“Few years back, I visited Manjakkudi for some Corporate Social Responsibility work facilitated through my previous organisation. There, we could see hundreds of cycles—which belonged to girls who had come from the nearby 150-plus villages. It was heartening to see so many girls coming to school. When a girl is educated, she will make sure her children are educated too.” These are the words of Mr. Sundar Subramanian, who (along with his wife, Mrs. Sheela Sundaresan), has been a long-time associate of, and donor to, AIM for Seva.
Formerly residents of New Jersey, USA, Mr. Sundar and his wife are followers of Pujya Swami Dayananda Saraswati, and were present at the launch of the AIM for Seva movement in the USA in 2001. What drove him to become a consistent donor was Swamiji’s all-inclusive vision and service-oriented modus operandi that reached tribal areas, and women and children—particularly the emphasis on education and healthcare. “We were motivated to do what we could for the movement. We kept feeling we were not doing enough to give back. Donating to the movement is one way we can help to propel social change…Each rupee we give goes a long way—it goes to villages, to Chatralayams, to women and children. You can see the effect too, when they launch a new Chatralayam or rural initiative. The benefit will last for several generations… Each time my wife and I see a new initiative being launched, we feel that we have so much more to do—and we are doing our best to catch up!” says Mr. Sundar.