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“If you can dream it, you can do it.” – Walt Disney
Walt Disney, the beloved founder of Disney, strived to achieve his goals and live his dreams in a time when people said he wouldn’t gain success. Disney and Mr. Mayur Channagere, are perfect embodiments of why it is necessary for us to follow our dreams and that it is never too late to do so.
We all are faced with the dilemma of what to do in life. What career path do we choose? Should we choose what we love or choose a safe and secure way out and do something we don’t like?
Mr. Mayur Channagere faced such hurdles and doubts in achieving the stature he has today as a successful photopreneur in the world. His journey is filled with a myriad of inspirational tales that we can take lessons from and implement in our life. In order to share these valuables lessons that only come with experience, CMR NPS hosted an expert talk by the founder of Photo Mojo himself.
Mr. Channagere enraptured the crowd of students by starting his talk with a wonderful video of the various pictures he took over the course of his life. The man with his down to earth and energetic personality kept the students hanging on his every word in the interactive session. As a keen lover of photography, he shared his passion with us and the true essence of the art form. The way he sees the value of a simple picture and the amount of work that goes into clicking it is truly astounding to visualize.
For Mr. Channagere, photography is a medium of visual storytelling that can have a larger effect on people than words. It is a source of peace for his mind. Initially, photography was a hobby for he pursued but later he chose to make it his career. He started off his own business, Photo Mojo, six years ago, before which he worked in the corporate world for 10-12 years as an employee at Infosys.
After having such a stable and successful career in the corporate world, he chose to leave his job and follow his dream. This decision of his was naturally meet with a lot of scepticism from his friends. Fast forward to the present, Mr. Channagere’s friends are now his biggest supporters. He spends time with the likes of Aerosmith, AR Rahman, the Iron Maiden and so on, and knows them on a personal level.
Like everyone, Mr. Channagere started off at rock bottom with only his passion to support him. His talent, hard work and the course that things took have led him to become the man he is today. Along with being talented, he understood the problems of people and took to philanthropy after his success.
With his vast talent and success, he chooses to tell the real stories of people and the problems they are facing. He visited the village of Kalap in Uttarakhand, an abandoned hamlet left untouched by the modern age. The people there have no access to education, healthcare or any other basic facilities. With his powerful photography and videography, Mr. Channagere set off a series of events that would soon change the fate of the little hamlet. Mr. Channagere’s 4 videos on Kalap went viral and people all over the world came rushing forward with donations. He set up the Kalap Foundation and raised 35 lakhs, with which a school was built in the village. Soon after with the help of Tata Memorial, work has begun for building a hospital in the village.
Not only has Mr. Channagere changed the lives of these villagers, he has also helped students discover their passion. A student from our very own school, Dharun Shankar, interned with Photo Mojo over the summer. The internship has helped him greatly improve his talent in the art.
From Mr. Channagere’s talk there is a lot one can take back, but what truly impacted me is the difference that doing things you love in life can have. With his success, he chooses to help the underprivileged and use his talent for substantial work for a better world. Mr. Channagere concluded his talk with a wonderful message for students, that is to do the things we love without caring about what others say.
He truly left a great impact on our mind with his valuable experiences, which is something that we will remain grateful for.
Sources used and important links:
http://www.photomojo.co.in
https://www.kalaptrust.org/projects
https://www.kalap.in/about
– By C.A Archana, CMR National Public School
More Stories From Our School
- Work Exposure Programme at CMRNPS – PhotoMojo
- 8 Valuable Life Lessons to Learn from the Thailand Cave Rescue Incident – By Archana Mohan, Parent of CMRNPS
- The Story Behind Talento – a Talent Search/Hosting App Developed by Students of CMRNPS
- Introducing PowerSchool Unified Classrooms at CMRNPS
- Expert Talk by Mr. Taher Merchant
