A Story Of A ‘Madman’- Swapnil Tewari (Unsung Heroes Part-1 )

We have numerous unsung heroes in our human race who are lesser-known but put a strong impact on humanitarian work. They have done commendable works for society but it looks bad that we are still unconscious of the works they did or are doing. Unlike our movie heroes they are not hungry for name and fame, but why can’t we appreciate the job they have done? Our little tribute and recognition might put a smile on their face that there is someone who recognized their good humanitarian work.

Many of them work in politics, as an artist, social entrepreneurs, activists, etc. They always tried to make a difference by their positive approach. Their stories are real and inspirational, they have seen the problems of society too close that they know the exact solutions to them.

So, Aspiring Blog has decided to start a series named “Unsung Heroes” where our try will be to cover all the heroes whose work deserves appreciation, and should recognize all over the world.

We are starting this series with such an unsung hero – Swapnil Tewari also known as a ‘Madman’. Born with dyslexia, and synesthesia (a medical condition in which one of the five senses simultaneously stimulates another). He is committing tremendous work in ransoming the families which are in danger. He is a social entrepreneur, founder of ‘Livemad’, chosen as the UNESCO Ambassador for inclusive learning in 2018. He is one of the youngest specially-abled social reformers of India.

Swapnil Tewari’s Childhood Journey

Swapnil Tewari was born on May 20 1987 in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh in a middle-class small family. At the age of 7, he realized that he has a disease called “Dyslexia”. For making it easy, hope you all are aware of the “Taare Zameen Par” movie of Bollywood, where an 8- year old boy who is dyslexic and cannot read or write, leads a tormented life until he meets with his art teacher who discovers his artistic talents.

Dyslexia occurs in children with normal intuition and intelligence. It is a learning disorder characterized by difficulty in reading. The symptoms are late talking, slow learning, and hesitance in reading.

Swapnil Tewari said in a Ted talk that he improvised daily, started backtracking his words, he has written 7000 words for the syllables and languages. Which helps him in getting on the right track.

At the early age of 12, he lost his father in a road accident and that broke him from deep inside. He made many suicidal attempts but his brother and bhabhi (Sister in law) which he also called didi ‘elder sister’ direct him to find his path. He had a very unpleasant childhood as he was not able to play outdoor sports or concentrate on his academics.

His life was like a rollercoaster ride, full of ups and downs. He said, his mother always said to him that- ‘If you have to destroy yourself to make someone, never think twice, because the only synonym of love is sacrifice.’

Turning Point In Swapnil Tewari’s Life

He shared, “After doing MBA and doing job in a bank and central bank I was not finding my way through. So I started going to tribal areas and assisting needy families.”

Once an artisan daughter called Swapnil, the girl said, “She lost her father to disease and their Gram Pradhan (village head), taking her mother at night and dropped her back in the morning, since then, my mummy has only been crying.”

She said he was continuously molesting her mother and she is now broken from inside. So, Swapnil decided to help that family and he went there and rescued them. He relocated them to Delhi after many tough circumstances.

Furthermore, he started a venture called Naked Colours, and motivate them to continue with their traditional work. Swapnil added while giving an interview to Yourstory, “The business model was such that one-third of the total profits were given to artisans, another one-third was used to sustain the company, and the remaining was donated to orphans and differently-abled children”.

In another story, he said that when puberty hits him he was diagnosed with Gynecomastia, which is a condition where the hormone imbalance enlarges the breast tissues in males. He became the subject of abuse and fun in his surrounding. But he did come over it and started to love and accept himself the way he was.

He realized this later in his life when during his visit to an orphanage in tribal areas, where he met a hardly 4 months old girl who was left abandoned and was found in the garbage. He said that when he held her she started petting his chest as she was hungry.

He asked the caretaker to give her some milk from the bottle and she said, that the little girl won’t accept the bottle, she needs breast milk. He asked her again to breastfeed her, but she refused to say that she was not mine.

Then he held the baby girl and open his shirt as he was blessed with breast, pressed baby girl’s mouth into his chest, the time she started suckling he introduced the milk bottle into her mouth. ‘That was the best feeling he ever had, probably he is the only man in this world to breastfeed a baby,’ he said.

When & Why he founded Livemad?

Once he went to his project on spreading awareness and uplifting poverty from the tribal area. That area was very risky and violence-stricken. The locals arrest him by thinking he is spying on them.

Nevertheless, he doesn’t lose his hope, never stopped, and found his way through, teaching them about proper hygiene and the importance of schooling.

After a while, he decided to start a movement which he named ‘Livemad’, with an aim to spread hope in society through social and new-age invention, entrepreneurship, and love. He works with women’s safety, healthy life, AIDS prevention, etc.

One of his projects was on women’s safety. The pink whistle project is made to prevent women from the threat. Under this project, women are given a whistle which he named “Shakti“. The whistle could be worn as a bracelet on the neck and in case of any danger, it can also be turned into a knife after pressing a button.

His motive is to emphasize the self-care of women so that women can fight in any tough situation.

Swapnil’s Achievements

Swapnil has done a commendable job in helping others, he helped so many people to come out from depressions and suicidal attempts. He conducted many seminars to spread positive awareness. He initiated and was involved in several social programs including ‘Beat the Blue whale Challenge’.

By the age of 25, he rehabilitated 24 endangered tribes in the violence-stricken jungles of India.

He is working with Milanda Gates Foundation to precluding AIDS.

His enthusiasm for helping others made him the top 1000 world leaders for hope by Forbes.

Furthermore, he was also selected as the UNESCO Ambassador for inclusive learning in 2018 and many more.

I believe everyone is born as a wonder- whether they love it or hate it, it is up to them. I decided to love it.

Swapnil Tewari

Like the above mentioned, everyone has a hero inside, everyone is special, everyone is born with a motive. It’s on us how we are taking our lives, are we optimistic like Swapnil? Or just always questioning the God ‘why me?’

There is always a different perspective to look at life if one knows how to do it. It’s up to you to find the way for your life. If you do you’ll be the best in yourself.

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Do let us know about the Unsung heroes you know that are doing tremendous work in society. We’ll be glad to do more research about them and will write a tribute dedicated to them.

Our Mailing address- Namaskar@theblogera.com

Edited by- Ritish Sharma

Sources:-

• YourStory
• Making of a Madman: 7 Learnings from a Life of Madness | Swapnil Tewari – TEDx Talks

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