Inspiring, touching lives

shruti Parija
Express News Service
First Published : 11 Apr 2011 09:31:00 AM IST
Last Updated : 10 Apr 2011 06:20:20 PM IST

Not many 20-year-olds know what exactly they want in life. Even fewer of them delve into
philosophy and have a spiritual bent of mind. Sananda Satpathy is one such person — her clarity
is at times, uncanny and her zest for life, infectious.

A second-year student in BA economics at Fergusson College, Pune, she was born and brought
up in Bhubaneswar. “My goal in life is rather an assortment of several goals, footed on the idea
of spiritual happiness. But professionally, my goal is to become a successful social entrepreneur
and enable rural India to create healthy, sustainable and ethical livelihoods for themselves and be
self-sufficient,” says the dreamer.
Currently, she is associated with the National Social Entrepreneurship Forum (NSEF) and is
specifically introducing the NSEF Authors of Change programme in different colleges in Pune.
The intent of the programme is to provide a platform for social entrepreneurs in a city which
houses a huge chunk of the nation’s youngsters.
She was attracted to the world of development very early in life — in Class 7, when she
volunteered for Cerebrum, which worked for the cause of child rights and environment. “When
in Class 12, I visited a volunteers’ fair in Bhubaneswar and came across Bakul Foundation. I
went there a month later and fell in love at the first visit. Since then, I have been involved with
various activities at Bakul like the art festival to promote local artists, environmental film
festivals, storytelling  and the summer camps for special children at Open Learning Systems.”
She credits every instance in life as an inspiration to work towards her goal.
— s.parija@gmail.com