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.
