“I dream to become a district commissioner for which I need to first understand my society” says Basavaraj TM, a second year engineering student from AMC Engineering College, Bangalore, who was born in a village named Rampura, where he pursued his schooling.

As a child, Basavaraj was always curious to learn from all that he observed. His father, who owned a Xerox shop, always wanted him to become a district commissioner, which he believes is a dream that shall come true in Basavaraj’s life. As he grew up, Basavaraj would spend most of his time after returning from the school or during holidays, in his father’s shop.

He learned to Xerox the books, sometimes, repair the Xerox machines when required, but, whenever he had some time to spend, he would utilize it in reading the ‘general knowledge’ books at his shop. As he read these books, his dream to serve his people grew along with his knowledge about his country. These books not only helped him gain additional knowledge but also, instilled the habit of wanting to learn more.

He craved to learn more than what he could actually do. This quality in him, helped him study well at his academics too, where he excelled in studies and stood first in class. Other than his studies, Basavaraj also participated in quiz competitions and sports in his school where he won a few prizes. ‘Science’ caught his interest to develop models which he was allowed to exhibit during school exhibitions and interschool level competitions, which led him to win prizes at district levels too.

On completion of his 10th grade, he happened to get his admissions from Sri Bhuvanendra college located in outskirts of Karkala, India, where he would generally bunk his classes, read books, magazines and newspapers in the library,  where he also read a lot of inspirational books. His experience in meeting people from various other districts and learning outside his classes taught him the biggest lessons of life, “Life is all about learning, not just from the books but, from everything around us. Marks and grades are temporary, but knowledge is permanent”. As he completed his course in the college, it was a decision-making time where he had to decide on which course he had to take further-engineering, ayurveda, b.sc, etc,. The boy who always obeyed the words of his father agreed to take up engineering, as suggested by his father. Basavaraj’s interest in cars made him opt for mechanical engineering in AMC Engineering College.

Basavaraj had to travel down to the city, where he had to stay for his course of education. This was surely a hard situation since he had to live far away from the family, but his passion to achieve, made him reach the city and continue to pursue his studies. He continued to study like any other student in the college, waiting for a change that could help him achieve his dreams. “In my second semester of engineering, I came to know from my senior, about the terrific platform called i3! I enrolled to be a part of this truly inspiring platform which is a must for youth” he says. He started connecting to every other delegate, who was a part of i3, from various colleges. Along with connecting to the delegates, Basavaraj started learning from achievers who are termed as ‘Counsellors’  at i3. The exposure which was most required, for this young boy who had dreams, but no direction, was given by the platform, where, he was not only exposed to a larger section of the society, but, was also given a chance to explore the potential within himself. He executed various projects including ‘Taste from Waste’, ‘36 Meals’-Meal donation Campaign, ‘e4u - environment for you’ - recycling of e-wastes and using the profit earned to help the needy, Women empowerment campaigns and more. He became responsible to impact more than 4000 people during his course at i3, which became the reason to also help him learn various skills.

“These projects helped me to speak effective English and improve my communication skills. Moreover, it increased my will power. i3 made me realise that, even I can achieve something BIG in my life. I was rightly influenced and from that day of my journey with i3, every single day, I read about an inspiring personality. Now I am sure of achieving big in my life and I promise that I will give back something for my society!” says he. A boy from no-where is today a ray of hope for a lot of students from rural areas who wish to bring about a change, in their society.  The whole of his college is now proud to have him as their college’s student. The recognition and the exposure he wanted to gain has now already been achieved. He is now working hard to achieve his father’s dream to help the society as a district commissioner and be the reason to change more lives. The right influence of his senior, played a huge role in changing Basavaraj’s life today. Such influential people who could instill positivity in us, are present around us, but, it is important to know who it is and connect to them to get the right guidance.