Personal Statement
There are no articles written about Kalpana and no awards on her wall. Few people know her and fewer still appreciate her. But her work is of heroic proportions: while caring for an extended family by herself, she works tirelessly for the 1200 children from the streets and slums of Bangalore of the Parikrma schools. Her dedication and selflessness inspire me each day to be a better person than I was on the last.
But getting to know Kalpana also taught me something else: that while she works harder than anyone I know, and her efforts, while having true impact on the 1200 students in Parikrma, are a mere drop in the greater education problem in Bangalore, South Asia, or the rest of the world. Even the most dedicated and valiant efforts of an individual can cure the the biggest problems that still exist in today's world. For this reason I seek to take social work, altruism and selflessness not to a dedicated few but to our business culture at large: if each of us could show just a trace of Kalpana's compassion, give a fraction of the time she has, or be half the selfless person she is, then I believe our progress would be farther.