My name is Aarya Hallikeri.  I am a mechanical engineering student from KLEIT, and in my latest project, I took action when others refused to. 

The Old Bus Stand in Hubli was in a horrible condition.  The walls were stained with red from people spitting on them and alcoholic bottles littered the ground.  There was clearly no respect for public space. Local officials, including the police, were doing nothing.  I decided to do something about it.

I made a team of 12 students and LEADers and together, and we worked throughout the day to clean up the entire bus stand. We painted the walls, we picked up trash, and we declared the area as a plastic free zone.  Our goal was to make the Bus Stand area as hygienic as possible.  We spread awareness by talking to the people at the bus stand.  We told them what we were doing, and we encouraged them to stop spitting and to throw away their trash properly.

After we had been working for 2 hours, some of the depot managers approached us and tried to stop our work.  They criticized our efforts.  We spoke to higher authorities and convinced them to let us continue our work. 

The impact of my project was big.  LEADers in Davangere, Chikodi, Dharwad, and Laxmeshwar have implemented the same initiative in their locations.   On August 15^th, Independence Day, we received appreciation certificates from the Managing Director of NWKSRTC.

In addition to cleaning the bus stand, I have implemented six other projects.  I completed one technical project (the first technical LEAD project from my college) in which I created a device that can generate electricity from cow urine. 

My intiative that has generated a large amount of measurable success, though, has been in the realm of social media.  When KLEIT formed the first LEAD student governing body back in November of 2012, I stepped up and accepted a position as the official KLEIT LEAD Cell Media Head.  As Media Head, I have taken the KLEIT LEAD Cell Facebook page to a new level.  Within only one and a half months, I actively reached out to my different networks and was able to acquire 445 likes.  I have also recently joined the LEAD team as a Social Media intern, and I’m now managing the main LEAD Facebook page, as well as the other LEAD location pages.  The main LEAD Facebook page currently has over 10,000 likes. 

I think completely differently.  I have my own thoughts and my own beliefs.  Before LEAD, I was not realistic.  I used to only just think.  LEAD helped me with my implementation.  Learning how to implement my ideas has really helped me improve my self-confidence.