Lakshmi Ashram: A home to the needy
Self-sustainability is widely accepted as a principle of human development. Thus creation of independence is an important to uplift the underprivileged sections of our society. This is exactly what Lakshmi Ashram, a very unique form of school in Uttarakhand, intends to achieve. Situated at the base of Nanda Devi in …
Azim Premji: Philanthropy through Education
There are many business tycoons who turn into partial or full time philanthropists. We have heard of many international leaders and software developers earning the huge bucks shifting their primary focus to uplifting the society or a particular underprivileged class. From actors like Salman Khan conducting Being Human campaigns to …
The Man Who Knew – Nikola Tesla
We all tend to look at social service in different ways. It depends on how one defines ‘social’. According to me, to help the world as a whole is to help each and every living soul in it. We have Blue Cross to aid animals and Red Cross to help …
The Bindi Project: Spreading the message of love
Today, cases of rape, molestation, abuse, harassment are ever increasing. One only has to switch on the news to be flooded with reports of such unfortunate incidents. Last year’s Nirbhaya case is still fresh in our minds. As these condemnable incidents keep on happening, our politicians and leaders continue to …
The Internet’s Own Kid-Aaron Swartz
Unjust laws exist; shall we be content to obey them , Or shall we endeavor to amend them, And obey them until we have succeeded, Or shall we transgress them at once? When American philosopher Thoreau gave these lines he would never have imagined the impact it would have over …
People’s President Jos Mujica
When we talk of charity and actually helping the needy in our country, we all think of public-spirited people who may be lawyers or NGO workers. With the changing business scenario, even the corporates have started practicing what is known as Corporate Social Responsibility, building hospitals and the like. But …
Philanthropy on Wheels – Sandeep Desai
Education is the most powerful weapon that you can use to change the World – Nelson Mandela Here is a story of a Marine Engineer turned Philanthropist, Sandeep Desai. In 1997, he set up a trust, Shloka Missionaries, to launch educational reforms, funded by donations and his earnings. After setting …
Altruistic Audrey
‘Taking care of children has nothing to do with politics. Politics has nothing to do with one’s helping a dying child. Survival, that’s what it’s about. I think perhaps with time, instead of there being a politicization of humanitarian aid, there will be a humanization of politics.’ She is today …
It’s you! You are the good Samaritan!
We, the aristocrats, bureaucrats and the educated few criticize the current state of affairs but only to watch the world rot in the gut on television. We discuss the statistics of poverty, yet when we witness one right before us, we become the supposedly ‘higher class of people’ who shrug …
The Helping Angel
“After I retired, I decided to give something back to the nation that took care of me” “Newspapers in Germany call me the most successful beggar.” Born on January 01 1934, in Taiping Malaysia, Mr, Shivadas S. Pattanath, always wanted to be a “helping angel”. The 80 year old, …