Wednesday 29 June 2016

Inspire to Innovate Storytelling Movement- Letter to Student Series Volume 1 Issue 11

My Dear Student Friends,
Greetings!

This is Dr. Ravi Saripalle, Founder, Inspire to Innovate (i2i) Storytelling Movement. Welcome to “Letter to Student Series- Volume 1 and Issue 11. Hope you enjoyed reading my previous letter. These letters are e-travelling across the country, for one good cause, spreading inspiring stories of amazing people. Our mission is to inspire Indian Youth by spreading positive stories of people who made difference in life and quality in various domains. Today these letters are reaching all 686 districts of our country. These letters are  helping to build positive dreams and act as catalyst to youth aspirations. Hope you agree with me.
   
Why you should read this letter? Your time is most precious.
ü  When individual hears a Positive Story, it sets vision and provides strength to execute goals
ü  When individual hears a Positive Story, it invokes his/her natural multiple intelligence
ü When individual hears a Positive Story, it acts like Edutainment (Education + Entertainment)
ü  When individual hears a Positive Story, he/she learns skill on their own rather external push
ü  When individual hears a Positive Story, he/she tries to create his/her own positive story
ü  When teacher starts class with a Positive Story, student learning productivity multiplies
ü  When individual naturally inspires,  quality consciousness improves

In the previous issue, we discussed about Ashok Deshmane's noble heart and how he is helping children of drought affected farmers who committed suicides. We talked about Shivakumar  who is feeding thousands of people (poor, orphanages, old age homes and so on) with leftover wedding food. We spoke about few stories of the committed students who are struggling to go to school every day due to their disadvantaged locations. We discussed about Dr. Achyuta Samanta, founder of KIIT University, Orissa, how he was raised in his early life in spite of hardships during his childhood. It was amazing to hear about Manoj Machra, born with no hands, uses his toes to write his answer papers, secured 78% in secondary examination. Similarly, we discussed about Dhaval Khatri , who lost both his hands and how he became world-class painter and made 300+ paintings till date. What an amazing people they are! What kind of inspiration they are distributing to all of us freely! If we cannot catch that inspiration, we are at loss. We are helpless. Do you agree?

Recently I was reading www.powtoon.com, a blog wonderfully articulated about few inspiring people on this earth who are currently between us. I would like to share couple of them and suggest you to read the blog to know more about other inspiring people. I am sure you might have seen the video of Nicholas James "Nick" Vujicic , captivating and motivational speaker, born with phocomelia syndrome (PS), which is rare birth defect, described by the absence of legs and arms. He is currently 33 year old, hailing from Melbourne, Australia. He does not have arms and legs. Whatever I write, it is shorter than watching his YouTube video. You can witness the height of the message. You can witness the weight of the inspiration. You can witness the depth of the motivation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zOzsjEmjjHs). He inspired millions of people around the world with the mission to love yourself and live without boundaries. As per the blog, once in his early age, he attempted an extreme step, but changed his life because of one inspiring article about disabled man who won against all his physical limitations.  Similarly in the same blog, I read about Jessica Cox, who became first armless pilot. She drives car, plays keyboard and so on! It seems she is the first armless black belt in United States of America. She is inspiring people across the world. What an amazing people! Don't you think? Thank you powtoon.com, keep writing such inspiring stories.

Recently I conducted an i2i storytelling workshop in a government zilla parishad high school in Visakhapatnam. It was an amazing experience. I talked to students of 8th standard. They were enthusiastically heard all inspiring people stories. End of the session, I asked them write their vision statement for their life other than degree related stuff. The reason is simple. Generally when we ask student "what you would do in life", then immediate answer would be "I want to become doctor or engineer or teacher or police". This is the general tendency. Hence I kept a condition that vision should be for 10 years or more. They should tell what problem they want to solve in their life or how they want to visualize their life after 10-15 years. I gave them 10 minutes time and asked them to take a paper and pen down the statement. I received amazing responses. Most of the students belong to below poverty line. It is hand to mouth struggle for many of them. One of them says, I would like to clear my father's debt worth of 6 lakhs. Somebody says, I would like to eradicate barrack/liquor shops in his colony. Somebody says, I would like to see happiness in my parent's eyes. One of them says, I would like to seed as many plants as possible and create green cover in his village. They all studied WORLD already. Given a small encouragement towards WORD, they are going to change this world and create an impact in the society. They are creating hope to the next generation. They are learning from the hungry, pathetic conditions at home, bare foot walking, free and open thinking without any bias or prejudice. Their unconventional and uninterrupted learning is making them to think beyond degree. If structured degree also gets feathered to their accolades, they are to be change makers of this world. God bless them and I sincerely wish their vision statements come true and become reality in their lives. 

It reminds me an article which I read from http://indianexpress.com/ about Sushma Verma, a 15 years old girl, a daughter of sanitation worker of the Babasaheb Bhimrao Ambedkar Central University Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh  where she studied MSc-Microbiology. She completed BSc. at the age 13, and now she is planning for PhD in agricultural microbiology. She says soil around Lucknow is becoming more and more arid hence she wants to increase green cover. At five years old, she enrolled for 10th class examination. Infact her brother Shailendra completed BCA at the age of 14. Parents never pressurized about their education. Mother is an illiterate and children are teaching her. Self curiosity and determination led them to this honorable position. What an amazing sister-brother duo! Keep going Sushma and Shailendra. Money, family network, home environment are not impediment for education. These prodigies provided it beyond doubt.  

Some people earn less but win big heart. They are born for sacrifice and service. I read a story from http://social.yourstory.com/ about Geetu Sridhar, famously called as Geetu Maa, a woman adopted 28 orphaned children suffering with cancer. She is working as primary school teacher. She takes them to Tata Memorial Hospital for regular check-ups and therapy treatment. She raises donations from her known network to keep the home operation smooth. Her only goal is to give little happiness in those lives and keep the smile on their faces. She is working, having 2 kids and 28 adopted kids, life goes like marathon. She gets privilege to leave two periods early from her school to take care of other 28 children. When you do good work, people around you are always helpful. Infact her school colleagues encourage her good work and support her in her mission. Her husband is highly supportive in this noble mission. Geetu Ma, you please continue your good work, God bless you. Thank you yourstory.com for publishing such an inspiring article. Keep publishing.

Often we think, physical fitness is barrier to reach our goals. This is absolutely not true. Sometime back I read an article from http://www.thebetterindia.com/ (contributed by Gopalakrishnan Sankaran) about Dr. Garimella, who was born blind but became journalist. Garimella Subramaniam, hailing from Visakhapatnam, completed post graduation from JNU, Delhi, PhD in Political Science from London School of Economics. Later he joined as editor in English daily. Political Europe seems to be his specialization. Without using Braille, he manages to use modern technologies, reads through text-to-speech features, edits on his own etc. He is very modest and toned down the proposal for nomination of awards. He is also good in Carnatic music. He travels across the country and some times out of country, but on his own without any assistance. What kind of courage needed? Dr Garimella is having wife and 18+ years old daughter. They are bringing up her with love & affection and upholding values. Let us wish Dr. Garimella continue his positive spirit and contribute towards constructive development of the society. He is role model for many disadvantaged, not just only for physically, but to all the people who are not utilizing their best talent. Thank you betterindia for an inspiring article. Let us all build better India.   

World Lost Muhammad Ali, an American Olympic and professional boxer. He was not just sports person, but also an activist. He is regarded as most admired sports personality in this century. Rarely, we witness such amazing people. He stood for his believes, values and love towards humanity. He remained as undisputed king in boxing world. He said, if your dream is not making you to fear, then it is not great dream. BBC (http://www.bbc.com/sport/boxing/21373731) analyzed his charismatic profile.  His heroism, charisma, humor, appeal and social consciousness made him to these heights.  He scored 56 out of 61. Ali says building self confidence is most important thing in life. Ali constantly used to say "I am the greatest".  "am the greatest, I said that even before I knew I was". Though he suffered with Parkinson's disease for many years, but never integrated mentally in his life. Ali is a legend. He lived for his principles and practiced to the core. Physically he is not with us, but his thoughts are around us. One of his famous quotes was "It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out; it's the pebble in your shoe". You can Read more Ali quotes at: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/m/muhammad_ali.html "

My Dear Friends, Hope you found useful reading these inspirational stories! Inspire through storytelling, Innovate for Life turning! This is the mission of this program. Please do share if you find any inspiring story. Friends, I appreciate your valuable time. We will again see you in my next letter. Thank you for giving me this great opportunity to write to you and help me to learn, unlearn and relearn in this process. I personally thank all websites, authors who are publishing / writing such an inspiring stories for common good and contributing for better world.

With Best Wishes
Dr. Ravi Saripalle

About Author:    Dr. Ravi Saripalle is Founder of Inspire to Innovate (i2i) Storytelling Movement. He is also Director, Center for Innovation, GVP College of Engineering (A), Vizag, AP, India. As part of Inspire to Innovate (i2i) Storytelling Movement, Dr.Ravi is trying to instill inspiration through spreading positive stories of amazing people in the form of short stories, embedding them in the form of letters (epistolary form) and sending them to thousands of schools, colleges, universities district administrations across India. Also conducting Storytelling Workshops in select institutions. Providing customized mentoring to specific inspired students. Dr. Ravi is having 18 years of experience in Industry, Consultancy, Training, Mentoring and Research. Prior to this current mission, Dr. Ravi worked with Wipro Technologies for more than a decade. Dr Ravi can be reached at saripalle.ravi@gmail,com or http://i2itm.blogspot.in/ or facebook.com/saripalle.ravi

Links to previous letters

1.      Letter to Student Series- Volume 1 and Issue 10 (Inspire To Innovate (I2i) Storytelling Movement @ Students Of India)
http://i2itm.blogspot.in/2016/05/inspire-to-innovate-storytelling_30.html
2.      Letter to Student Series- Volume 1 and Issue 9 (Inspire To Innovate (I2i) Storytelling Movement @ Students Of India)
3.      Letter to Student Series- Volume 1 and Issue 8 (Inspire To Innovate (I2i) Storytelling Movement @ Students Of India)
4.      Letter to Student Series- Volume 1 and Issue 7 (Inspire To Innovate (I2i) Storytelling Movement @ Students Of India)
5.      Letter to Student Series- Volume 1 and Issue 6 (Inspire To Innovate (I2i) Storytelling Movement @ Students Of India)
6.      Letter to Student Series- Volume 1 and Issue 5 (Inspire To Innovate (I2i) Storytelling Movement @ Students Of India)
http://i2itm.blogspot.in/2016_01_01_archive.html
7.      Letter to Student Series- Volume 1 and Issue 4 (Inspire To Innovate (I2i) Storytelling Movement @ Students Of India)
8.      Letter to Student Series- Volume 1 and Issue 3 (Inspire To Innovate (I2i) Storytelling Movement @ Students Of India)
9.      Letter to Student Series- Volume 1 and Issue 2 (Inspire To Innovate (I2i) Storytelling Movement @ Students Of India)
10.  Letter to Student Series- Volume 1 and Issue 1 (Inspire To Innovate (I2i) Storytelling Movement @ Students Of India)



Disclaimer: The goal of this i2iSM letter series campaign is to inspire students / youth through storytelling and develop innovative leaders to build strong nation. In this process, I have taken several data points from various websites, NEWS articles, books, videos etc. I sincerely thank all the editors for providing such an insightful stories and information. To the best of my knowledge, I tried to acknowledge all the sources. I sincerely apologize for any omissions, grammatical mistakes and hurting any reader’s sentiments. I request all the readers to understand the spirit behind this effort. This effort doesn’t involve any commercials. Letter series is for free distribution. 

Sunday 5 June 2016

Humble Appeal to Parents of 10-21 Age Group Children:Inspire to Innovate (i2i) Storytelling Movement - Spreading Positive Stories of Amazing People

Respected Parents

Greetings!

I am writing to you for a cause of individual and global importance. I request you to give me 5 minutes of your valuable time by reading this letter and consider for implementation if you find any merit in this.

Today, children of 10-21 age group are highly aspirational. If these aspirations are not properly supported by inspirational information, children mislead, deviate and pervert. Inspiration may not always come from premium college, higher degree, high percentage, job oriented skills, good placement and pay package. They are sheer short-term events in the life. when children are not really inspired within heart, getting the honor is a costly affair and requires external force as there is no natural affinity towards fulfilling long-term dream. After good research and multiple observations, we found solution for this critical problem in the society.

I humbly appeal to you to take "inspire to innovate (i2i) storytelling movement" forward in your home and prepare the children for tomorrow. Here are 3 simple steps you can consider for implementation

1. Make your children to read / hear one inspiring story per week of any individual who fulfills to one of the following 3 conditions
ü  An individual who created social impact in Agriculture/Healthcare/ Education / Livelihood /Energy sectors
ü  An Individual who made rich contribution towards Arts, Literature, Sports or any special field
ü  An individual who started an innovative company or organization

2. Prepare your children to write a physical post card letter / full-fledged formal mail (not short messages or chat) every 3 months to one person whom he/she trusts, ask them to share their dreams and obstacles to full-fill those dreams. In the process, they manage to solve problems on their own

3.  Trust me, continue this process for 3 years or more by providing conducive environment at home, it impacts  reticular activating system of human brain and we can expect amazing results.

I truly wish the story of your children becomes another inspirational story and positively influence other children too. 
o  When children hears a Positive Story, it sets vision and provides strength to execute goals
o  When children hears a Positive Story, it invokes his/her natural multiple intelligence
o   When children hears a Positive Story, it acts like Edutainment (Education + Entertainment)
o  When children hears a Positive Story, they learn skills on their own rather external push
o  When children hears a Positive Story, they help to create their own positive story

To promote this culture, I started Inspire to Innovate Storytelling Movement and writing letters to children embedding various positive stories (epistolary format). Letters are available at http://i2iTM.blogspot.com.

Let us Prepare our Children Today and Protect their Life for Tomorrow

Yours Sincerely,

Dr. Ravi Saripalle,

Founder, Inspire to Innovate Storytelling Movement, saripalle.ravi@gmail.com  / http://i2iTM.blogspot.com