Maya Vishwakarma: NRI Return, Padwoman of India & Sukarma Foundation Story

3:32 Yeah. So actually I'm from Madhya Pradesh nursing district. it's a very small village called Maharag. it's basically the most remote in in our district because we are on the border of 2 three district. That's why we were like always lacking u school, good school, roads, electricity and everything back those days like 30 years ago. So I was lucky enough to get at least 8th grade education in my village. It's a government school. And then I moved to another village for another two years. Then another village for another two years and then end up in Jabalpur for my graduation undergrad and also my post postgraduation. So after like postgraduation like half of the two semester we have to do somewhere else the research dissertation work. So

4:34 Luckily I got selected in Ames all Indian Institute of Medical Science New Delhi. So when I went there I feel like this world is a different the research and medical science and scientific research everything is very different. moving from very small village to another town to another city to another big city like Delhi. So there I finished my dissertation in a year and then I never came back. I stayed there got my junior research fellowship in nuclear medicine and continue the job there and being in as you get lot of conference all over India like Kashmir to kanyakumari and all that. So that's how I traveled throughout India through my conferences every year like two three conference. So then later on I I never heard a I mean I heard the name US

5:35 But I never had that kind of American dream. Never ever. But then I was doing research and then my professor he said you should go to other countries to present your research paper because you did excellent research. So I said it's impossible for me because you know we we didn't had a passport or something like that. So how can you go? Then he said you can do anything right you know the government of India gives the grant scholarship everything. So then I tried on that time that time and somehow I got my paper got selected in a material science research here in Pittsburgh. So I came first time by my own as a research student I mean the presenter and I presented my paper and I stayed few more weeks or month maybe to explore scientific research lab around that area and I find out like it's a huge like in India we hardly get

6:35 Chemical or or you know research material because we don't have enough money in the department right so we are very conduc yes thing we use very limited resources in India in research but when I see here there is no limit there is no time limit also because the labs open 24 hours you can work anytime so that way I s I thought no I don't want to do my PhD in as I want to come to us for my PhD program then I went back and prepared for GEL and and all that then I applied and got into full scholarship. so I moved to South Dakota. but the the difference was I always liked the medical science because as was kind of my first home I would say helping patient and doing the research it's kind of very relaxing or rewarding kind of but when I went to engineering college I

7:37 Didn't like it at all because I didn't feel any values even though my research was very excellent and everything but then slowly in India actually we take all the courses up to 10th grade after 12 after 10th you can take like certain courses and you can leave certain courses like maths and all right when you take bio you don't have to take maths but then but then here in US when I when I when you do PhD and if you haven't taken those courses you have to take back again like all the basics and prer and all that I felt like really stupid taking all those courses but then again I have to finish it because my research my scholarship was coming from there but then later I thought no I don't want to pursue otherwise I will shift my carrier big ch big carrier from medical to engineering so I dropped the PhD and I moved to California and that time my

8:39 Husband I mean I got married so my husband was working here and then later I joined UCSF in San Francisco and there I got my in my interested work kind of like I want to pursue the my career into and then I joined the

8:59 Job. So I was I was doing research on leukemia cancer research and all that but then couple of years later there was a moment happened a nazare moment and all that and that's how I mean I I'm living in US but still my heart is in India like so I always first thing in tea I always follow news Indian news danikhasar and all on that. So I always so that kind of a motivational you're watching India news and and then this big movement happening and that time Obama was president here so we used to listen him like very very like he was kind of idolistic his speech was mind-blowing and I always always thought like India because why we can't get leader like him in India certainly there was a

10:02 Big corruption that's why we came here right so seeing all that scenarios and especially from my rural background I always felt good politics can play a big role basically so then I thought okay let's keep aside this research and let's participate in this moment and then we participated we go voluntarily then become Mhhamad me then I went I fought elections I came India so This is how the journey started. No. Yeah. No, thanks a lot for such a nice overview. So you know starting from a a remote village getting all the way to as then the experience of presenting your work kind of inspired you to do something else and that's what motivated you to the US and the on the flip side your heart is always within India and with that moment I think you felt the need that you know we can make a change and that's where you felt like the reason to come back. So maybe my one quick question there was you know in 2014

11:03 When you heard about this and when you made a decision to move back and participate in the elections and so on has the entire family moved or is it just only you moved like while your husband is still in US? Just curious on that if you're okay. Yeah, actually I only went to India because somebody had to earn bread and butter, right? So he keeps working here and and I took a off and I went for a volunteering work. So I only moved he was here. Got it. And my parents of course like they are in India. My whole family is in India. Yeah. From my family or extended family in US. I was the first first person in US actually. Got it. Yeah. So in 2014 did you move back to your hometown or where did you move back and how did you decide? So I think seems like you know 2014 there are these

12:00 Things going on but is that like a sudden decision like how long did you plan and then when you decided just curious if you can talk a little bit about the thought process that went in mind before taking a decision. Yes, we're moving. if if you can you know some of the details and you know what's going on in your mind. Yeah, actually I I I haven't thought moving back to India. Frank I just went as a volunteer to to motivate other people and spread the ideology of Ahmedi party that time like the Gandhian value. So I wanted to give the the message because we were the founding people from Ana Azari moment. So I want to spread the message on the grounds. I went as a volunteer and I was taking around throughout my whole constituency. and my condition my my condition condition was like I don't want to go to Delhi because Delhi was like a hub for the work or the part

13:01 Because they have a government there but I want to go to village because that's how I came from that's the the the I mean that's where we need a more help or more good leadership you can say. So my my idea is like I mean you have to be here right? Yeah. So my thing is like I I really want to stick around my village. I want to look conditions there. but then you know I I after couple of months I thought like who is eligible to for the election look election then people said why don't you fill the form and all that so that's that's how my name came but again I thought like okay after doing volunteering I'll go back to US and join

14:02 Work and all but then after two three months campaign during the election I felt like people gave me kind of a a different comments like oh she's a parachute rider like she came from US she will lose she will go back if she will win then only she can stay here so that kind of my head and I thought like no no no I have to prove myself I was not here for the power or for the like you know the something typical politic thing I was here to improve lives I was here to spread the message. But then after election I I I came on third after BJP and Congress in MP MP we have only two parties. So coming on third and and though that also very highly educated people they

15:03 Voted for me like it I mean third position in two months is kind of impossible. Yes. So then I got very motivated. I thought no people have trusted. So I had to keep that trust and and I and and I have to do something at least. Yeah. Is different thing but I want to do something for my village area. Then I started making film film on social issues like kind of a politics like if you have a good politics then how the community get benefited. So there was a village example they never had elections they conducted always like anonymous kind of a elections and that's how they used to get prize from the government and they improved school roads hospital and everything in the village. I want to showcase that village as a ideal village like Gandhian village

16:03 And to spread the message around the village other village other states and also in other countries. So the the documentary movie got highly recognized and we got prize for that like in San Francisco and other countries and those prizes we have submitted to the villagers and they were very happy. I also wrote a book it's available on Amazon. So that kind of a gives me an idea like how I want to work, how I want to improve. so seeing the most intimate issues around my area especially for women. One topic was very kind of a very emotional for me which was menstrual hygiene of course because I grew up there. I also use all those practice in old time and I got some issues as well. So I want to improve that and that was going on

17:05 From long time like u 2011 something I was thinking that I want to do this work I want to do this work but I never get a chance. Yeah. But this was the perfect time that I can think about it. Then after elections and this movie things and everything got over then I thought I really want to focus and do the work. So I got this guy called Padman. His name is Arunachala Morganatan. Yeah. He lived in Bamboo. So that time he was not that famous actually. He was just a normal guy. So I got his number from some some of the friends and I spoke to him couple of time that I want to come to your area because I want to work on a similar topic similar issues. Then we just missing each other like couple of time but then after 2 years I went and met him in his village and that's how I learned like how to

18:07 Buy the machines and then how to set up the factories and all that. So then then for that we need a organization something. So then I started foundation called Sukarma Foundation in 2016. So after farming that our first project was menstrual hygiene and that was basically the movie wasn't there the time 2016 it was very new for us and very big taboo in our area and still tab we still have taboo but some somewhat like now people knows like pads and all that. So then we decided to work on extensively in rural and tribal area because my village area is is also surrounded by tribes people because those hills satpura hills nursing district MP is like 40% population is tribal in

19:09 So it's a huge tribal ball and I wanted to touch all the communities like how they see menstrual hygiene and what are the taboos in there because different community has a different taboos different home has a different things and and like their daily life so I want to touch upon those and and for me it was easy because I'm from medical background so I can talk about the thing I came from outsider like US so people accept me and I'm also local like I I I speak Bundel Kandi Tate Bundil Kandi and I can I mean I can become one of them actually they never recognized like I lived in US as well so that is a benefit for me so I decided I want to go and do the massive campaign because campaign experience election so then I thought okay I want

20:11 To again kind of action campaign but this is something with the issues. So then I traveled around 16 district extensively two months two three months I never came home and I was on the road because I fought election so everybody knows me there in the media in

20:34 The administration so wherever I'm going I was getting good response and good care and then people they were connecting me this is new topic this is we really want to to organize the workshop in our hostel, schools, college, village and all that. I got tremendous response. Even the officers they were they were accepting as a happy kind of like this is a good initiative something. So the same time the movie was coming admin and then the media noticed that we are really working on the ground at the grassroot level. So then media reach out out to us and said real padman is a different but real pad women is here. So my name came as a pad women of India. since then and then we again like we continue doing the campaigns and our factory hire only

21:35 Women and we set up this and then we we moved to the different other issues like a health, education, employments and all that. So since then I keep coming US like for a month or two months but my most of the time was in India. Got it. Even still I I just came for a for a month because I'm a serpent. So I have a big responsibility there along with my foundation. So now I barely spend time here. just it just because of this green card issue I have to go. I mean I I have to come otherwise I would be happy to stay in India. So so the thing is like yeah so I'm spending more time and projects are increasing and we are seeing good results, good response and yeah our foundation is getting bigger and bigger. The team is getting bigger. Yeah. No first of all

22:36 Congratulations on making changes you know in your circle right. I think the decision to make an impact or a change in the village where you are from you know with the social causes with the hygiene thing with the health and other conditions right I mean the different things that you talked about so thanks a lot I mean I know people talk but I think doing things and doing it at the grassroot level and making a change so really thank you and congratulations on that. so maybe just I think a follow up on that right I know you mentioned about traveling back and forth between California and India and I think you briefly mentioned about I think now you become a serpent right I think you have a responsibility you know from that from the village as well as from the foundation maybe you can talk a little bit about the foundation I know you kind of mentioned about how it started and some of the other causes like I think when it started in 2016 it was focused on the menstrual hygiene I think kind of expanded so what is the nonprofit do

23:36 Right now? What are the areas that it cover you geographically? Is it still within that district or is it expanded? Maybe anything that you can share about that that would be very helpful. Yeah. So the actually I was very naive in the the area basically in the field. I never run any organization or any industry or factory or so on but you learn by doing something. So that's how I I learned. So after one problem we are addressing and other problem arise. So then we saw like okay whatever it comes we should focus we should we should accept the the problems actually. So in my again everything started from my village because I see people because you can you can relate and you can also know the people. So you can start from there actually. so in my village we didn't

24:36 Had a hospital even district hospital is like 100 kilometer from my area and we have a rivers actually Narmmada river and another Dudi river. So because of the mining sand mining the road conditions is really bad even so no ambulance or any other car reaches to us basically. So the health was a major issue especially for poor people when they get sick they don't have transportation or a doctor or facility to see their primary symptoms. They are from Bangalore. So they they said yeah yeah yeah we will we won't do because you are just buying one setup we work in a mass quantity I said first you have to set up this and if we feel like you know good because we are a small NGO we don't have funding all that and that requires lot of funding so they said okay we'll we'll do it so theyed up in

25:37 2019 the our first tele medicine center in or Madhya Pradesh actually. Oh, really nice. Yeah. Our our center is the first tele medicine center in the village actually. Government they seted up in the big cities like Bopal, Jabalpur but they never set it up in the village. So our was first one. So then we hired a local girl like you know how to train them as a nurse because nobody used to come there like no medical expertise were there at least you need a minimum staff nurse. Yeah. So then hired one staff nurse from city area we provided her higher salary double salary and everything. So that's how we started. But then the thing is like you know when you really want to do something the whole universe come and help you. So basically we set it up and then a year later there was a co. Yes.

26:40 So then our our clinic was the only clinic which was open in remote area. A lot of people and kids we have seen morning to evening they are coming at least for flu or some other issues or some problems. So that was very helpful. So then I was on the ground for almost a year. Okay. Yeah. Because flight behind. Yeah. So it was a good excuse for me that I I can violate the six month status and then I came and then I thought okay there is a vaccine is here so now everybody should be fine. So I can take vaccine and I can go. I was working by the way without vaccine. our whole staff was working without vaccine.

27:27 So, so then again January I went back and then I thought okay everything is getting normalized but then all of the sudden there is a delta wave which was very badly like everybody was dying. So then that time was more a kind of a disturbing time because you are seeing all the closed one they are going every groups is filled with blah blah blah things. So then what we did is basically we replicate all the devices because it's after all it's a tele medicine and our village people basically most of them they have a covid or they have a symptom mild symptoms and they don't want to go to other big cities because whoever is going was not coming back not even their dead body. So they said like because at least we will be surrounded by our loved one right. So

28:28 Whatever you want to do you can do like we don't we don't want to go out. Thousands of people were in our clinic and we transformed the entire area in a co kind of open co zone and like I study in so most of my friends they are doctors. So then I take their help from US, from Canada, from Australia, whatever time zone they are, they helped us. Some are transporting oxygen concentrator, some are sending us a pulse meter, some are sending us a a mask and so on. Like people pouring the help in our village. So I was I was really getting a big help and then we saved almost like the area all the area entire people nobody died in our so that was like a big big kind of a work team work from Sukarma

29:30 Foundation. So then that went I think six seven months actually it wasn't like that short. So then we keep doing that. We assisted so many families in the villages. They they were blinds or disables or older peoples and so on. Like our team was big enough to help. Yeah. Yeah. So that this was there and then we also because after one problem we see another problem after solving that problem we see another problem. So then another problem also arised during the covid that school were closed government school basically and the kids they didn't had a phone or tablets or computer in their house because they are from poor family underprivileged and then school was closed almost a year and kids they don't know I mean they forgot everything there younger kids then we thought like this co I don't know how long this will stay

30:30 But certainly Kids will drop out for sure. If they are forgetting everything, they are not used to of devices or they never touched the computers and all. Then we thought we should start at least something where they can do their homework or online classes. So then nearby the town we hired the place and then we seted up computers. We took help from the NRI friends and they sent us a computer used laptop and so on. So we seted up the the the the lab and all the students they started coming learning the computers doing the homework from there. It is all free like we just hired tutors and they were like doing everything. And then similarly when we open the center a lot of women they are showing up. They said because you know they were doing some

31:31 Shop like some are made and working in somebody's house cleaning dishes and they said like everybody they just said I mean we need at least some work and we said like we don't have any work because we are very small foundation but we can do something at least is to give you a skill. So then we also opened a tailoring kind of a training center. Yeah. That all those women who are not educated or not like aware they can at least learn stitching and they can buy maybe five 6,000 rupees machines and they can be at home. They can run their entire family and this co is we don't know how long this will stay. So that way like we started another work which is still going on and then in our village there was

32:32 A panchayat elections because of the code they extended for 2 years like two more years so it is total like seven years so then people they they won't have I mean they they said the previous serpunch they didn't do any kind of a meaningful So and the village was like last village so it's always like lack of facilities and so on but then doing the menstrual work or hospitals and schools and everything I mean this teaching work one thing I realized like no matter what you do for the people it is never be enough enough work basically you need to empower people from the from from there only and then without education you cannot make a good society basically. So in my village I can see I went to 8th grade in a

33:36 Very old school but then slowly the building got collapsed few rooms left and then suddenly only few students are showing up and those who have money they can send out their kids to the private school and then almost like 50% kids are going private school and then The most poor people they are going to the government school. So government school they don't have even infra nothing nothing. They had only one room. First to fifth grade kids they sit together and after two three hours the teacher said okay your class is done over. So this is how the schooling was.

34:21 So this pattern when I saw I thought I need to take a pledge that at least my kind of guru dakshana kind of to my school that I took a pledge that I really want to make a world-class model school in my village the government school not a private school. Yeah I I went and talked to the principal and all that I said I want to adopt this school through Sukarma Foundation. We will keep raising funds until we make a really kind of a model school in a terms of a seeing all those existing issues. For example, we are a farmer. We have a very good land. We have a very good irrigation kind of a water because of the rivers. But the kids they don't know what they are eating in their plates because they are disconnected from their roots. So if you can add the agriculture in the beginning

35:23 Like horiculture and then slowly you can give them a knowledge of like scientific kind of a cropping like other countries are doing. So they are using AI technology and so on in a farming itself they can be become a millionaire in their village itself they can provide the food to the rest of the Arabian countries nearby right. So instead of making burden in terms of education kind of type instead give them some skills so that they can build another line of basically skilled worker I mean they instead of job seeker they can write. So this kind of model I designed in two three years because back of my

36:26 Mind this idea came I want to build this kind of school and all that. So I called the engineers from all over. They came to my village. They saw the sites. They made excellent plan everything but then I thought like this is a government school and if I'm not a part of government then they won't allow me to build the school. So I have to become a part of government basically. Then this election came and I convinced the entire village. I said see I already fought Lok Sabha election so I don't have to fought again this panchiat election. So let's be fair that we want to get 15 lakh rupees from the government. So why can't we choose all those women in our panchiad and the panchiad will be will have a good name and then we can also make a good school and everybody got agree and then that's how we formed the anapost panchay with all the women

37:28 But my my intention was to build the school not all the work is like a sideline work the primary major work was to build the school. So that's how I become a serpent. And since then I was struggling getting the permissions, demolishing the structures, running behind the collectors and then education officers and so on and then after I become serpent there was a Bidhan election. So then the Bidhansab election the entire six month is closed no work and then after bidans election there was a Lok Sabha election then again six months code of conduct you can't do any government things then the after look election there was a rainy season so four months you can't do anything so now things are moving a little bit but we are hoping that we will start the building the work I mean the school

38:28 This year because this tough is getting over and then we can shift the school to another place. So yeah it's a big challenge and then after that one more thing we started basically most of the I mean seeing in the our clinic we saw u a lot of women who comes in early like 30s or 40 because in the village they still get married 18 19 very early age and the most of the women they are enemic or weak and they are not fit. So what happen is like when they have early marriage and then they have one child then another child. So the entire like their health is not good enough to handle the kind of pressure and and the things. So they get very severe issues in terms of bone weakness and some leg issues and

39:32 All that like some pain. So then we saw like why they are getting I mean in US we saw like 80 year women is working in I mean she's fit and fine running marathon and all that right but village women they just give up and all that. So then one of I mean during the covid I connected to a

39:57 Doctor she was a gynecologist here and I told her the issue that the more we are giving solution let's say the medication the more problems are coming it's not fixing the problem it's basically arising the problem so we need to find some solution like some preventive solution and then especially for women and girls they are keep complaining any number of issues. So then she said like okay we should run a program where we need to focus early age girls because what happened is like government is focused when the the the the women she get pregnant and then from the pregnancy first 3 months to delivering the baby and and one year after baby. The government focused only on that time frame. But what if we can focus on a 12 year year of age the girls if she is fit enough to deliver

40:59 Healthy baby then all the problem solved then they won't have this weakening issue and and so on because in our Indian culture what we see is like u we don't do exercise and we we don't focus on diet like the food we are the last person who eats at home very unhealthy food like kind of especially for vegetarian families like we are vegetarian largely vegetarian. So because of that like like the the women are not getting or girls are not getting nutrition and that's how they become weaker and weaker. So then we started this anemia programs. We check all the girls over 12 year old. We adopted like 20 village almost 5 to 10 in tribal area and 5 to 10 here in the normal range. So that this doctor is funding and she's doing all the checkup.

41:57 She go from Neo to my village. She stays there. She she hired community health worker and other folks and she go to hills and tribal area and she's running the the project. So, so far like in 2 years we are seeing big change because all those women or girls they had a menstrual hygiene issue like cramp in the in the stomach and unnecessary kind of a pain. This this all went away because now they're focusing on diet, exercise, total I mean it's it's outlook how you see your health, right? Yeah. And that is quite of a practice right I mean you you lived in US you can relate that how I mean how aware people here I mean so the aware people how much they focus in their health here or how much

42:57 They invest let's saybody goes to gym mostly or they walk at least outdoor or they do some kind of physical activity hiking Yeah. So because of that the habits are like not good. Earlier time was okay like my mom total hard work. So yeah this is the new project that we are running from last two years. So now you see like four five projects is still going on and we just bought the actually a small land to build a community hospital in the tribal area because the doctor when she started going there and we are exploring the community and going home to home. So then I said like how many time we can go to their home at least when we are not there then how they will find us. So at least we one place where

43:57 They can see this is the place where we need to go. So at least we need to build start build up something like kind of community hospital and some school and some priv. So then we just bought the land. So slowly we'll build the hospital and other things. Yeah. No kudos. I mean I think lot of projects I think as you said like one problem after the other right I think you know starting with something and then there is another issue that you want to tackle and so on. So thanks a lot for giving such a detailed overview of that and I think we will share the link to the you know to your organization so if people are interested to learn more they can reach out or if they want to donate and so on. So that information will be available in the description below. if you're okay I'm I'm curious about this if you're open to share. So I know you're spending time between India and US your heart is in India. I know

44:58 Your husband is still in US. I know because you're traveling to maintain the green card. So has the thought ever occurred to you like you know to continue to maintain the green card or giving up? Just curious if you're open to share because this might be a question for some of the viewers. So that's why I'm bringing it up. So the thing is like I can give anytime any second that's not a big thing for me. I mean getting green card is not like something is my lifetime goal. I can give anytime. The only thing time you get something at least from here. so that's how I I want to keep it otherwise I don't have any obligation I can even every time I enter in US I said okay because now Trump came even yes they this time also I was I was thinking like okay what if they can deport me

46:00 Like so many Indians are going so I said I can also go but I mean they haven't said anything but but there's no kind of I don't kind of affection my husband is still he lives here but he's still maintaining the green card. he renewed second time, third time. Yeah, I think I don't want to become a citizen. So as long as I I can run I mean I can so so the thing is like you must have also noticed that people have lot of resources here in US that they can help easily to India and the thing is like I'm the the the bridge between NRI and then the local community because sometime you really want to donate and you really want to do something good but you don't know how to do it basically you don't know where to donate sometime unless you some some of your friends so there I'm

47:02 Kind of a a bridge that hey if you have interest in health you can work with us I mean we are not always looking for money we can also look for your expertise we can look for I mean you come and learn lot of interns actually they come and live in our place and they get explore the local communities students and one of my friend daughter in Saturday and Sunday so Saturday she Saturday she she teaches English to poor kids with entrancing. So basically you get I mean subject pro and cons. So the pro thing is like if you can re gather all kind of this kind

48:05 Of specialally resources because she's also learning something from the students and they are very humble and she's seeing lot of happiness in those kids. Yeah, she celebrated her birthday online giving party throwing party to all those kids and she was like oh wow this is so good. So I'm saying like the I mean I'm also preparing the platform for

48:33 To come and give back to the society because we always get lost when you when you come to us basically it's it's a kind of a red race right once that's how I started in very early age. Yeah, living here I have realized that if you talk to the older people they always have one regret. Oh, we came from village we always want to do something from India for India but we never get time. Yeah. And now time we we cannot go to India because we get sick. So then I said okay all these three things they they are never together. One is your energy and your money and your time. These three things will not be together. When you have one thing, other will be missing. When you have other thing, the other one will be missing. So there's never be kind of a perfect time, you have to take action.

49:33 And if you can connect those people to the grassroot level, it will benefit a lot. Like for example, simple thing, I keep coming and going. I I collect a good amount of clothes basically a winter clothes or something because people have lot of things here like they just know how to they just look for like you know we have to give away like let's say goodwill like how much also stop taking crap right so the thing is like if you can receive really good amount of whether it is a clothes or something which can which the kids can use for like longer time. Let's say the good jacket here like the branding the whole neighborhood will wear for like 10 years. So the thing is like you are you have always something to give back. Yeah, that's a good thing and you learn by coming here

50:33 And also perfectly makes sense. Yeah, I think it's the bridging the gap and utilizing the resources you know for the nonprofit and you know some of the access to you know the resources. I think people willing to help and then providing a platform to help them out. I think it perfectly makes sense. I know I think you know to wrap it up is there anything that you want to share from your journey for people who are thinking about giving back to India or returning back to India to do some social service. you know there are like some people who has that kind of a motivation from your own experience anything that you can share or any insights that you want to provide. Well always people ask me that how did you start it? I said I never thought like I will start. It's just a instinct that came okay you have to do I started that's how I started. I never shared any idea with my family or anyone that

51:33 I'm going to do this. If I said them they will say no. So so I started then they came to know like okay she no no she can't listen to anybody. So I'm I'm saying is like if you really want to do something you can do from here as well like now we are in like digital world world and 5G is everywhere like in India village you get 5G. So if you can't go you can also use your expertise there. I mean if you have time let's say and the things are I mean living in US it's a really good thing but then after some time I think you get materialized like materialistic and you really get I mean that that happened to me if I live here for a long time I get sickness kind of same thing same materialistic life parties and all that it is never ending right but if you find

52:33 Some time and go back and serve of your community community you feel very fulfilling like you know you just visit in the village and you see how happy they are like they they may not have same resources as you but they are the happiest people so I think your mood will also change when you go and visit some communities and there are lot of nonprofit who are who are offering help you can easily connect to any any nonprofit or simply you can go your nearby village or your native village start something at least there so I think we have only one life that I believe I don't believe that

53:35 If you think like okay I will retired in 50 and then I will go back and serve my people that never happened because I know couple of my friend they keep saying for 10 years and after one other they said okay five more year five more and then they will die here I'm sure so there is no one time whenever you think you really want to do just go and work and there's no perfect time there's no perfect kind of a here. Yeah, perfectly makes sense. So, yeah, thank you very much Miss Maya for taking your time and sharing your

54:13 Journey with us and all the best with you know the several projects that you're doing. I think you know changing empowering people in your village so that they can be self-sufficient you know the ideas you know doing things at grassroot level and bridging that gap in what NRS can help out to their own communities to their you know giving back to India and so on right so really appreciate and good luck with all your projects and thank you very much for being on our show today thank you so much you have a great day thank you it was really nice talking you yeah Yes. Same here.