now I’m pretty skinny marcin I’m a
quadriplegic right so if you are going
to take a few seconds to applaud to just
encourage me to start that will be
really great that increases the blood
circulation in your body and keeps you
going for the next few minutes so that
you don’t fall back to sleep so that’s
another thing I cannot do but here’s a
challenge I have for you what if I ask
you to take your tongue and touch your
nose with it I can do it how many of you
can please try it out and lift your hand
if you can one two three okay about less
than ten people in in a group of around
more than 100 does that mean the rest of
you are disabled handicapped let’s say I
mean the tongue is the strongest muscle
in the body and if I have the strongest
tongue here
I made the strongest person here I made
the body will turn the crowd yes so what
is disability then we have to think
about it right if we clap if we wear
glasses are we disabled it’s just a
matter of degree right I just need a few
little extra things and that’s about it
so what happens though when we think
about the world we live in the society
we live in we always think that society
is somewhere else and I’m somewhere else
right all of us is there anyone who has
not felt excluded at any point is there
anyone here who has not felt left out
was not felt that injustice has happened
to them
anyone who has faced injustice who has
faced corruption who’s faced left who’s
felt like they’ve been left out in the
group yes who has felt left less than on
some level even in our family even with
our friends you can’t do this you’re
left out if you’re better than everyone
else you’re left out right but we all
say we want to change society but then
who’s going to do that right who is
going to be that change we never think
about that let me start with a story we
had a beautiful golden Labrador
Retriever his name is Toby ok and he’s
such a sweetheart he was only nine
months old when my father passed away
and after that there was nobody to take
him out and every chance we would get he
would run out of the gate and somebody
would have to go running behind him to
get him back home right but then I
thought about it why is he running away
because there’s nobody out nobody there
to take him for his exercise that my
father used to give it he was mine now
so it’s my responsibility so we would
tie his his leash around my armrest and
I would take him for about 45 minutes
every day for a two three kilometer run
around Tiruvannamalai where I live and
you know what everybody was very excited
to see us running around you know what
they said wow this is such an amazing
dog he’s taking you running every day
well in truth if he was taking me
running I would be in some ditch in the
corner the smelliest part of the that
street because that’s where he would go
right but that’s the thing if you’re in
a wheelchair people automatically assume
you can’t do anything why should it be
that way
right so I’m here to say that I’m the
power of one I’m the face and voice of
this invisible segment of society and
I’m here to just show you not as an
egotistical list of accomplishments or
something like that but a really humble
objective experience of what has
happened through my life to say that
given the opportunities what we can do I
think we would all agree today that we
live in very very isolated kind of world
is it not we live like little islands
rather than as one community the basis
of this whether it is on a micro level
on an individual level or on a national
level is that very early on very
primitive ly when you are one or two or
three we are given this conditioning
that somehow I am different from you and
my needs are more important than yours
today he’ll be told that what did what
did your friend get and if he got ninety
they’ll say what did you do why did you
eat up the ten marks that I should have
more than the other we know this we have
seen this in a national level as well
every country wants to say that I stole
my petrol and my fuel and use up
everyone else’s right and that is our
conditioning I will keep on accumulating
so that I have more than
you and how can you do that how do I
know that I have more than you I’ll have
to compare one slide back please I’ll
have to compare I have to know what you
have so that I can have more than you so
automatically what that comparison
causes is competition I have to compete
with you I have to have more than you
right I have to somehow even destroy
what you have or take away what you have
which we have seen in history throughout
history to have more than you and when
that competition causes conflict you
have war right we have to compete we
have to have more than the other we have
to be better than the other we have to
somehow be the only one with the most of
things and how to do that
if conflict if I have to control
everything then there won’t be conflict
right if I can control the neighboring
countries then they won’t go to war with
me so how can I do that I can do that
financially I can do that through you
know by giving them weapons I can do a
lot of things but um it’s thus between
people check out your fellow students
check out your you know friends
so-called friends what do they do I
always as a kid you know we used to play
cricket on the streets and there would
be one kid who owns the bat and the ball
right and he would always want to bad
and if we say he’ll get out for the
third time and we’ll say enough now you
don’t get too bad he’ll say it’s my bat
I’m taking at home
right we have all faced their control
control is the name of the game control
the numbers control control control but
what if we don’t do that what if like
Bhutan we decide to give back what if we
decide to understand that we are all one
that the power of one is actually in our
oneness because if we are trying to beat
down the other then we cannot grow we
can only grow with others and that’s
what I think is truly the power of one
so let me go back because this
conditioning I have also received I was
by the age of eight I became the first
and youngest girl to play for the Tamil
Nadu senior women’s cricket team I was a
national level swimmer this is just the
story I was a national level swimmer I
was in the top 2% Isle in the academics
I was all that I thought I was a star I
thought I deserved everything I got and
then I went for a college excursion and
I fell into about two and a half feet of
water as soon as my face went underwater
I felt like a shock-like sensations
travel through my body and then I
couldn’t move I mean think about it I’ve
been swimming since the age of three I
know how to fall into water but I never
woke up I never got up again my friends
pulled me out I’d suffered a c4 c5 level
cervical level spinal cord injury I
became paralyzed below the neck from
being the hero the star it became zero
the invisible one nobody wanted
they have anything to do with me and I
didn’t understand what the society was
all about because I was the same and
these people who saw me like something
to be admired saw me like something I
was supposed to be pitied I was the same
warrior the same achiever inside but
they didn’t want to have anything to do
with me so when people saw me I would
get panic attacks I would not be able to
breathe I stayed inside the house for
about two years because I didn’t want to
have anything to do with this society it
was my parents love my parents
unconditional love who said we value you
you are the same precious child you were
they gave me that love to transform
myself to come out my father would say
why are you so worried about this body
this body is nothing everybody’s body is
going to go everybody’s body mind is
limited so go within find that with
within you that is not limited that
cannot be touched by changing
circumstances find yourself something
that is eternal that is true that is
beyond birth beyond death so I did and
guess what the girl who used to get
panic attacks when one or two people
came became a public speaker
that was just the beginning I tried to
join college I tried to join psychology
because I was interested in the way the
mind works right I was told that there
are 15 days of practical classes no
lifts no ramps don’t join so this girl
who was supposed to be in the top two
percentile of the american student
population who could have gone to Yale
or Princeton or Howard anyone was told
that she cannot get admitted into a
Correspondence a long-distance study
program in India this is the truth of
our society so I fought it and today
there is a working ramp in the ID
building of Madras University and when I
went for the practical classes all those
students who went who studied with me
walked up the ramp just as easily as
anyone else people who can walk can walk
up ramps so why do we need staircases
again I’d like to know just because I’m
unable to walk it might be something any
any of you might have to face at some
point in the future does it mean I
cannot go to a movie theater
I cannot does it mean I cannot go into a
restaurant my friends have to carry me
like this Joker in a circus
I cannot go anywhere
I think we deserve better I think we
need to create an inclusive society
that’s wheelchair accessible
that is truly inclusive in terms of
providing good education that that can
provide employment entrepreneurship
reintegration into society after any
serious condition this was just a dream
how can we make it happen I’m just one
person right I’m nobody I have no
education I did end up studying MSC
psychology which was a pretty good
achievement for me given what I had to
go through but the real achievement is
that the next time anybody in a
wheelchair has to do that they can it
was a precedent
so then what after these panic attacks
after what my father told me after two
near-death experiences
I started mouth painting something
within me started healing these are a
few of the examples of my mouth painting
I love I live in this beautiful
spiritual temple town called
Tiruvannamalai and there are a lot of
Westerners there so I started teaching
spoken English and spoken thummell to
them I started teaching them numbers in
thermal whatever I could I was giving
back I was coming back into society and
I started getting invitations to come to
schools to colleges to corporate houses
I’ve spoken to the top management of
some of the biggest companies and I
asked them what is it that you’re living
for you’re working 12 to 16 hours a day
and I can’t buy a smile from you I smile
it’s free so I have the one thing of all
the achievements that I’m proud of is
that whenever I walk into the room I’m
able to say I’m the happiest person here
I’m happy I’m happy here and now I don’t
need anything for that to happen I don’t
need to earn so much I don’t need to
have certain husband I don’t need my
children to get into certain school I
don’t need anything I’m happy here and
now I’ve lost everything there has to
lose so called
whatever society says you can lose the
so what if you lose that everything I’ve
lost and I know that there’s nothing to
lose at all I only lost my illusions
and I can be totally free in coming in
living in a wheelchair I learned to be
fully alive in the here and now to be
fully free in dying I’ve conquered death
apparently the worst two fears that
people have a public speaking and death
I can say I’ve been there done that to
boat so what do I have to be afraid of
so I can live this life truly
authentically truly in service of a
greater purpose and when I started to do
that Lord of things came my way but
before I knew I was ready to do all this
my father was the rock of my existence
suddenly passed away overnight
he was only 57 years old apparently in
good health and he passed away four days
later my mother had a heart attack there
was nobody to take care of me we had no
income we had nothing I started using a
speech activated software and now I’m
employed I work full time as a writer
for a movie based website and I can
challenge any of you that I can type
faster than you
so I get after spending a dozen years of
my life in complete isolation imagine
this I was 18 when I was when I had my
accident then at about 28 I suddenly had
to become the decision-maker of the
house I suddenly had to become the
breadwinner and I was still a
quadriplegic we didn’t know what was in
the bank we didn’t know who would sit me
up in the wheelchair we didn’t know
anything
even now my mother finds it difficult to
sign a cheque properly so I had to do
that and when she needed bypass the
thing that came up was my my father’s
friends came up to me and said what if
there comes a time when your family
can’t care for you when your mother
can’t care for you for once I had no
answer I can’t imagine my existence
without my mother but when in doubt what
do we do these days
we google it right so I googled it and I
found that in this country that’s a
billion strong 1 billion strong 43% of
that is the woman’s quote we have one
fifth of the world’s population there is
not one long-term rehabilitation center
for a girl in my condition I can call
myself a girl right not one long-term
rehabilitation center forget long-term
not even short-term there are about
three in the whole country for persons
with spinal cord injury one four in Pune
that’s a permanent one you can go and
live there but that’s only for people
from the services if you were injured
while you were serving the nation in the
Air Force or army then you can go there
there’s another one in Tamil Nadu that
does not accept women and another small
one that I know of a couple of ones one
in Chandigarh and one
but though they have only 15 beds each
but guess what
spinal cord injury the statistics are
that one happens every 38 minutes 38
minutes it’s not a rare condition it can
happen to anyone at any time and there’s
no cure for it it causes permanent
paralysis below the level of injury and
there is not even one long-term rehab
center so when it when I was told this
my mother said you be the change you be
the power of one you changed the world
and I said ma are you mad I don’t know
anything about running an organization
moment there are some numbers I go to
sleep my brain shuts down and I don’t
know anything about the law so how am I
going to do this
I can’t run an organization but then
when I went back to theorum anomaly
within a two-month span of time two
girls I personally knew paraplegic girls
were forced to commit suicide by their
own families they were told you’re a
shame on us
you’re a burden because you are there
nobody is willing to marry your brother
we are being ostracized in the society
so you die poison was next given left
next to them they drank it and died we
part of the problem not part of the
solution I decided at that moment that
it’s not life is not about all the
things you cannot do there are a lot of
things I cannot do it’s not about all
the things you cannot do it’s about what
you choose to do with what you can do
right many of you are more educated
you’re walking you’re fit you’re you can
do so much more than I can
but I felt I had no other choice but to
start soul free soul free is a public
charitable trust that is spreading
awareness about spinal cord injury in
India that is trying its best to
rehabilitate persons with spinal cord
injury back into society we are trying
to give them wheelchairs we’re trying to
mobilize them we’re trying to give them
that faith that they are not a shame and
a burden they have value just like
everyone else we are trying to ensure
that they get an education we are trying
to ensure that we we India becomes more
and more inclusive more and more
sensitized we are setting up Independent
Living programs so that if they can earn
an income they should because the bottom
line is the bottom line right if you
have money in your pocket nobody treats
you like I’m trying to be the
change I am trying to be the power of
one because I believe that we are all
one unless we come together we cannot
change society we are society so what
can you do for me the next time you
choose to wear a helmet you are the
power of one the next time your friends
go out drinking and you decide to be the
designated driver you are the power of
one the next time you meet a person in a
wheelchair and you decide to sit next to
them make eye contact and talk to them
you are the purple power of one you
befriend us give us jobs give us
education I promise you we will not fail
you because we don’t take anything for
granted
people value we will work twice as hard
as everyone else because we want to
prove ourselves
the only real disability is a closed
mind we are not that we are willing to
fight if you will just let us if we can
have the infrastructure
and all of you can help us in being the
change just by changing the way you
think just by deciding from tomorrow I’m
not going to compete if I’m going to
compete I’m going to compete only with
myself in every other sense I’m going to
cooperate cooperate with this world
cooperate with the guy next to me I just
want to conclude with one beautiful
story that’s really touched my heart
one of the world’s leading
anthropologists went to this little
village in the middle of nowhere in
Africa where they don’t have food to eat
where there is no education and he
decided that he would give them a
competition so what did he do he decided
that he would give them a bag full of
fresh fruit a basket full of fresh fruit
he got together some children from the
age of 8 to 16 and he said you have to
run from this end to that end from this
tree to that tree so in India had he run
this competition the children would have
pushed each other down to get their
first right but these kids without any
form of education they held hands and
they just walk together to the end line
all together all the power of one and
the power of oneness he got very angry
with them he said don’t you understand
what the power of water race is don’t
you understand what competition is you
were all one of you was going to get
this entire basket of fruit and they
said if one of us got this entire basket
of fruit
and ate it we would only get diarrhea so
what’s the point if everyone around me
is sad how can I be happy it’s a basic
concept that we are taught in our
village and it’s called Ubuntu everyone
near me needs to be happy everyone near
me needs to grow everyone near me needs
upliftment if our society is going to be
uplifted so can we all think about what
we can do to be the power of one if we
see an accident can be stopped and help
and not just think about all why the
hell should I dirty my shirt how did we
get like this my motto in life is to
just spread love light and laughter in
this world so simple can we do that can
we hug one person every day at the end
of this talk I love I’ll offer all of
you free hugs so much energy so
beautiful such a simple happy life we
can lead why are we complicating it so
much if we can all be the power of one
I’m sure India will become the number
one country in the world very soon
because we have so much power
automatically and then we can join
beautiful Bhutan the way it was in
becoming carbon neutral we can think
about our environment we can think about
our education we can think about so many
things but we need to be united for that
we need to be the power of one will you
join me thank you
[Applause]
quadriplegic right so if you are going
to take a few seconds to applaud to just
encourage me to start that will be
really great that increases the blood
circulation in your body and keeps you
going for the next few minutes so that
you don’t fall back to sleep so that’s
another thing I cannot do but here’s a
challenge I have for you what if I ask
you to take your tongue and touch your
nose with it I can do it how many of you
can please try it out and lift your hand
if you can one two three okay about less
than ten people in in a group of around
more than 100 does that mean the rest of
you are disabled handicapped let’s say I
mean the tongue is the strongest muscle
in the body and if I have the strongest
tongue here
I made the strongest person here I made
the body will turn the crowd yes so what
is disability then we have to think
about it right if we clap if we wear
glasses are we disabled it’s just a
matter of degree right I just need a few
little extra things and that’s about it
so what happens though when we think
about the world we live in the society
we live in we always think that society
is somewhere else and I’m somewhere else
right all of us is there anyone who has
not felt excluded at any point is there
anyone here who has not felt left out
was not felt that injustice has happened
to them
anyone who has faced injustice who has
faced corruption who’s faced left who’s
felt like they’ve been left out in the
group yes who has felt left less than on
some level even in our family even with
our friends you can’t do this you’re
left out if you’re better than everyone
else you’re left out right but we all
say we want to change society but then
who’s going to do that right who is
going to be that change we never think
about that let me start with a story we
had a beautiful golden Labrador
Retriever his name is Toby ok and he’s
such a sweetheart he was only nine
months old when my father passed away
and after that there was nobody to take
him out and every chance we would get he
would run out of the gate and somebody
would have to go running behind him to
get him back home right but then I
thought about it why is he running away
because there’s nobody out nobody there
to take him for his exercise that my
father used to give it he was mine now
so it’s my responsibility so we would
tie his his leash around my armrest and
I would take him for about 45 minutes
every day for a two three kilometer run
around Tiruvannamalai where I live and
you know what everybody was very excited
to see us running around you know what
they said wow this is such an amazing
dog he’s taking you running every day
well in truth if he was taking me
running I would be in some ditch in the
corner the smelliest part of the that
street because that’s where he would go
right but that’s the thing if you’re in
a wheelchair people automatically assume
you can’t do anything why should it be
that way
right so I’m here to say that I’m the
power of one I’m the face and voice of
this invisible segment of society and
I’m here to just show you not as an
egotistical list of accomplishments or
something like that but a really humble
objective experience of what has
happened through my life to say that
given the opportunities what we can do I
think we would all agree today that we
live in very very isolated kind of world
is it not we live like little islands
rather than as one community the basis
of this whether it is on a micro level
on an individual level or on a national
level is that very early on very
primitive ly when you are one or two or
three we are given this conditioning
that somehow I am different from you and
my needs are more important than yours
today he’ll be told that what did what
did your friend get and if he got ninety
they’ll say what did you do why did you
eat up the ten marks that I should have
more than the other we know this we have
seen this in a national level as well
every country wants to say that I stole
my petrol and my fuel and use up
everyone else’s right and that is our
conditioning I will keep on accumulating
so that I have more than
you and how can you do that how do I
know that I have more than you I’ll have
to compare one slide back please I’ll
have to compare I have to know what you
have so that I can have more than you so
automatically what that comparison
causes is competition I have to compete
with you I have to have more than you
right I have to somehow even destroy
what you have or take away what you have
which we have seen in history throughout
history to have more than you and when
that competition causes conflict you
have war right we have to compete we
have to have more than the other we have
to be better than the other we have to
somehow be the only one with the most of
things and how to do that
if conflict if I have to control
everything then there won’t be conflict
right if I can control the neighboring
countries then they won’t go to war with
me so how can I do that I can do that
financially I can do that through you
know by giving them weapons I can do a
lot of things but um it’s thus between
people check out your fellow students
check out your you know friends
so-called friends what do they do I
always as a kid you know we used to play
cricket on the streets and there would
be one kid who owns the bat and the ball
right and he would always want to bad
and if we say he’ll get out for the
third time and we’ll say enough now you
don’t get too bad he’ll say it’s my bat
I’m taking at home
right we have all faced their control
control is the name of the game control
the numbers control control control but
what if we don’t do that what if like
Bhutan we decide to give back what if we
decide to understand that we are all one
that the power of one is actually in our
oneness because if we are trying to beat
down the other then we cannot grow we
can only grow with others and that’s
what I think is truly the power of one
so let me go back because this
conditioning I have also received I was
by the age of eight I became the first
and youngest girl to play for the Tamil
Nadu senior women’s cricket team I was a
national level swimmer this is just the
story I was a national level swimmer I
was in the top 2% Isle in the academics
I was all that I thought I was a star I
thought I deserved everything I got and
then I went for a college excursion and
I fell into about two and a half feet of
water as soon as my face went underwater
I felt like a shock-like sensations
travel through my body and then I
couldn’t move I mean think about it I’ve
been swimming since the age of three I
know how to fall into water but I never
woke up I never got up again my friends
pulled me out I’d suffered a c4 c5 level
cervical level spinal cord injury I
became paralyzed below the neck from
being the hero the star it became zero
the invisible one nobody wanted
they have anything to do with me and I
didn’t understand what the society was
all about because I was the same and
these people who saw me like something
to be admired saw me like something I
was supposed to be pitied I was the same
warrior the same achiever inside but
they didn’t want to have anything to do
with me so when people saw me I would
get panic attacks I would not be able to
breathe I stayed inside the house for
about two years because I didn’t want to
have anything to do with this society it
was my parents love my parents
unconditional love who said we value you
you are the same precious child you were
they gave me that love to transform
myself to come out my father would say
why are you so worried about this body
this body is nothing everybody’s body is
going to go everybody’s body mind is
limited so go within find that with
within you that is not limited that
cannot be touched by changing
circumstances find yourself something
that is eternal that is true that is
beyond birth beyond death so I did and
guess what the girl who used to get
panic attacks when one or two people
came became a public speaker
that was just the beginning I tried to
join college I tried to join psychology
because I was interested in the way the
mind works right I was told that there
are 15 days of practical classes no
lifts no ramps don’t join so this girl
who was supposed to be in the top two
percentile of the american student
population who could have gone to Yale
or Princeton or Howard anyone was told
that she cannot get admitted into a
Correspondence a long-distance study
program in India this is the truth of
our society so I fought it and today
there is a working ramp in the ID
building of Madras University and when I
went for the practical classes all those
students who went who studied with me
walked up the ramp just as easily as
anyone else people who can walk can walk
up ramps so why do we need staircases
again I’d like to know just because I’m
unable to walk it might be something any
any of you might have to face at some
point in the future does it mean I
cannot go to a movie theater
I cannot does it mean I cannot go into a
restaurant my friends have to carry me
like this Joker in a circus
I cannot go anywhere
I think we deserve better I think we
need to create an inclusive society
that’s wheelchair accessible
that is truly inclusive in terms of
providing good education that that can
provide employment entrepreneurship
reintegration into society after any
serious condition this was just a dream
how can we make it happen I’m just one
person right I’m nobody I have no
education I did end up studying MSC
psychology which was a pretty good
achievement for me given what I had to
go through but the real achievement is
that the next time anybody in a
wheelchair has to do that they can it
was a precedent
so then what after these panic attacks
after what my father told me after two
near-death experiences
I started mouth painting something
within me started healing these are a
few of the examples of my mouth painting
I love I live in this beautiful
spiritual temple town called
Tiruvannamalai and there are a lot of
Westerners there so I started teaching
spoken English and spoken thummell to
them I started teaching them numbers in
thermal whatever I could I was giving
back I was coming back into society and
I started getting invitations to come to
schools to colleges to corporate houses
I’ve spoken to the top management of
some of the biggest companies and I
asked them what is it that you’re living
for you’re working 12 to 16 hours a day
and I can’t buy a smile from you I smile
it’s free so I have the one thing of all
the achievements that I’m proud of is
that whenever I walk into the room I’m
able to say I’m the happiest person here
I’m happy I’m happy here and now I don’t
need anything for that to happen I don’t
need to earn so much I don’t need to
have certain husband I don’t need my
children to get into certain school I
don’t need anything I’m happy here and
now I’ve lost everything there has to
lose so called
whatever society says you can lose the
so what if you lose that everything I’ve
lost and I know that there’s nothing to
lose at all I only lost my illusions
and I can be totally free in coming in
living in a wheelchair I learned to be
fully alive in the here and now to be
fully free in dying I’ve conquered death
apparently the worst two fears that
people have a public speaking and death
I can say I’ve been there done that to
boat so what do I have to be afraid of
so I can live this life truly
authentically truly in service of a
greater purpose and when I started to do
that Lord of things came my way but
before I knew I was ready to do all this
my father was the rock of my existence
suddenly passed away overnight
he was only 57 years old apparently in
good health and he passed away four days
later my mother had a heart attack there
was nobody to take care of me we had no
income we had nothing I started using a
speech activated software and now I’m
employed I work full time as a writer
for a movie based website and I can
challenge any of you that I can type
faster than you
so I get after spending a dozen years of
my life in complete isolation imagine
this I was 18 when I was when I had my
accident then at about 28 I suddenly had
to become the decision-maker of the
house I suddenly had to become the
breadwinner and I was still a
quadriplegic we didn’t know what was in
the bank we didn’t know who would sit me
up in the wheelchair we didn’t know
anything
even now my mother finds it difficult to
sign a cheque properly so I had to do
that and when she needed bypass the
thing that came up was my my father’s
friends came up to me and said what if
there comes a time when your family
can’t care for you when your mother
can’t care for you for once I had no
answer I can’t imagine my existence
without my mother but when in doubt what
do we do these days
we google it right so I googled it and I
found that in this country that’s a
billion strong 1 billion strong 43% of
that is the woman’s quote we have one
fifth of the world’s population there is
not one long-term rehabilitation center
for a girl in my condition I can call
myself a girl right not one long-term
rehabilitation center forget long-term
not even short-term there are about
three in the whole country for persons
with spinal cord injury one four in Pune
that’s a permanent one you can go and
live there but that’s only for people
from the services if you were injured
while you were serving the nation in the
Air Force or army then you can go there
there’s another one in Tamil Nadu that
does not accept women and another small
one that I know of a couple of ones one
in Chandigarh and one
but though they have only 15 beds each
but guess what
spinal cord injury the statistics are
that one happens every 38 minutes 38
minutes it’s not a rare condition it can
happen to anyone at any time and there’s
no cure for it it causes permanent
paralysis below the level of injury and
there is not even one long-term rehab
center so when it when I was told this
my mother said you be the change you be
the power of one you changed the world
and I said ma are you mad I don’t know
anything about running an organization
moment there are some numbers I go to
sleep my brain shuts down and I don’t
know anything about the law so how am I
going to do this
I can’t run an organization but then
when I went back to theorum anomaly
within a two-month span of time two
girls I personally knew paraplegic girls
were forced to commit suicide by their
own families they were told you’re a
shame on us
you’re a burden because you are there
nobody is willing to marry your brother
we are being ostracized in the society
so you die poison was next given left
next to them they drank it and died we
part of the problem not part of the
solution I decided at that moment that
it’s not life is not about all the
things you cannot do there are a lot of
things I cannot do it’s not about all
the things you cannot do it’s about what
you choose to do with what you can do
right many of you are more educated
you’re walking you’re fit you’re you can
do so much more than I can
but I felt I had no other choice but to
start soul free soul free is a public
charitable trust that is spreading
awareness about spinal cord injury in
India that is trying its best to
rehabilitate persons with spinal cord
injury back into society we are trying
to give them wheelchairs we’re trying to
mobilize them we’re trying to give them
that faith that they are not a shame and
a burden they have value just like
everyone else we are trying to ensure
that they get an education we are trying
to ensure that we we India becomes more
and more inclusive more and more
sensitized we are setting up Independent
Living programs so that if they can earn
an income they should because the bottom
line is the bottom line right if you
have money in your pocket nobody treats
you like I’m trying to be the
change I am trying to be the power of
one because I believe that we are all
one unless we come together we cannot
change society we are society so what
can you do for me the next time you
choose to wear a helmet you are the
power of one the next time your friends
go out drinking and you decide to be the
designated driver you are the power of
one the next time you meet a person in a
wheelchair and you decide to sit next to
them make eye contact and talk to them
you are the purple power of one you
befriend us give us jobs give us
education I promise you we will not fail
you because we don’t take anything for
granted
people value we will work twice as hard
as everyone else because we want to
prove ourselves
the only real disability is a closed
mind we are not that we are willing to
fight if you will just let us if we can
have the infrastructure
and all of you can help us in being the
change just by changing the way you
think just by deciding from tomorrow I’m
not going to compete if I’m going to
compete I’m going to compete only with
myself in every other sense I’m going to
cooperate cooperate with this world
cooperate with the guy next to me I just
want to conclude with one beautiful
story that’s really touched my heart
one of the world’s leading
anthropologists went to this little
village in the middle of nowhere in
Africa where they don’t have food to eat
where there is no education and he
decided that he would give them a
competition so what did he do he decided
that he would give them a bag full of
fresh fruit a basket full of fresh fruit
he got together some children from the
age of 8 to 16 and he said you have to
run from this end to that end from this
tree to that tree so in India had he run
this competition the children would have
pushed each other down to get their
first right but these kids without any
form of education they held hands and
they just walk together to the end line
all together all the power of one and
the power of oneness he got very angry
with them he said don’t you understand
what the power of water race is don’t
you understand what competition is you
were all one of you was going to get
this entire basket of fruit and they
said if one of us got this entire basket
of fruit
and ate it we would only get diarrhea so
what’s the point if everyone around me
is sad how can I be happy it’s a basic
concept that we are taught in our
village and it’s called Ubuntu everyone
near me needs to be happy everyone near
me needs to grow everyone near me needs
upliftment if our society is going to be
uplifted so can we all think about what
we can do to be the power of one if we
see an accident can be stopped and help
and not just think about all why the
hell should I dirty my shirt how did we
get like this my motto in life is to
just spread love light and laughter in
this world so simple can we do that can
we hug one person every day at the end
of this talk I love I’ll offer all of
you free hugs so much energy so
beautiful such a simple happy life we
can lead why are we complicating it so
much if we can all be the power of one
I’m sure India will become the number
one country in the world very soon
because we have so much power
automatically and then we can join
beautiful Bhutan the way it was in
becoming carbon neutral we can think
about our environment we can think about
our education we can think about so many
things but we need to be united for that
we need to be the power of one will you
join me thank you
[Applause]
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