BENGALURU: Raghav Ranga, a medical student in the US with roots in Bengaluru, recently did a session with students of the Dodda Mallur area about illnesses harming their community. But his humanitarian efforts began over a decade ago.
In 2006, when Raghav Ranga was eight years old, he was revisiting the Dodda Mallur village in Karnataka, his mother’s ancestral town, for his aunt’s wedding. Among the bustle of the happy occasion, he chanced upon a particular plague openly noticeable in many villages of rural India: abject poverty. Born and raised in the US, observing the large-scale deprivation left him visibly shaken. "I noticed that kids of my age didn’t have access to basic amenities like electricity. In school, teachers would write on sand, and students would copy the same."
"Having grown up in the States, that level of poverty was foreign to me. I wanted to do something. I used to get about $75 as pocket money back then. I asked my mother, Dr Jyotsna Ranga, and we converted that into rupees and donated to the school. So the children could have notebooks and some comfort when learning," shares Ranga, grandson of former DG and IGP (Karnataka), A S Malurkar.
Now 25, and a third-year medical student at Georgetown University School of Medicine, Washington DC, Ranga never forgot that experience in 2006 and has continued to do however much he can for the children of Dodda Mallur. On his most recent visit, he gave a talk to students of the Rotary School, Channapatna about health issues affecting their community. It included topics ranging from respiratory viruses, tuberculosis, mosquito-borne illnesses to road safety.
The efforts started about 10 years ago. “Sometime in 2012-13, we started organising workshops at the Rotary School, Channapatna. The sessions included some interactive lessons, and as a ninth-grader then, I knew that the only way kids would get interested in learning was if we engaged with them. We had fun prizes. If a kid got an answer right, they would get candies, for example. Since then, we have organised these workshops yearly and bought these children's school supplies. We even raised money and donated a computer to one of the government schools there,” says Ranga, who placed fourth in the National Geographic Bee in 2012.
For a period of five years, he had been organising Skype lessons with many schools in Channapatna. “The lessons started in 2014 and went on till 2019. We had to stop after the pandemic hit. The lessons used to happen every Saturday morning in India. We would work with the children for an hour and give them lessons. Now, studying in medical school, it has become a little tough for me to organise it, but given the opportunity, I would love to get back to it. I had a conversation with the school principal, who was also keen on restarting,” he says.
Working with these kids from a young age also gave Ranga opportunities to introspect. “It made me realise the kind of privilege I have had growing up in the US. When you’re in that kind of position, you will have many opportunities to give back to those who don’t have it. You really should take advantage of it. I’m grateful for my opportunities, which further motivates me to give back to these kids from this small place where my mother’s ancestors come from. The joy you get from helping out is unparalleled,” he explains. With the help of his family here in Bengaluru, Ranga has been able to continue his work in Karnataka while being thousands of kilometres away.
“Right now, we have a plan brewing, but it is still tentative. Karnataka has a huge worm issue, especially foot-borne worms that enter the feet. The state has 40-47% of India’s foot-borne worm issues. Now this problem is solvable by wearing shoes with soles. We are contacting NGOs and local health officers and trying to raise money to curb it as much as we can. Since I am far away, my grandfather and mother are helping with the logistics,” he concludes.