“I was a victim of bullying and body shaming almost throughout my school life. I was a fat child, neither smart nor sporty. And despite the privileges I enjoyed at home, my school life was not a happy one. It was only during my class 12 that things changed for me. I consciously began to study hard, score well and make friends. Like many others my age, when I was unable to decide what I wanted in life, I opted for engineering. It was only when I joined a corporate that I really started to explore other activities like playing the guitar, drums or dancing.
Around that time, I also joined the Teach for India program. Initially, I worked with them over the weekends, but I enjoyed it so much that soon I was travelling over 30 kms, juggling between my job and teaching, even on weekdays. Soon I was at crossroads, forced to choose between pursuing an MBA and continuing to teach underprivileged children. My choice was between money and happiness. I knew MBA would get me a well paid job. But that was not what I wanted! So I took up the NGO’s fellowship and turned into a full time social worker. The more I worked with underprivileged kids, the more I saw life through different perspectives. Together, we tried to impact and change their lives and the lives of the people close to them. We presented street plays about vices such as drinking, following which the fathers of many of my children actually quit or curbed their drinking habit. Once, I promised the kids that I would conduct a camp with various activities for them to participate in. I was filled with regret when I took a break from my fellowship when that promise of mine remained unfulfilled. So I called up my friends and requested them to come and teach the kids whatever they knew. That’s how Camp Diaries started. We began with a camp for 3 government and low-income private schools, where we introduced the kids to a variety of activities like music instruments, dance, drama, arts and science experiments. Kids were given the freedom to choose the activities which suited their interests and over a span of five weekends they were trained in the same. They also get a platform to display their learnings at the end of the camp, titled ‘Showcase’, which is attended by many people from across the city. These shows are a source of constant positivity, motivation and strength to me. What started off with a bunch of friends expanded to a huge group with hundreds of volunteers. It was Camp Diaries that also got me a chance to be a part of Roadies Real Heroes. I chose to participate in reality TV shows so I could use the platform they offered for a social cause. I knew I would come back to Camp Diaries with bigger plans post the show.. and I did! Today, we’re aiming for 18 cities and more than 10,000 volunteers helping thousands of children across the country. Watching these kids implement what we teach them in their lives, make an attempt to pass it on to the other children they know and being the change they wanted to see motivates me to keep going. When I look back, I’m proud of the choice I’ve made. I feel like this is where I belong and this is what I was meant to do.”

#CAMPDIARIES #SERVICE #EDUCATE #CHILDREN #INSPIRE #MTVRODIES #REALHEROES #TRAVEL #MOTIVATE #FRIENDS #VOLUNTEERS #SUPPORT #PERSPECTIVE #IMPACT #CHOICE #EMPOWER #BODYSHAMING #HYDERABAD #HUMANSOFHYDERABAD