Alumnus utilizes skills to give back to hometown

Obtaining a quality primary education is a necessary step for any individual wishing to advance in life. Children in the rural Indian village of Mor Karima lack some of the basics necessary to obtain an education, which is why former Texas A&M University-Commerce student Inderjit Singh started a project to help fund the school.

"I was born in a small village called Mor Karima in the district of Ludhiana in India," Singh said. "Most of the rural parts of India have government funded schools and the standards are very poor in these schools. Villages like Mor Karima are in the same boat. The schools lack basic things for students like desks, school supplies, clean water, etc."

Singh recognizes the value of a primary education.

"Since primary education is a very important part for the development of a child, I started working on the project to help the school so that all the children at this school can learn in a good environment," he said."

Singh, who graduated from A&M-Commerce in 2008 with an MBA, created an iPhone and Android application via his company, Beat and Boom, that features music from South Asian artists.

"I was always interested in Indian music after moving to United States and wanted to help school by doing something," he said. "I started working with South Asian artists living abroad and informed them about my project. The response was positive, so I started working on developing  [the app]."

All of the proceeds from sales of the application will go to funding the school.

"The initial target is to raise $5,000 to purchase school desks, school supplies and uniforms," Singh said.

Singh was inspired to begin the project by his grandmother.

"My grandmother passed away in December 2010 and that is when I visited the school," he said. "She was at my graduation and told me that I should help out the school in my village."

One of Singh's goals is to encourage others to participate in projects like his own.

"Hopefully my work will inspire other people to do the same thing at the micro level," he said. "Education can solve poverty, corruption and other social problems."

Students interested in participating in the project can directly download the application from the iPhone and Android app stores, donate through PayPal to beatandboom@gmail.com or spread the word through facebook.com/beatandboom.