Real Life Champion

Meet this guy, Milind Chandwani. He belongs to Hyderabad. He is an IT engineer. He has worked for Infosys.

After working for many years in IT sector, he left his job and started doing social work.

He went through a bad childhood phase. Being a fat student in his class, his classmates used to bully him unnecessarily. Also, he was not so good at studies. That was the time when he was all alone. He wanted to make friends but students used to bully him. He tried hard to make friends but failed to do so.

Due to some family issues, he couldn't come to school for 5 consecutive days. When he joined back, he asked for notes from his classmates. But, as usual they started bullying him and didn't give him notes. After approaching 5 students, he lost his patience to asked for the same from sixth one. How it feels to sit all alone in school or in college?

It feels like no one loves me. Nobody wants to go through such phase. School is all about chilling out and making new friends. In his case, there was nothing like that. It's hard to survive in such a situation.

Bullying is a big problem. It can make kids feel hurt, scared, sick, lonely, embarrassed, and sad. Bullies might hit, kick, or push to hurt people, or use words to call names, tease, or scare them.

A bully might say mean things about someone, grab a kid's stuff, make fun of someone, or leave a kid out of the group on purpose.

Some bullies threaten people or try to make them do things they don't want to do.

Some bullies are looking for attention. They might think bullying is a way to be popular or to get what they want. Most bullies are trying to make themselves feel more important. When they pick on someone else, it can make them feel big and powerful.

Some bullies come from families where everyone is angry and shouting all the time. They may think that being angry, calling names, and pushing people around is a normal way to act. Some bullies are copying what they've seen someone else do. Some have been bullied themselves.

Sometimes bullies know that what they're doing or saying hurts other people. But other bullies may not really know how hurtful their actions can be. Most bullies don't understand or care about the feelings of others.

Bullies often pick on someone they think they can have power over. They might pick on kids who get upset easily or who have trouble sticking up for themselves. Getting a big reaction out of someone can make bullies feel like they have the power they want. Sometimes bullies pick on someone who is smarter than they are or different from them in some way. Sometimes bullies just pick on a kid for no reason at all.

One day, his classmates locked him inside a room, they beat him for no reason. After all these things, he decided to end up his life. But, he changed his mind and took a frequent decision not to do so. He started giving himself priority. His school journey started from the last bencher and brought him to be the first bencher. A boy who used to get scared because of others, who never uttered a single question in the class. Now, the same student started sitting at first bench and became an expert to give answers. One day, one of his classmate asked a doubt to his teacher, teacher suggested him to go and ask the same question to Milind. She added, "Ask Milind, he is good in this".

Then the boy approached Milind and told him what teacher has said. It was another achievement for Milind.

Since the day, he stopped underestimating himself. He did engineering, joined Infosys with a good package. But, he wasn't able to find his soul satisfaction. Everyone was happy for him, his friends, family and everyone around him. But, he was not yet satisfied.

Meanwhile, his parents suggested him to go for MBA, he appeared for CAT and scored 99 percentile. Trust me, it's not that easy to score this percentile.

He got many calls from IIMs. Besides, he got a call from Teach for India. He was in a dilemma. Finally, he decided to decline IIMs call and go for teach for India.

What we want from our life?

An IIT or IIM college, a good job that's it. Right?

But, there are some people like Milind who wants to do something for other's sake. This guy joined Teach for India and started helping others. Then after, he started his own camp diaries. Undoubtedly, it's very difficult to get victory at the beginning of any such work. Likewise, he too faced many hurdles but, his aim was clear. He achieved what he wanted to achieve.

He might not be happy for what happened with him in childhood.

So what, people don't like us. It doesn't mean we don't have any right to survive.

Taking right decision at right time is a sign of great people.

The real journey of this boy had been started. He started dreaming big. The thirst to reach maximum number of student for the betterment of their lives was increasing day by day. He was so dedicated for his work.

रख हौसला वो मंजर भी आयेगा; प्यासे के पास चल के समुन्दर भी आयेगा! 

This sentence suits him the most. He never felt tired, he just moved forward with a bag of dreams and after achieving dream one by one, he started throwing those dreams out of his bag like confetti.

When you give your life for mastering something, people will remember you long after you’re gone. And that’s one of the main purpose of life, according to him.

Talent is cheap; dedication is expensive. It will cost you your life.  

He started teaching coding, guitar, drums, etc. He used to perform with his students at different events.

While performing in Hyderabad, middle school students of the Bandimet Government High School in Hyderabad broke down in tears after their musical act had ended to great applause. They had scripted, directed, choreographed and performed the entire act by themselves, to draw attention to the importance of safety measures around electric equipment, in memory of their friend who had lost his life due to an electric shock.

Nobody would expect such a meaningful response to this tragic incident from an unassuming bunch of ten to twelve-year-old government schoolers. Nurturing this hidden potential and fanning the flames of passion in the youngsters who need it is the aim of “Camp Diaries”, the brainchild of Milind Chandwani. This creative lot was trained and inspired by the people of Camp Diaries. 

What does Camp Diaries do?

This NGO run by a group of youngsters organizes camps in government and low-income private schools, where the kids are introduced to a variety of activities like music, instruments, dance, drama, arts and science experiments to name a few. The kids are given the freedom to choose the activity which suits their interests and over a span of five weeks they are trained in the activities of their choice. The kids are helped in honing their skills and given an opportunity to showcase their talents by organizing shows which are open to the public and through YouTube channels owned and operated by the kids themselves. 

An IT professional turned educator and social worker, Milind Chandwani, encountered a situation where two of his students through Teach for India were nominated for training in extracurricular activities at a government camp, meanwhile, the rest of the kids who were also interested were left behind.

“In today’s world dreams have a fee and it is not possible for a government school kid to pay that fee,” says Milind. This was when it struck Milind, that these kids cannot go to different places to learn, but that learning can be brought to them in their own schools and that thought culminated into the pan India organization that is “Camp Diaries” today.

What started with Milind and four other volunteers and a handful of curious kids in Hyderabad, today reaches out to around 3000 kids a year across four major cities through more than 1000 passionate volunteers.

“Kids should not be restricted only to mainstream education” believes Sanskriti a city lead of Camp Diaries from Hyderabad. “We have been blessed with an opportunity and financial ability to learn various skills, so it is our duty to share those blessings with others,” says Milind.

In conversation with The Logical Indian, when asked if there are any notable incidents that reinforced his belief in the cause, Milind was quick to recall one spirited student, Imran, who was older than his classmates and hence conscious and unsure of his own capabilities when they first met. However, as time passed and Imran trained in dance at Camp Diaries, he transformed into a confident leader among his peers and went on to start his own project called “Children’s Camp Diaries” to pass on what he learned to the primary students of his school.

“Watching these kids being the change they wanted to see made me feel proud, and motivated me to keep going,” says the founder.

Camp Diaries currently operates in Hyderabad, Bangalore, Chennai, and Ahmedabad with the help of city leads who manage the affairs of the organization within their cities. The founder in response to our question regarding his future plans for the organization says that he wants to reach out and kindle rural talent as the opportunities and resources are fewer. 

Through this platform of Camp Diaries, new windows have opened up for the kids who belong to the weaker economic sections, who probably would never have the opportunity to witness the world of art if not for this NGO.

It is commendable that in a world where youngsters fall short of time to manage their education, career, and social life, these dynamic volunteers at Camp Diaries have pledged their time and efforts to improve the skill set of the younger generation and providing them with alternative career opportunities. Also, he was a contestant of Roadies real heroes,2019. He impressed all the gang leader and the Judge of MTV Roadies Real Heroes with his message to help the other to fulfill their dream. The main motto to be a part of Roadies was to convey his message to the world, Roadies is a great platform to connect with public and he chose it wisely.He was well known for his mastermind in Roadies. Other contestants often used to call him with this name.

Such a generous, humble and elegant personality, he is.

You can reach him by contacting his organization. Also, you can donate and help his organization.

It's hard to compromise your career especially when you have your job and your future is safe. Compromising your own career to enlighten someone else, it takes a lot of courage. This guy made it possible.

I bow down to this guy.