Sikh Human Development Foundation, Inc. USA  

Chairman’s Speech

At the SHDF Fund-raising Dinner on

Sunday, April 6, 2008

At the Sheraton Premiere Hotel, Vienna , Virginia

Respected Sardar Gurvendra Singh Suri and distinguished guests:

I am privileged to welcome you all, noble minds and noble spirits, to our Umeedan di Shaam.

It is a historic evening when some 700 members of our community have come together at one place to support young men and women of Punjab and neighboring areas who can’t afford higher education. We are gratified and we thank you for your vote of confidence in this foundation.

At the last fundraiser in 2006, I had shared with you the story of Karandeep Kaur, a scholarship recipient, who had written an on-the-spot message for us at the GNDU in 2003.  I quote a couple of passages; … “These days, education seems to be the monopoly of rich only and the dreams of many students are crushed when they can’t study due to economical problems..... It pleased me very much that there is some one in this world who has already undertaken a kind project to help and save humanity”. And she concludes beautifully: “ To love God, we should first love humanity.” Unquote. Truly, she summed up the essence of Sikhism.

Four years and one month later, in  November, 2007, I get an unexpected e-mail from her, which, among other things, says:

‘Hi Sir”

This is Karandeep Kaur. You remember me?

“You’ll be pleased to know that this Karandeep, whom you have discussed in ur speeches and your website, is blessed with a job in IT industry. I am now part of Infosys, the largest Indian MNC. ….”

And then she gives the startling information:

“At college, my times were worse than what you know. Now I am the sole bread earner of my family. My elder sister has recently got married and my younger sister is doing professional course. I have taken all these responsibilities on my shoulders with the blessings of Almighty. “

Now let us pause here and think . A relatively resource-poor family in village Ghoman loses its bread winner. The family has three daughters of marriageable age. In this harsh world, what could this family do to escape the painful pressures of poverty? They knew that every sunrise would pull them towards greater dependence and eventual destitution.

 In this sordid scenario, the only outside intervention in the fortune of this family was your foundation’s scholarship to Karandeep This scholarship helped her complete her college education and find a good job.

And look at the result? The family could keep its head high, marry off one daughter and start financing the professional education of the other. Instead of pity, the family won respect and admiration of other villagers. Dignity and honor of the family was preserved. Karandeep, whose excellence in studies was matched by her ethics, became a role model for other village girls.

Honored Guests, it is because of your donations that young bright minds like Karandeep and her family have a future today.  How do you feel knowing your donations are helping many a Karandeep move towards a future filled with hope and promise?  Every scholarship brings a welcome journey from potential destitution to dignity. Such is its magic. It moves our youth from darkness to light; from bitterness, frustration and despair to a life of hope, gratitude and dignity. This program not only brightens the lives of the scholarship recipients; it also brightens the lives of their families and raises the status of the community.

We have by now given nearly 800 of these scholarships to help our youth rise to their full potential. Of these 178 have already graduated.

Interestingly, even though there are much fewer female applicants than boys, about 50 percent of our scholarships go to girls. Similarly, over 50 percent of scholarships go to applicants from villages. 

 Now, I am not going to take your time to dwell on the fact that:

·         we are a purely professional set up,

·         that our overhead costs are minimal, with zero salary budget and zero international travel costs,

·         that we enjoy excellent cooperation form most reputable organizations and institutions in India ,

·         that by now we have a proven track record in governance and delivering results.

You will find the details in the Souvenir on your table as well as at our web-site.

 On the other hand, I must share with you the information that the trickle of applications that we started with in 2001 has already become a stream and the pace is accelerating. This year, even though we gave 50 more scholarships than last year; we still had to turn down some 80 applications just because we did not have the funds to finance these scholarships. This was a sad moment for your foundation.

 There are several reasons why the number of applications will accelerate further. Let me mention four major reasons:

(i) One, our annual anecdotal student surveys show that the popularity of the SHDF scholarship program is on the rise. We now cover all districts of Punjab and more and cover a large number of colleges;

(ii) Second, the cost of studies is increasing every year, the family incomes are not. Result: college education is becoming less and less affordable by large segments of population. This means greater need for outside help;

(iii)Three, India is creating jobs and business opportunities in skill intensive sectors at a rate not known to human history. Job mobility rates in search of higher salaries are 86 percent and employers are being compelled to offer incentives to employees to make them stay on the job. What better time is there for our youth to enter the job market? Remember : Time and Tide wait for no man.

(iv) Finally, two days ago, I got an e-mail from HS Phoolka, Chairman, Gyan Sewa Trust, one of our collaborators. I quote: We want to give you good news. Gyan Sewa Trust has started the Coaching Classes throughout Punjab through Satellite. Today 82 Centers were on the air conducting Coaching Classes.” Unquote.   Ladies and gentlemen, this is a million dollar news. One of the biggest constraints of students from villages and small towns has been removed. Now they would get cutting edge, free of cost coaching in their homes to help them crack major entrance examinations for engineering and medical and other colleges. Ladies and gentlemen, if this experiment succeeds, get ready for a flood of applications for scholarships from really poor boys and girls.
 

Against the backdrop of rapidly increasing number of applications, our goal to annually finance some 500 scholarships by 2010 and 1,000 scholarships by 2015 looks rather modest. At today’s dollar rupee exchange rate, we would annually need some $250,000 as scholarship money alone by 2010, and $ 500,000 annually by 2015.

Simultaneously, we are working to build a sufficiently large endowment fund to make the scholarship program self-sustaining. Towards this end, we appeal to you to become our patrons, benefactors, members gold, platinum or diamond Circle members.

Pause.

While talking of patrons and benefactors, may I take the opportunity to recognize our existing Patrons, Benefactors, Members Gold Circle and Member Platinum Circle? I request all of them to kindly rise from their seats for a moment and say hello to all our guests this evening. Trust me, but for their fullest support and constant encouragement and guidance, we would not have registered so much progress. They are our most valuable asset. We request you to join this group in large numbers.

I had once remarked that our youth is like uncut diamonds. When chiseled, we don’t know which one will turn out to be an icon like Prime Minister Manmohan Singh or Montek Singh Ahluwalia , both educated on scholarships, or IT Industry icons like Ken Bajaj and Gurvendra Suri. Such people give new direction, set new standards of Excellence and Ethics and Compassion; indeed they change the course of history.

Talking of changing the course of history, I am reminded of events in our community more than a century ago. Our fore-fathers realized that “the light of western education and civilization” was not reaching the Sikh villages”. As a consequence, the Sikh community was “very poorly represented in the learned professions, and in posts of honor and responsibility in the civil administration.”  They strived hard. Ten years later Khalsa College, Amritsar was opened with great fanfare. However, soon it was hit with a serious financial crisis. To resolve this, a large Sikh conference was called on April 12, 1904. Maharaja Hira Singh of Nabha presided. A most dramatic moment came when, at the end of the presidential address, Sardar Sundar Singh Majithia stood up and held out the hem of his cloak in front of Maharaja Hira Singh and pleaded for generous donations to build the educational future of Sikhs. History records that donations came pouring in from maharajas, their courtiers, and other Sardars. It rejuvenated the Sikh educational enterprise, which was later institutionalized in the Sikh Educational Conference. Our generation owes so much to the vision and investment of our forefathers who supported high education.

Ladies and gentlemen, today is again the day for history to repeat itself. We are poorly represented in the knowledge economy of India today. Our youth are being left behind. In the distinguished gathering here, we have many maharajas of the twenty first century. I, on behalf of my foundation, ask you to whole heartedly and generously support the professional education of our resource-poor youth back home. This will be the best seva you can do. After all, humanitarian service is the Sikh ideal of seva. Khaalik Khalak, khalak mein Khaalak,  poora reho srab thaeen.” (p1350 GGS). “ Ja ke mastak bhag, se seva laya”. When you serve humanity you are serving God. If you do that, then what happens? Gurbani says: Jeh jeh kaaj kirat sevak ki taha taha uth dhawe. Sevak ki nikti hoey dikhawe. Jo jo Kahe thakar pe sevak tatkaal hoye aawe. GGS p403). If you are a true sevak, god follows you where you go and fulfills all your needs. This is a powerful and inspiring endorsement of seva. This is our powerful appeal to you this evening. Today is the day to act.

Thank you.

Amar Jit Singh Sodhi
Chairman
Sikh Human Development Foundation, Inc.
8612 Hartsdale Avenue,
Bethesda, MD 20817, USA
Phone (301) 571 5430