How did she turn the fortune of 10,000 children?

"It was scary," remembers Dr. Anubhooti, the ma of 500 children when she was threatened by local people in Gurgaon.

She finally found a park wherein she could conduct her workshops for economically backward children in Gurgaon. One day during a class, a local community barged in and started abusing her and her staff and mishandling the children. Her husband was away and she didn’t want to panic her old parents.

It was time to fight her battles on her own. And she never looked back.

Meet Anubhuti Bhatnagar- the founder and director of the Neofusion group. She founded this NGO a decade back to fulfill her inner calling to serve these underprivileged children and help them break the cycle of poverty, something which her own grandparents have done for themselves.

From an Engineer to a Social Entrepreneur

After working as a software engineer for over 10 years, I didn't feel satisfied. I wanted something more, something meaningful.

To fulfill these needs, with the support of my husband, I started Neofusion Foundation in 2012. I started working with financially weaker adolescents to help them uncover their passions and secure their future. In the last 10 years, Neofusion has groomed and educated around 10,000 kids in 21 States along with Nepal.

I paint, dance, sing, and teach in their performing arts workshops. My work gives me immense satisfaction at the end of the day when I rest my head on the pillow.

 

 

 

 

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A post shared by Anubhooti Rahul Bhatnagar (@dranubhooti)

Challenges

I started the Neofusion Foundation in Jaipur. We had just begun and my husband, Rahul, was transferred to Gurgaon. So, I moved in with him. But the foundation started suffering in my absence. There were lots of challenges and intricacies involved. It was incomplete and inefficient.

I had to decide. So, I left Gurgaon with my  2 and ½ year and an eight-year-old daughter to sort things on my own. It was lonely!

In Jaipur, I discovered that the teacher didn’t teach with the right mindset. There was physical abuse and a lack of good quality education. Furthermore, it was heartbreaking to know that my own trusted people branched out to build their own foundation using my ideas.

I had to find solutions. I did and after successfully reviving the centre in Jaipur, I came back to Gurgaon.

The unbroken spirit

While in Gurgaon, I faced many difficulties establishing a community centre here as well. My family was tense for my safety as now I was working with kids coming from underprivileged, financially weak families aged between 15-17 years old.

Local communities did not like me engaging & lifting up the children. They were insecure. They abused me by using very foul language, misbehaving with her staff, and maltreating my students.

They could terrify me, but could not break my spirit. I held myself up and decided not to plead with anyone for a place anymore.

The Solution- Crowdfunding

I went through the crowdfunding route and was able to collect 2.5 lakhs which was enough to source a place for a year. This is how I established the Neofusion Gurgaon center. And there was no looking back!

We have been operating in Gurgaon for 8 years now and Neo Fusion Jaipur will complete 10 years this year.

What keeps me going?

I do doubt myself at times. It gets difficult sometimes. Sometimes, I think, “How will I do it?” But when I reflect back on my journey, I realize, learning is very important. You got to keep going ahead, no matter how many challenges you face.

I started a new project called "Passion Hub" In March 2022. It enabled me to connect with as many kids as possible

Am I successful?

I really don’t know if I am successful yet. It’s a journey. The fulfillment of my kids' dreams makes me successful. The feeling when they buy something for me from their first salary is inexplicable. It fills my eyes with tears of joy and heart with happiness.

All the sacrifices I made by not spending enough time with my family - my children, husband, and parents be, become worth it when my daughters tell me, "Mumma, we are proud of you." That's what keeps this Maa moving forward. Always!