Sathya Kumar with the Dalai Lama
Sathya Kumar with the Dalai Lama

This 27-year-old Accountant from Chennai is connecting underprivileged kids with college students to get mentorship

Sathya Kumar, a chartered accountant talks about his campaign Educate the Heart that focusses on getting college students to help underprivileged kids by being their mentors

From a family of farmers in a small town near Maduranthakam, he struggled to get admission in an English-medium school in Chennai. His father realised it wasn't financially feasible to raise a child in the city so he moved them to a suburb near Tambaram. “My parents literally put up a fight to get me admitted in a school, maybe that’s why I am drawn to the education sector,” says 27-year-old Sathya Kumar who is now a Chartered Accountant, a Company Secretary and a Cost Accountant.

And he didn’t stop with just his academic pursuits. Completely out of self-interest he runs a campaign called Educate the Heart which is a philanthropic movement to connect young students help underprivileged kids pick up skills that will help them in the long run. “I was somehow lucky enough to get exceptional mentors along the way who helped me find my path. How many of us have it the same way? So it started as a small venture to give back and help kids from a similar background as me,” explains Sathya. He adds, ”I realised I need to do more when I met the Dalai Lama. He’s one of the main reasons why I do what I do. It’s absolutely amazing to see how the Tibetan community works to inspire their younger generation.” 

Sitting tall: CA Sathya Kumar is a man with a plan

He says our Government schools lack skill based education, meaning they focus only on their syllabus and nothing more that will improve their quality of life. “We have a number of socially responsible college students who are looking for volunteering opportunities. And we have hundreds of underprivileged kids who are in dire need of some help. I just connected these two. These college students can train the children on skills like yoga, art, sports, carpentry after their working hours.You never know how many entrepreneurs might emerge out of this,” smiles Sathya with the hope of creating a generation that just doesn’t run only after money. 

It’s only because of my family’s support I can do this. I owe everything to them. Otherwise a married man working in a big four auditing firm will find it almost impossible to do this

Sathya Kumar, Social activist and accountant

To get students on board, he’s been giving talks across Tamil Nadu and other states in the country since 2013. Being a motivational speaker and a professor for CA students, he makes it a point to teach them how important it is to be compassionate to others. “I see it this way, if we want our nation to be a superpower we need the future generation to be driven with a lot more than just goals of buying a car or a house. We can’t keep complaining that youngsters today aren’t responsible in any sense when we are not doing anything to alter their behaviour, all it takes is a kind word for a guy to get his life back on track,” says Sathya. Did we mention that he does all this whilst holding down a hectic full-time corporate job?

He does all of this by himself during the weekends at his own expense. Guess it’s true what people say - where there’s a will there’s a way.

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