Before building your careers, visit the real world: Prakash Baba Amte

Mumbai : Ramon Magsaysay awardee and social worker Prakash Baba Amte, who took the hot seat on television game show "Kaun Banega Crorepati" (KBC) for a special episode, says through the platform, he hopes to urge the country's youth to try and be exposed to reality before building a career of their choice as they may find a new path to live.

The social worker from Maharashtra, along with his wife Mandakini, run an animal orphanage and sanctuary on a 50 acre land in Hemalkasa. They have also been involved in philanthropic work in the form of the Lok Biradari Prakalp amongst the Madia Gonds in Gadchiroli district of Maharashtra and the neighbouring states of Telangana and Madhya Pradesh.

Prakash visited the sets of KBC, hosted by megastar Amitabh Bachchan, as part of ‘KBC Karamveer' which has individuals whose heroic actions and good deeds have brought about a positive change in the society.

Through a show like this, what is the message he wants to share with the world?

"Through KBC, a platform that promotes knowledge, the message I would like to share with the world is that there are many ways one can be exposed to reality. The world is huge and there are a lot of things yet to be unveiled. I always tell my children and the younger generation that before they step into the outside world and build their careers, they should visit such places and one never knows where inspiration comes from.

"They may end up building a career in one of these arenas," Prakash, the younger son of Baba Amte, said in a statement to IANS.

It is what happened to him.

"In our childhood, we never knew how a tribal community lived and had a hazy vision about their lives until my father took us for a picnic to the jungle where we spotted them and realised how they live. It was my father's vision which we took forward and since me and my wife Mandakini were doctors, we opened a hospital under a tree and helped them to lead a better life."

For Prakash, it was a "very exciting feeling" for him to get on the hot seat with the "legendary" Big B.

He has always been a personality that people look up to and I was looking forward to meet him," Prakash said, and praised this year's tagline for KBC, #KabTakRokego, which salutes the indomitable spirit of the common man to overcome obstacles.

"My father Baba Amte has been an inspiring person and we have always followed what he has taught us. It has always been our choice as to how we choose a path in our life and we just felt like we would like to do something good for the tribal community.

"Yes, we faced a lot of hurdles but we didn't stop and that is how 'Kab Tak Rokoge' is defined in my life."