother whose unwavering faith in me, my friends who stood tall with me and were my family away from family (Vivek Waghmare, Urvish Trivedi, Manoj, Sachin Salunkhe, Samir Mhadalekar, Pankaj Kothawade, Ganesh Gaik and many others), And none other than Mr. Sujith Kumar sir whose words and his work at Maatram Foundation, has been nothing but phenomenal. Though I have not been part of his Maatram institute, I still find solace in the fact he has inspired me to be as good as him for the betterment of society.