The cake was begging to be cut at a shelter home, but the birthday girl was not ready to oblige. Yet. You see, she was waiting for Vyshali Sagar. The little girl and the 26-year-old had met at Dream Camp, an initiative where shelter home kids are taken to a resort in the outskirts for some downtime and fun lessons, and they formed a bond that was sweet and strong. Vyshali was pursuing her Bachelor's in Business Management from St Francis College For Women back then and when she received a call regarding the cake situation, she rushed to the shelter. About 150 people with the birthday girl were waiting, waiting for her. "I had literally made them wait for four to five hours, I will never forget that day," she exclaims.
This is just one instance of the impact Vyshali is leaving behind in the wake of all the social work she is involved in. There are many more such endearing moments, a testament to her work. The youngster received another testament recently in the form of a recognition that came from the World Book of Records, United Kingdom. They counted her as one of the 111 Power Women on International Women's Day 2021 and we couldn't think of any lady more deserving of this honour.
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To sum it up, Vyshali's vast body of work is massive. At the city-level, she works with Make A Difference (their mission is to educate underprivileged children), she's had brilliant national-level exposure with Jagriti Yatra (a train journey to learn about entrepreneurship) and on the international-level, she's undertaken a voyage to Antarctica and has represented Telangana at World Economic Forum, Davos. Apart from being a part of Global Shapers Hyderabad, she is also part of the Telangana Social Impact Group and as a result, "My phone is filled with 4,000 pictures of just pulses and other basic ingredients because during the lockdown, we were figuring out ways to get rations to the 60 odd old age homes we were working with," points out the youngster who works for Amazon as a Programme Manager. She does ad-hoc fundraising and in an instance, "A co-founder of a start-up entrusted me with one lakh rupees and wanted me to direct it to causes that need it the most. When people put their trust in you like that, it's a big responsibility," she says.
"People say youngsters are lazy but I have been seeing so much active participation from youngsters," says Vyshali. She tells us how, as part of The Deverakonda Foundation, she is in a WhatsApp group with 150 youngsters, 120 of whom she hasn't even met. "Recently, a college student called to say that he wants to give three hours of his time to social work," she says. Well, one thing's for sure, with youngsters like Vyshali around, the future seems to be in safe hands.
What can you do for the world?
- Dedicate a few hours and not just your money to causes
- Visit the needy and understand their needs
- There are more ways than one to help out
- Learn to identify the cause you are passionate about
For more on her, check out facebook.com/vyshalisagar
