“I belonged to a small village that had about 40 families. It was very underdeveloped. One day, I woke up to the news that my aunt joined naxalites in the area. I didn’t understand what that meant but my family was shocked. She would still come home to visit us on the weekends. But soon, that information reached police and they came home. My father couldn’t take all of it, so he committed suicide. No matter how old I grow, I can never forget that day. Life took a completely different turn. My mother had to manage the family and we hardly had any money or land. My siblings and I joined an orphanage and came home only for festivals. We didn’t have money to buy necessary things like books and pen. It was a difficult childhood but I knew I didn’t have the power to change what happened. I kept hoping for a better day. Once I joined an inter college, I decided to help other kids who belong to low-income families and can’t afford basic necessities. My friends and I collected leftover food from restaurants and started distributing it to kids in orphanages and beggars too. I was 16 when we started this NGO. All I knew was that I wanted to give people food and shelter with whatever I had. Initially, restaurants were sceptical, but they soon saw our good work and cooperated.

About 100 days ago, I started share a meal challenge. The idea was to get more people to feed the needy and share a picture with us. It wasn’t for social media attention or clicks, but it was a way to encourage friends and younsters to take up a social cause. A lot of people told me that photos were unnecessary and it shouldn’t about social media. But this was our way of approaching a bigger number. Since then, we have served about 1800 meals. During this time, an Instagram follower nominated me for Karmaveer Chakra award. I had no clue what exactly the process was and also didn’t think much about it. After a couple of weeks, I got an email and I was invited for the award ceremony in IIT Delhi. It was such an honour – I was speechless! It motivated me to continue this good work. Our plan is to adopt three rural schools and help them with finances and basic necessities. We have a long way to go. In this journey, I’ve realised that you don’t have to be well-off to help the needy. You can share whatever you have. That’s the start.”

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