Celebrating ANAND KUMAR, an altruist!

Altruism is defined as caring about the needs and happiness of other people more than your own. Let's change this a little, Altruism is caring about the needs and happiness of other people leading to a sense of fulfilment and meaning to one's own deeds.

I often wonder, what would happen to the world if each one of us who is empowered, made an attempt to enable just 5 others who needed empowerment? Let me define what I mean when I say ‘each of us who is empowered’. Empowered could mean any of the following - we have the power of education backing us, we are financially independent, we are socially empowered, have a voice and can exercise our free will. What if WE – each one of us, shared this empowerment - any of the above that we possess - with just 5 other people? Either work towards educating them, or towards giving them a voice, help them become financially independent, just like we are!

What if we were able to do so?!

The world would be a happier place and clearly a more ‘empowered’ one.

I often remember the story of Keith Ferrazzi who was exposed to this one opportunity as a poor child from Pittsburgh - an encounter with Mrs. Poland that changed his life. From being a 16-year-old who did odd jobs in order to earn $20 a day for his family to make ends meet, to a successful entrepreneur, author, speaker and leader of a research institute, Ferrazzi emphasizes on the few interactions with Mrs. Poland and some connections she made for him, that became the foundation for his success. In this case, Mrs. Poland was the empowered one who chose to empower a then under powered Keith Ferrazzi, and transformed his life.

This article is not about Keith.

It is about one such individual who empowered hundreds - 212 to be precise - who had not an inkling of an opportunity towards empowerment. These 212 young girls and boys were children of truck drivers, sweepers, construction workers, rickshaw pullers, marginal farmers, brick labourers, road side vendors and some even orphans. Children who had never seen anything but poverty. Children who had no history of education. Children who have an ancestral background of labour. Children who were following the footsteps of their parents either to become a construction worker or sweep the home of the ‘empowered’.

This article is about Anand Kumar, a mathematical guru, who runs a programme called 'Super 30'. His coaching class welcomes 30 students every year from impoverished backgrounds who show a promise in academics but have no means to fulfil their dream of getting a decent education. He coaches them tirelessly to prepare for the IIT-JEE exams. It is often found that his students get admitted into the premier IITs - the Indian Institute of Technology. Anand Kumar's only mission is to get as many of these under empowered students into IIT as possible, students who wouldn't otherwise have the courage to even dream of such a possibility. He continues to choose and coach 30 students every year, even today. Getting through to the IIT for these students means eradicating poverty for themselves, their families and for generations to come. It means, breaking the cycle of poverty for these students with the promise of a sound education.

What is fascinating is that his dream for these children was not a ‘normal one’. His dream was to make them extraordinary. It was not to get these students educated to go get a job. He wanted more for them. His mission was to train them in technology, admit them in a prestigious institute, so that they have the potential of the most flourishing careers. In the last 8 years, 212 students have excelled, thereby giving wings to their dreams – dreams of joining NASA, becoming a scientist, a mathematician, one of them dreams of starting an organization like NASA here in India, and so many more. One student named Santosh who used to sell vegetables in his under developed village, passed the IIT JEE examinations under the ‘Super 30’ programme. His success story was covered by the media world over. He went on to become a scientist in Belgium.

What made Anand KUMAR, a resident of Patna in Bihar, take up the quest of living a life of altruism?

What made him make it his mission to teach these children who couldn't even dream of paying the fees for his coaching class? What is it that made him choose students who were discriminated based on caste and give them an opportunity over the others?

What is it within him that made his resolution towards getting these children to succeed stronger even when he was physically attacked by coaching mafias for doing his bit?

A peek into his interview tells me that his close encounter with poverty while growing up enables him to empathize with children who cannot afford education, and his love for mathematics propels him to share his knowledge and skill with those who have the potential to excel.

He says it's the fulfilment of watching these underprivileged children get into a premier institute of education, year after year.

I saw a talk by Anand Kumar recently, and realized what it doesn't take to be a hero!

It doesn't take great vocabulary and diction of the English language to be a hero

It doesn't take to be from a rich background to help the poor

It doesn't take to have millions in the bank before we share

It doesn't take to first acquire before we begin to give

ALL IT TAKES IS WILL POWER AND A DECISION TO EMPOWER!

Anand Kumar is a prodigy in mathematics and even got selected to do his doctorate from Cambridge University, with a fully paid scholarship in his younger days. However he couldn’t make it due to the inability to to pay for travel to Cambridge. I wonder, would he have been better off having done his PHD from Cambridge University? Or is he better off now – being the sole reason for over 200 students to soar to great heights, not just empowering them but giving them the power to empower others - creating a ripple effect?

Well, the way I see it, this was the Universe’s plan for Anand Kumar!