You Have a Superpower—It’s Called Volunteering | Mayur Patnala | TEDxHyderabad

Key Concepts:

• Volunteering
• Collaboration
• Persistence
• Developed India 2020
• Social Impact
• Underprivileged
• ICU Beds
• Tribal Village Adoption
• Grammine Bhat Initiative
• Intentions, Values, Hard Work (IVH)

1. Personal Story and Discovery of Passion:

• Mayayur Patnala Kankanala shares his 20-year journey of volunteering.
• He discovered his passion for volunteering at Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani, Rajasthan, while pursuing a dual degree in Mechanical and Computer Science.
• He experimented with various clubs but found fulfillment in founding a voluntary club.
• He describes this period as being in an "awesome happiness state of mind and heart."

2. Contributing to Developed India 2020:

• Inspired by APJ Abdul Kalam's vision of Developed India 2020, he and his fellow volunteers initiated two campaigns: "Save one rupee per day for the nation" and "Teach one hour per day for the nation."
• They started teaching 25 children of Messbayas and Rickshaw Walas on campus.
• An incident involving Kashi Ramaji's daughter, who dropped out of school due to poverty, led to a commitment to ensure no child, especially girls, drops out of education.

3. Critical Life Decisions:

• To pursue his passion for volunteering, Mayayur made three critical life decisions:
  • Dedicate his entire life to the cause.
  • Limit his monthly expenditure to ₹25,000 for a lifetime.
  • Avoid distractions like property or business pursuits.
• He married a fellow nmanite volunteer, Madi, after transparently sharing his life goals.

4. The Power of Volunteering and Collaboration:

• Mayayur emphasizes that volunteering and collaboration, done without expectation of money, name, or power over a long period, can yield unimaginable results.
• He presents three experiences to illustrate this: education, COVID-19 relief, and tribal village adoption.

5. Education Initiatives:

• The collective of volunteers transformed a government school's pass percentage from 18% to 84% and increased enrollments from 300 to 1200.
• They scaled up their efforts to hundreds of schools across 25 states in India.
• They established scholarships and mentoring programs for underprivileged children.
• He shares the success stories of seven girls:
  • Kalyjani (IM Trishi)
  • Schwa (MBBS, aspiring oncologist)
  • Radika (Cognizant, software engineer)
  • Banu (Digital Marketing)
  • Siriisha (Azim Premji University, aspiring politician)
  • Trisha (Under 19 sports)
  • Shikita (Archery)
• The collective has impacted 35 lakh underprivileged people with ₹400 crores of Indian rupees.

6. COVID-19 Relief Efforts:

• During the COVID-19 pandemic, the collective set up a team of 40 people to address the shortage of ICU beds.
• They built 150 ICU beds across four floors in Tims, Telangana Institute of Medical Sciences.
• They expanded their efforts to build 10 tertiary hospitals with ICUs in Hyderabad.
• They established rural ICUs in Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Jarkand.
• They provided nearly 2,000 new ICU beds in 120 government hospitals.

7. Tribal Village Adoption:

• Inspired by a conversation with IAS officer Dya Devajin I, Mayayur and his team focused on the plight of particularly vulnerable tribal groups (PVTGs), specifically the Kolams and Thotis in Telangana.
• They adopted a village in China, Adilabad, and within three years, raised every family above the poverty line, increasing per capita income by ₹40,000.
• They expanded the initiative to 27 villages.
• They launched the Grammine Bhat initiative, where 40 corporate leaders moved to Mulugu district to conduct need assessments and adopt villages.

8. Ripple Effect and Personal Fulfillment:

• Mayayur emphasizes that volunteering creates a ripple effect, not only in the communities served but also in personal lives.
• He shares that in 2019, he had the opportunity to share his learning experience of social entrepreneurship to 120 IAS and IPS and civil servants.
• The US government recognized and nominated the collective as one of the 15 social impact leaders across the world.
• Volunteers who have worked with the collective have become civil servants, with the count reaching 826 from 2019 to 2024.

9. IVH (Intentions, Values, Hard Work):

• Mayayur concludes by emphasizing the importance of intentions, values, and hard work (IVH) in achieving goals.
• He believes that with pure intentions, strong values, and continuous hard work, nothing can stop individuals from achieving their goals.

10. Conclusion:

• Mayayur ends with the question, "Are you doing what you love to do?"
• He expresses a passion for the rise of a great nation.