A social entrepreneur

I find it extremely rejuvenating when I come across selfless people, selfless in the true sense of the term. When Nityamuktaprana Mataji of Sarada Math invited me to attend their mega event for young women, I was a bit sceptical. I wondered what a   middle aged lady would gain out of a youth summit. Mataji had insisted that I should come and obviously I could not say no. I had one more excuse to visit North Calcutta and the Sovabazaar Rajbari which never fails to attract me with all its magical charm and romanticism from a bygone era. While attending the event I realised once more that learning never ends at any point of time.

Vinayak Lohani founder of Parivaar( http://www.parivaar.org/)is an amazing person. Dressed in white linen clothes like a brahmachari he walked past the awed onlookers while speaking to Mataji who welcomed him warmly. He addressed the audience in English and Bengali. As he spoke about his work I felt proud that India still had such talented young men and women who dared to live a life of renunciation and selfless karma.  An IIT, IIM alumni Vinayak chose to set up a home for destitute children when he realised that he could “contribute” much more by changing and shaping lives of children who had no one to help them, than working for his corporate bosses. He made a distinction between “contribution” and “achievement”. He also spoke about Swami Ranganathanandaji’s teaching about  the three kinds of energies or strengths in human beings  –“bahubalam”, “buddhibalam” and “atmabalam” – and the supremacy of ‘atmabalam’ over the rest .(For more detailed explanation on the topic check out the following link http://www.rkmathnagpur.org/new_temple/significance_temple.htm) .Vinayak had started with three children in a rented home and now has his own place with over 700 children to keep him company.  Greatly influenced by Swamiji’s teachings the young man looked every inch a true follower of Swamiji. During the initial days Vinayak coached students to make ends meet but now receives overwhelming support from friends to run his organisation which is growing everyday.

India needs more people like Vinayak who are educated, intelligent and entrepreneurial to form such self-help groups for social empowerment. Today as I sat and completed a UNICEF sponsored KPMG run online survey on fund-raising environment in India I realised that the culture of donating for social causes is yet to catch up in India in a big way. Successful Indians spend thousands on their personal interests and pleasures but think twice before contributing to social causes. In a country where people make a mockery out of PDS systems meant to serve the poorest of the poor, citizens are naturally suspicious of self-help groups/NGOs that approach them for funds. Some time back while completing an online course on fund raising I came to know that in UK more women donate than men though men tend to donate larger sums. Engagement with donors is a professionally managed business with high levels of accountability built into the entire system. I wonder if we will ever have such environment in India. However people like Vinayak should be encouraged and supported by all well meaning individuals who would like to “contribute” in their own small way.