A FUTURE FILLED WITH HOPE

BINDU GOPAL RAO SPEAKS WITH CAMP DIARIES FOUNDER MILIND CHANDWANI ABOUT MAKING A DIFFERENCE IN THE LIVES OF CHILDREN FROM LOWER-INCOME COMMUNITIES

- BINDU GOPAL RAO

Would you give up a seat at one of the coveted IIM’s to take up an assignment with ‘Teach For India’? Well, probably not. Milind Chandwani, however, did exactly this and ended up finding his calling in life. Born in Bhopal, where he pursued his schooling, Milind shares that he was a below-average, overweight student who was bullied and had no real interest in either academics or sports until the 11th grade. “It was only in 12th grade that I felt I should make an honest attempt to work out as well as study hard. Something had to change. I lost 30 kgs and got my marks up from 60% to 90%. Within a year, I also started volunteering at an orphanage that my family used to run.”

Milind went on to get a Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science Engineering in Bangalore while simultaneously learning how to dance and play the guitar. In 2013, he began working at Infosys, still unsure about what it was that he wanted to do. “While I was there, I tried a lot of new things including volunteering at another orphanage called ‘Make a Difference.’ My experience here is what got me really interested in the idea of helping educate children from lower-income communities,” he shares.