Sajan Shah
Some people regard childhood as the best part of their lives but it wasn’t the same for me, I used to be a mischievous kid and I didn’t really fit anywhere in the box. I used to lack vision and goals. I attended some of the motivational speeches seminars and it actually sparked my curiosity. The seminar made me realize that there is a life beyond family and friends and that includes being a better version of yourself and doing better for yourself. That life included purpose and belief.
My kinsfolk suggested my parents to send me abroad for studying by thinking that maybe it could help me find something I am good at. So my dad was indebted to several loans and finally sent me to Canada, but within the month of reaching there, I knew that this wasn’t really my cup of tea. I called my dad at the time of the realization and told him that I aspire to become a motivational speaker and did not wish to stay here. Convincing him and my mother was a bit of a hurdle but detecting sincerity in my intentions they agreed, thereafter I returned back to India. And now-now I didn’t know where that put me. Knee-deep in trouble seemed like a good place to start. I pursued motivational speaking and other youth activities.
Wiping the slate clean, I started approaching different schools and corporate organizations for gigs and motivational speeches events, seven out of ten times I was dismissed. Moving around the city on just my tandem bike and facing disapproval was tough, but there was this austerity and motivation inside me that didn’t allow me to stop. Brick after brick Rome was definitely building. And now after twelve years I and my team have covered almost two hundred and thirty cities, twenty-three states and four countries, including India. We have our youtube channel with a viewing number of five million people!
I wrote my first book when I was 19, titled You v/s You, It was launched by the Dalai Lama. My first testimonies were from Roger Federer and Mrs Michael Schumaker. My second book was released when I was of the age of twenty-two known as parenting and student-ing. It was launched by the Education Minister Of India at that time. Thereafter the milestones were crossed in my journey and soon I debuted my ted talk at Narsinh Monjee.
My first gig was in a social institution in Ahmedabad and that’s how I faced my audience for the first time. And that’s how I achieved the confidence and it has been a journey ever since. My weaknesses are my biggest inspirations because even if I win or lose, learning is something that remains constant.
After achieving a few things I realized that I wanted to do something for my country and it was at the age of twenty-four I started working towards sustainable development in the country. It was in 2016 that global citizens visited India because it was for the first time India raised funds with the number of forty two thousand crores for sustainable development under the United Nations. So my team and I started toiling away to achieve sustainable goals and United First was formed. Our aim was to make it the biggest social consortium of the world with almost 17 sustainable goals getting a headstart. We amalgamated almost seven hundred creative social drives onto one platform and also collaborated with a number of creatives and start-ups on one platform.
All big changes of tomorrow start with one small change from today. We started executing small projects for change and soon we received encouragement as well as more participation from all around the country. During the beginning of the pandemic, we also started expanding our horizons and formed our very first community kitchen with a capacity to feed around a thousand people with a budget of eight rupees per person. And in the next fifteen to twenty days we instituted nine community kitchens in Ahmedabad each kitchen feeding around two thousand people daily. The same strategies were also applied in Maharashtra, Rajasthan and lastly Karnataka.
In the end, I would like to say that the biggest battle you’ll ever fight is against yourself and you must come out stronger than you were yesterday. It’s “You v/s You” in the end.