The friendly akka
|
Mathioli Saraswathy's Nandalala Children's Club, that started off as an after school activity centre, has grown by leaps and bounds.
|
Selfless devotion Mathioli Saraswathy chooses to work with the underprivileged and needy.
She looks the typical friendly neighbourhood aunty. But 65-year old Mathioli Saraswathy has weathered personal tragedies and shed homely comforts to work for the underprivileged. Despite being born in an orthodox middle class family, Saraswathy chose to ward off severe family pressures for marriage.
She was in her early 30s when her father died. The mantle of looking after her mother and a sister fell on her. She worked as a LIC agent to maintain the family. But there was an urge in her to work for the creative and overall development of tiny tots. This led to the foundation of the Nandalala Children's Club in Chennai with her personal savings.
The club was started as an after-school activity centre where children of all ages could be imbibed with social, cultural and spiritual values. It soon became popular with the locals who chipped in with spontaneous donations to set up the Nandalala Seva Samithi Trust in 1988. Her selfless work endeared her to many parents and children in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh. She is fondly called akka (elder sister) by some and athai (aunty) by others. With donations pouring in from various quarters, the samithi soon extended its wings to Bangalore, Thiruvananthapuram, Tiruchi, New Delhi and Hyderabad. Saraswathy was recently in the city in connection with the organisation's activities.
Goes global
"I want children to grow up in a creative environment and enjoy all the fun and frolic of childhood," says Saraswathy on why she chose the mission. It is only when children are given all facilities that they can emerge as illustrious citizens of the country. At the local government school in Padmaraonagar, Secunderabad, the samithi organises a free milk supply programme every week for about 100 children. Though it may appear a small gesture our idea is to provide the basic nutrients to the thousands of malnourished children in the country," she says.
What started as a grassroots endeavour in the form of a children's club, has now expanded globally with the mission of establishing centres in California and New Jersey.
Though funds continue to pour in from various quarters, Saraswathy continues to be an agent with the LIC. She donates 50 per cent of her earnings to the samthi.
Moved by the plight of hundreds of renal failure patients, the Samithi has taken up works for the construction of a 10-bedded sophisticated dialysis centre with a diagnostic laboratory, at an estimated cost of Rs. one crore
The Ministry of Communications and Information Technology have identified Nandalala samithi trust for distributing free educational software developed by Microsoft Corporation to the deserving schools in India. The samithi had so far identified 250 schools for the software assistance scheme and distributed the same for schools in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka and Pune.
The organisation regularly conducts medical, blood donation and health camps in Tamil Nadu and Karnataka where medicines and spectacles are distributed to the poor.Saraswathy participated at the World Parliament of Religions 2004, in Barcelona. The mission was chosen to participate in the international forum in recognition of its grassroots community outreach in health care and education initiative. She was conferred the NCERT award for her book on children's literature.
The samithi recently constructed a cultural centre at Chennai where each month special programmes are conducted besides celebrating important festivals like Gurunanak Jayanthi, Buddha Purnima, Christmas.
R. BALAJI
Printer friendly
page
Send this article to Friends by
E-Mail
Entertainment
Bangalore
Chennai and Tamil Nadu
Delhi
Hyderabad
Thiruvananthapuram
