They say, ‘If you want to do something, then the entire universe conspires in helping you to achieve it. No matter how difficult the journey is, you will cross it if you have pure intentions.’ Santhosh Manduva is a practical example of this quote. He came from an average middle-class background, lost his father at a young age, and faced difficulties coping with daily life. Still, despite all the odds, he established Sulakshya Seva Samithi to help others and work for the uplift of poor people. Let us hear his story to applaud his work and efforts.
Santhosh Manduva – My Story
I’m Santhosh Manduva. I was born in a small village, Pegadapally, around 5 km away from Hanamkonda (Telangana). We used to live in a joint family in my village, and I was a pampered kid. For my education, we migrated to Warangal, but I loved staying in the village, so I used to go back to my village during holidays.
Everything was great until I lost my father. In 1999, he was diagnosed with a stone in the gallbladder, but due to the doctor’s fault, he later suffered from Pancreatitis, and after ten days of treatment, he passed away. It was the most painful time of my life. I was barely 12 years old, and my brother was 7. Though my mother worked as a government teacher, my father took care of every minor thing in my home until then.
His sudden demise was a big shock for my family. Though my extended family was incredibly supportive, it’s impossible to fill a father’s space in a kid’s life. We took a lot of time to get over his death. My mother started managing house affairs as well as her job.
I wasn’t an ambitious kid, but I knew the value of morals & ethics. Despite having money to lead a decent life, we never wasted money on unnecessary things.
My father taught us how to value money and give it to the people who need it desperately. These childhood lessons were the most excellent teachings of my life. That’s why during childhood, I used to buy some chocolates and toys for those kids who couldn’t afford to have them. These minor aspects developed a strong sense of compassion in my heart. With time, the feeling became so intense that I couldn’t resist it.
On my 21st birthday, I got 1500 rupees from my family as a birthday gift. Someone told me there is a requirement for a water filter in the nearby nursing home. So I thought that it would be a good idea to spend some part of the money on a good cause.
I bought a sonata watch and gave the leftover money for the water filter. With my friend’s help, I purchased a water filter to give to the nearby nursing home. I got emotional when I visited the nursing home. Because they hugged me and said, ‘Thank you for caring for us. No one cares about us. We are abandoned by our families, kids, and society. Apart from worldly things, we also need your love, care & affection. We need someone to look after us and their emotional support.’ Their words made me so moved that tears started rolling down my eyes. It seemed like I had discovered real happiness and satisfaction that people in our society talk about.
I understood that I wanted to serve society and help others as much as I could. From here, my journey as a social worker began. From 2008 to 2013, we have done around 200-300 events supporting orphanages, nursing homes & other underprivileged homes. During the winter of 2012, We raised funds to buy blankets for homeless and poor people who sleep on the pavements in the nail-biting cold. During the campaign, we collected 60,000 rupees in just three days through a Facebook post. We purchased 300 blankets for homeless and mentally challenged people who stayed on the pavement at night.
Then due to an incident, my little initiative turned into an NGO, Sulakshya Seva Samithi, bringing all the activities under one umbrella. While distributing blankets to the kids with intellectual disabilities, media personnel approached us and asked, ‘What is your organization’s name?’ It confused all of us because we didn’t have any organization. We never did any publicity or promotion. We didn’t have any photos, press articles, or any other documents.
We cleared his misunderstanding, and in return, he said, ‘Why don’t you start your organization because you have been doing so many activities. A registered organization will allow you to do events at a large scale & reach out to more people in need.’ He suggested some other things, and we decided to work on them.
At first, we planned to invite the district collector to one of our events. I went to seek permission to meet the collector. During the interaction with a camp clerk, ‘You don’t have any records that you have done so many events. How can I believe you without any proof? What is the proof that you are not misleading me? Whatever you said might not be true. I cannot trust your words.’, he said. These two incidents propelled me to float our organization.
However, it wasn’t easy for me to take it to the next level as I belonged to a conservative family. I was in my 20’s and not at all financially settled. If I proposed the idea, I knew they’d say, ‘Why don’t you do it later when you are financially well settled? You must postpone it for a while.’
But when I shared the idea with them, what they said was completely different from my imagination. My family said, ‘If everything goes well, then it is good, but you will be in trouble if any rumor or any negative situation occurs. Social work is a very sensitive issue because it involves crowdfunding. So why don’t you hold this idea for a few more years and give it a deep thought? Please discuss it with your friends, then give it a try. Experience it on a small scale before taking things forward.’ I gave it a severe thought & conveyed it to my like-minded friends all of them agreed to do it.
We finally launched our organization on April 11th, 2013, marking Ugadi & invited Karthikeya Mishra, IAS as the chief guest. We were thrilled as he promised to provide free power for the orphanage we were associated with for three years. That’s how things took off for us.
We finally brought all these activities under an umbrella. Sulakshya Seva Samithi worked in different areas like education, health care, protecting the environment, empowering youth, providing basic needs, spreading love and affection, promoting good governance, protecting Indian heritage and culture, transforming rural India, and dignity of labor.
We are incredibly thankful to all those who have been voluntarily supporting our cause. We have set up a few parameters regarding fundraising; we only take funds from members who voluntarily come forward to support this humanitarian cause.
We also don’t accept funds outside our acquaintance and circles of camaraderie, those affiliated with any political outfit, and from any vested interests, don’t share our bank details on social media platforms. Sulakshya, right from its inception, doesn’t run fundraising campaigns nor collaborate with any other organization.
After this journey, I firmly believe that where there is a will, there’s a way. Things will fall in the right place if you keep trying for them.
We believe that the longevity and the sustainability of the organization are more important than short-term goals. One of the most surreal moments of my life was my meet up with Sir APJ Kalam. I was an admirer of his work, and I always wanted to meet him. So on January 18th, 2015, I wrote an email and sent it to his office to ask for a meeting. On May 12th, 2015, I received a reply that stated, ‘Your appointment with APJ Abdul Kalam has been scheduled on May 13th, 2015 at 10 pm at Rajbhawan.’ I was shocked for a moment. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
It was the most memorable moment of my life. Meeting Sir APJ Abdul Kalam and spending around 20 to 22 minutes with him was a priceless experience. He gave me many ideas and told me to do something that benefits rural India. He always wanted to transform Rural India. I’m also working in that direction.
During the first wave of covid, everyone was hesitant to go out and help others. My family members were also worried for me, but I wanted to do something for daily labor, migrant workers, frontline workers, and people in need. So I served as a corona warrior to help them in need of the hour by distributing dry ration kits, veggie kits, SafEnergy kits, migrant refreshment kits. I also arranged transportation facilities for many migrants who had to walk hundreds of miles to reach their native places.
By helping others, I realized that true happiness lies in helping those really in need. We wish to educate, empower & enlighten the lives of many in the years to come. We will focus more on youth empowerment as we firmly believe that youth is the cornerstone of this nation.
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