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Siddhesh Lokare | Social Impact & Empowerment
@sidiously_
I build schools for a living :)
Mumbai
Joined April 2020
140 Following
550 Followers
843 Posts
How to acquire wisdom?
1. Live
2. Make mistakes
3. Learn from your mistakes
4. Repeat 1-3 until wisdom is acquired
5. Realize that the wisdom you acquired in step 4 was not the actual wisdom. This realization brings new wisdom
6. Repeat 1-5 forever
- Think again by Adam Grant
A village near Mumbai did something extraordinary.
No caste divisions. No child labour. No abuse.
Girls’ education is funded. Elderly citizens are cared for.
Even swearing comes with a fine.
And every festival belongs to the entire village.
Imagine if more villages worked like this. 🌱
63 years together.
A lifetime of work.
And the heartbreak of losing their 23-year-old daughter.
Yet when I asked what they wanted most, the answer was simple:
“Just to stay together.”
Sometimes, love is the only thing that remains. ❤️
Born as “Nirasha” because her parents wanted a boy.
But then, she got a new name.
Asha.
A name that means hope.
Because society may label a girl unfairly.
But her existence is enough.
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Yesterday, I received the Zee Maharashtra Gaurav Puraskar and shared a stage with the Chief Minister of Maharashtra. Months ago, I was standing inside classrooms that nobody wanted to talk about.
Life is strange.
And standing on that stage, I wasn't thinking about the award.
I was thinking about all those classrooms.
Because this recognition doesn't belong to me.
It belongs to every teacher who opened their school gates for me.
Every child who trusted me with their story.
Every person in this community who watched, shared, donated, volunteered, and believed.
I had the privilege of receiving this honour alongside incredible artists like Riteish Deshmukh, Girija Oak Godbole and Sachin Kumavat.
But honestly?
The biggest privilege has been getting a front-row seat to the resilience, kindness and brilliance that exists in corners of Maharashtra most people never get to visit.
This award is a reminder that meaningful stories matter. Regional stories matter and above all, human stories matter!
Even when they're not fashionable, not viral.
Even when nobody is watching.
Because sometimes a story doesn't just change perception, it changes reality.
And if there's one thing this journey has taught me...
India's greatest stories are still waiting to be told.
And this is just the beginning!
Two sisters.
One small farm in Solapur.
One dream to become IAS and IPS officers.
They wake up at 4 AM, work in the fields, and still study.
Their father said, “My daughters are my investment.”
This is what 101% belief looks like.
Nithari is known for a dark history.
But then, we went there to break a bigger silence.
Girls celebrated their first period.
Boys learnt how to understand it.
And together, they did a “Pad Bandhan.”
Because periods shouldn’t be shame. They should be understood.
35 children.
One teacher.
No transport.
No proper classroom.
Still, they climb a mountain every day to study.
Maybe the real problem is that stories like these never reach us.
He walks 1.5 km to school every single day, despite struggling to walk properly himself.
When I asked him why education matters so much, he said:
“नाही शिकलं तर खडी फोडायची काम करायला लागणार.”
And when I asked what he wants to become?
“Teacher.”
Some kids don’t just inspire you.
They humble you.
Months ago, this school was declared dangerous.
Children studied under broken slabs, without lights, fans, or safety.
Today, their dream school is real.
Lights. Fans. Solar panels. Digital classroom. Colours.
This is not just a school transformation.
This is childhood getting its roof back.
People don't avoid donating because they don't care. They avoid donating because they don't trust the process.
Let me tell you what I've learned building Kindly.
When we first launched, I thought the hardest part would be the payment infrastructure.
Getting the tech right. Building the UX. Making it easy to give.
We solved all of that.
And then I realised: the hard part isn't the transaction.
It's the moment before the transaction.
That 3-second pause where someone thinks:
"But will I ever know where this actually went?"
That pause is where donations die. Not because people are selfish.
Because they've been burned.
They donated to a campaign that went silent. They gave money to a cause that never followed up. They got a tax receipt and nothing else.
So now they hesitate, because compassion without trust feels like a risk.
Here's what we've learned the proof system needs to look like:
→ Before giving: Show them the exact problem. Location. Number of people. Cost of fix.
→ During the campaign: Live fundraising updates. Not "almost there!" — actual numbers.
→ After the campaign: A 72-hour receipt with field photos.
→ 30 days later: An unsolicited update. Did it work? What changed?
→ 6 months later: Is it still working? What's next?
Most platforms end at step one.
That's why most donors give once and disappear.
The ones who give again and again are not motivated by guilt.
They're motivated by seeing that their ₹500 actually mattered.
That's what Kindly is being built to do.
Not just process donations. Build the proof system around them.
I want to ask you directly:
What would make you donate to a cause without hesitation?
One thing. What would it need to show you?
Tell me in the comments.
I'm building this platform based on answers like yours.
I'm going to say something that will make some of you uncomfortable.
Most people who call themselves "social impact workers" are not doing social impact.
They're doing social impact content.
There's a difference. A big one.
Social impact content looks like:
● Attending a panel discussion about rural education
● Posting a quote about "the power of education" with a sunset photo
● Sharing someone else's NGO story with "This is so important 🙏"
● Listing "Social Impact" in your LinkedIn bio next to your corporate job
Social impact work looks like:
● Going to school. In the rain. On a Tuesday.
● Rebuilding something with actual money that was actually raised
● Going back 6 months later to check if it's still working
● Doing it again when it isn't
I've been both people.
The content person first. The field person after.
And I can tell you, they feel completely different from the inside.
I'm not here to shame anyone. I was the guy posting quotes about education while knowing nothing about a real classroom.
But I think we need to be honest about this gap.
Because when "social impact" becomes a personal brand strategy, the actual children stop mattering.
And they matter. A lot.
So I want to ask you, honestly, no judgment:
Which side of this line are you on right now?
Content? Work? Both? Trying to figure out how to move from one to the other?
Comment below. No performance necessary. Real answers only.
I'll engage with every single one.
Dear NGOs, listen to me, “you don’t have a fundraising problem”, You know why?
I've spoken to over 60 NGO founders in the last two years.
Almost all of them say the same thing:
"We're doing real work. But we can't seem to get consistent funding."
And when I look at their content, I understand why.
Their posts look like this:
→ A photo of a smiling child.
→ A caption about hope and change.
→ A donation link at the bottom.
And donors look at that and think:
"Nice. But what did the ₹500 I gave last month actually do?"
Here's the hard truth.
Donors in India don't avoid giving because they lack generosity.
They avoid giving because they don't trust the process.
Because they've been burned.
→ By NGOs that disappeared after the campaign.
→ By impact reports that said a lot and proved nothing.
→ By donation pages with no update, ever.
Trust is not built with a good cause.
Trust is built with evidence.
Specifically:
→ What was the problem, exactly?
→ What did the money go to, specifically?
→ What changed, measurably?
→ What's still pending, honestly?
Most NGO content answers none of these.
It communicates emotion and then asks for money.
But emotion without evidence is just asking people to take a leap of faith.
And in 2025, most donors are done leaping.
The NGOs that are consistently funded are not necessarily doing the best work.
They're doing the best documentation.
That's the uncomfortable truth.
You can change lives every day and still struggle for funding…
if nobody can see the receipts.
NGO founder, does this happen with you?
Tell me in the comments.
I genuinely want to know which part of this breaks down for your organisation.
This school was unsafe for 40+ tribal children. 4 months later, they walked into a new classroom.
I want to show you exactly what happened in between.
Most "school transformation" posts show you the before-and-after photos.
And skip everything that actually matters.
Here's what nobody shows you:
The before:
Broken walls. A collapsed slab. Loose stones, the children had to navigate on their way to their seats.
The teacher had stopped letting kids sit inside.
Not because she didn't want to teach.
Because she was scared the roof would fall on them.
These children lived 100+ km from Mumbai.
Their families were farmers, labourers, and tribal households.
And every single morning, they walked to a building that could have hurt them.
The fundraising:
₹5.5 lakh. Raised in under 72 hours.
Not from one big donor.
From 1,200+ people who gave between ₹100 and ₹2,000.
Not because we ran a slick campaign.
Because we showed the actual problem. The actual building. The actual cost.
The timeline:
Day 1: Fundraising opens.
Day 3: Target met.
Day 18: Construction begins.
Day 52: First class held in the new room.
Day 120: Full handover. Benches. Proper flooring. A roof that holds.
The after:
40+ children now have a classroom where they can sit without fear.
Their teacher now has a space where she can actually teach.
That's it. That's the whole thing.
No celebrity endorsements.
No corporate logo on a banner.
Just proof. Timeline. Numbers.
I'm going to document every single school we fix like this going forward.
Because CSR teams deserve evidence. Donors deserve transparency. Children deserve both.
If you're in a CSR team, NGO, or education foundation and want to see the full cost breakdown for this school, comment SCHOOL below.
I'll send it to you directly.
The hardest question I get isn’t from journalists. Not even from my parents.
It’s from a child who asks, “Will you come back?”
And honestly… sometimes, I don’t know the answer.
I can promise a lot of things.
A classroom. Supplies. Funding. Support.
But presence? That’s harder.
Because after every school visit, there’s another message waiting.
Another village. Another government school. Another teacher asking for help.
And somewhere in between all of that… a child remembers you.
I’ve had children hold my hand while leaving and ask:
“When are you coming again?”
Not because they want gifts. Because they got attached.
That question stays with me longer than any award ever has.
Because the truth is, some schools I’ve visited only once.
But because there are 30 more waiting.
And that math quietly breaks you.
Do you go deeper with one school?
Or wider across many?
Do you stay?
Or keep moving because more people need help?
Nobody talks about that part of social work.
The emotional cost of not being able to be everywhere you want to be.
Because impact looks beautiful online.
But behind it are impossible choices.
And sometimes the hardest part is realising:
You can build infrastructure faster than you can build presence.
A classroom can be funded in weeks.
Trust takes longer.
Connection takes longer.
Returning takes longer.
Maybe that’s why that question hurts so much.
Because children don’t ask it casually. They ask it hopefully.
And hope is a very delicate thing to hold in someone else’s hands.
So now, whenever a child asks me:
“Will you come back?”
I don’t answer quickly anymore.
Because I’ve realised something.
Showing up once can change a moment.
But showing up again… can change a life.
India worships Saraswati every year. And underpays every teacher every month.
Pick one.
We touch books to our foreheads. We call teachers:
“Guru.”
“Nation builders.”
“Equal to God.”
And then we pay many of them ₹10,000–15,000 a month.
Sometimes less.
We celebrate knowledge culturally.
But structurally?
We treat the people delivering it as low-cost labour.
I’ve met government school teachers who:
Teach five classes alone.
Travel kilometres to remote villages.
Buy classroom supplies from their own salary.
And after all that.
They’re still expected to handle:
Election duty, census work, survey forms, mid-day meal records.
Some teachers spend over 100+ days a year doing non-teaching work.
Imagine that.
The country says:
“Teachers shape the future.”
And then pulls them out of the classroom to fill spreadsheets.
That contradiction says everything.
Because if India truly worshipped knowledge…
Its knowledge workers wouldn’t be exhausted, underpaid, and overused.
And this is not just about salary.
It’s about respect. Real respect.
Not Teacher’s Day speeches.
Not motivational WhatsApp forwards.
Not touching feet once a year.
Real respect looks like:
Good pay, training, support systems, and time to actually teach.
We keep saying education is the future of India.
But the future is being built by people we barely invest in.
And honestly, no education system can rise above the dignity of its teachers.
So maybe it’s time we stop asking:
“Why are learning outcomes poor?”
And start asking:
“How are the people responsible for learning being treated?”
Filming charity doesn’t make it fake. Hiding it doesn’t make it real.
This is probably the oldest argument in social impact content.
“Why do you need to record it?”
“Why can’t you just help quietly?”
And honestly?
I understand where that discomfort comes from.
Nobody wants suffering turned into content.
Neither do I.
But here’s what people don’t see.
The child you’re accusing me of “using for views”…
might now have a classroom because 20 lakh people saw that video.
I’ve seen schools receive funding because a story reached the right people.
I’ve seen one reel bring:
• Donations
• Volunteers
• Corporate support
• Long-term visibility
Visibility is not always vanity. Sometimes, visibility is infrastructure.
Because the uncomfortable truth is:
A silent problem stays invisible.
And invisible problems rarely get solved.
We romanticise the idea of “quiet charity.” But the internet has changed how impact works.
Today, awareness creates attention.
Attention creates trust. Trust creates funding. Funding creates change.
That doesn’t mean every act of charity should be filmed.
It means documenting impact is not automatically exploitation.
Intent matters. Dignity matters. Transparency matters.
And honestly, some of the loudest people shaming documented kindness…
have never built anything publicly themselves.
Neither awareness. Nor systems. Nor change.
I’ve realised something after years of doing this work.
People are comfortable with content that sells products.
But deeply uncomfortable with content that exposes reality.
Because reality interrupts comfort.
If filming a school helps build the next classroom…
I will film it.
Respectfully. Transparently. Honestly.
Not because suffering should become content.
But because sometimes content is the only reason the suffering gets noticed at all.
At a small school in Maharashtra, 30+ grandmothers show up every week with pink sarees, school bags, and unfinished dreams.
They are learning alphabets, songs, and the joy of finally getting the education life once denied them.
Learning has no age. It’s never too late.
India is on the verge of becoming the world’s largest exporter of social innovation.
Not software. Not manufactured goods.
But scalable, low-cost solutions to humanity’s hardest problems.
And strangely…
I don’t think we’ve realised how big this moment is.
Because no other country has this combination:
Scale.
1.4 billion people stress-testing every solution at impossible volume.
Frugal innovation.
Indian nonprofits have mastered doing more with dramatically less.
Diversity.
If a solution works across 28 states in India…
it can probably work almost anywhere.
I’ve seen this myself.
A small school in Maharashtra gets a digital classroom built in under ₹5 lakh through community funding.
A transparent giving model mobilises lakhs in days.
Teachers with almost no resources create systems that outperform elite schools.
These are not just “good stories.”
They are exportable models.
And now, something bigger is happening.
We have:
→ Family philanthropists willing to back long-term change
→ A 3.5 crore-strong diaspora connecting India globally
→ A national ambition like Viksit Bharat 2047 pushing scale thinking
At the same time, global aid budgets are shrinking.
Which means the world is going to look for something very specific:
Cheap. Proven. Scalable solutions.
And honestly?
Nobody understands scale under constraint better than India.
For decades, India was seen as a recipient of global aid.
I think the next chapter looks very different.
India becoming a provider of social solutions to the world.
Because when you can solve problems here, in this complexity, this density, this diversity, you build systems strong enough to travel.
This is no longer just charity.
This is India’s next great export.
The question is not whether we have the capability.
The question is:
Are we thinking big enough about what India can become?
He stammers while speaking.
But dreams of teaching English one day.
Then he said:
“मी शाळेला कम्प्युटर देणार.”
“I’ll give computers to my school.”
A few minutes later…
he walked into a computer lab we built for him ❤️
Let me tell you about the school in Lohagaon.
We built a computer lab there through Mission 30303.
Total cost? Under ₹5 lakh.
A government school in suburban Pune now has children, many of whom have never owned a smartphone, learning on a digital board for the first time.
I still remember their faces when the screen lit up.
Curiosity. Shock. Excitement.
I posted that moment.
Over 20 lakh people watched it.
But honestly?
That’s not the part I keep thinking about.
What I keep thinking about is this:
The entire solution was:
Community-funded.
Influencer-amplified.
100% transparent.
And implemented within 72 hours of fundraising.
And suddenly, I realised,
This model doesn’t belong only to India.
It could work in Kenya.
Bangladesh.
Rural Indonesia.
Anywhere trust in giving is broken.
Which is… most of the world right now.
The most interesting part?
The frugality is not the weakness.
It’s the innovation.
The Bain–Dasra 2025 report says something I deeply believe:
India is emerging as a global leader in building scalable, low-cost solutions to social problems.
And honestly, I think we underestimate what that means.
Because think about what India has:
1.4 billion people stress-testing every solution at impossible scale.
A nonprofit ecosystem forced to innovate with limited resources.
A 3.5 crore-strong diaspora taking ideas across the world.
And now, a generation of founders who grew up seeing the problem firsthand…
…and came back to solve it.
I’m one of them.
I didn’t build Kindly only for India.
I built it because:
Transparent giving, community-powered funding,
and verified impact, are not Indian problems.
They are human problems.
And maybe that’s India’s real opportunity.
Not just becoming a technology powerhouse.
But becoming the world’s most important social innovation lab.
But for that to happen, our philanthropists, founders, creators, all of us…
have to stop thinking locally about impact.
Because what works in a small school in Lohagaon today…
could genuinely change communities across the world tomorrow.
The question is no longer:
“Can India solve its problems?”
The question is:
Can India export its solutions?
Maybe even its kindness.
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