aaghavendiyatha paaru

Aaghavendiyatha Paaru was the abidingphilosophy in life for GangaSingararaman after whom theorganisation is named.

Simply translated, this Tamil phrasemeans look ahead.

The deeper meaning is, however,profound.

It exhorts people to focus on doingwhat needs to be done than staying ahostage to the past.

Rehabilitation is a long-drawn process.A smile and a positive approach make a difference.

profile

The Ganga Trust has seven-member Governing and AdvisoryBoards to oversee and guide the work of the institution.

Partners-In-Caring: A Partners For Mobility program is thefirst in the planned Partners-In-Caring network. This programfocuses on persons facing locomotion challenges.

This program, with 50 sponsors, is working with the MaryVergheseInstitute of Rehabilitation (a part of CMC Vellore), a place withwhich the founders have first-hand experience.

The Ganga Trust hopes to replicate pools of 50 unique sponsorsdedicated to different categories of the physically challenged.

A Partners For Education program - a general purpose initiative –is at a nascent stage.

Approach: The Ganga Trust will adopt a Partners-In-Caringapproach.

The GangaTrust believes involvement of individuals as partners isthe best way and that integrity, execution excellence andinstitution-building are the key to achieving its objective.

The Ganga Trust will pursue activities with carefully-chosenorganisations that will aid and enhance quality of execution.

Work: Even as the legal formalities were being completed,TheGanga Trust started doing modest work in furthering educationof the needy for about two years.

The Ganga Trust is now registered and approved under Section80G of the IncomeTax Act in India.

The GangaTrust commenced active work on September 3, 2010,the birthday of Ganga Singararaman -Vaidy’s mother - after whomthe organisation is named.

She played a pivotal role in his rehabilitation after a spinal cordinjury, and supported him, even while enjoying two years of hostellife in her late sixties at IIM Bangalore.

This helped ensure he completed his course. This was the highpoint in her life marked by several daunting challenges.

Inspiration: In today’s world,it is a challenge to even try tobe a Good Samaritan. In thiscontext, the work of DrSuranjan Bhattacharji standsout.

He is a Gandhian who hasdevoted four decades (andcounting) to the cause ofphysically-challenged personsacross India. He haschampioned effective low-costrehabilitation, a must in anemerging-world context.

Her abiding philosophy in lifewas Aaghavendiyatha Paaru.

This Tamil phrase means lookahead. The deeper meaning is,however, profound. It exhortspeople to focus on doing whatneeds to be done than stayinga hostage to the past.

The Ganga Trust firmlysubscribes to this philosophy. Itshall function in a proactivemanner by embracing theguidelines set out in its charter.

203 Chowdhry Nagar 18th Street Phone +91 97909 36844Valasaravakkam Chennai 600 087 India Email thegangatrust@gmail.com

Ganga symbolises motherhood, the source of everlastingsustenance.

‘Ganga’, derived from the name of an ancient, sacred Indian river,signifies what is perennial, yet full of life; calm, yet powerful; delicate,yet strong: qualities embodying the quintessential mother.

The need for such a Mother form is essential for all, especially thosewho experience physical challenges. The Ganga Trust aspires tosupport such people.

Vision & Objective: Empowering Ability is at the core of TheGangaTrust.

Every person facing a physical challenge - be it relating to sight,hearing, speech, mobility, deformity, thought process, age - hascertain unique skills.

Our vision is to help such people stabilise at home, harness theirskills, establish a meaningful livelihood, integrate with theirenvironment and have a vibrant life.

The prime objective of The Ganga Trust is supporting therehabilitation of physically-challenged persons, especially when theyget back home after treatment.This is the tougher phase, as realityis harsh in several respects.

Dr Suranjan Bhattacharji is now the Director of the reputedChristian Medical College (CMC) inVellore.

For two of the founders of The Ganga Trust, who were studentsin 1990, his exhortation “you must do something for the physicallychallenged” is still ringing in their ears.The Ganga Trust is an ideainspired by his deeds and words.

Founders: Elango Thambiah initiated The Ganga Trust in early2008.The co-founders are Nath Balakrishnan and S Vaidyanathan(Vaidy). Elango andVaidy were batch-mates at IIM Bangalore.

AsVaidy underwent rehabilitation after a spinal cord injury at CMC,they had the opportunity to interact with Dr Suranjan whoarticulated the long-term expectation.

Elango Thambiah(Founder)

The Ganga Trust is Elango’sbrainchild. Elango, a doer,raconteur par excellence and abig-picture guy, leads our effortto make a difference.

Alumnus, IIM BangaloreTataTeleservices

S.Vaidya Nathan(Co-Founder)

Vaidy believes whatever happens,happens for the good, taking afterhis idol Mohinder Amarnath. Hisfocus is the work of The GangaTrust on the ground.

Alumnus, IIM BangaloreSundaram Asset Management

Nath Balakrishnan(Co-Founder)

A hard-nosed sales person, Nathbrings rich expertise incommunication and marketing.He knows the world of spinalcord injury well.

Alumnus, S P JainSpark Capital

R Sekhar

Sekhar adds decades ofexperience in accounting, lawand tax. He oversees the workof The Ganga Trust from aholistic perspective.

Finance ProfessionalOwn Accounting Firm

Vidya Subramanian

Vidya, enterprising and adept atmulti-tasking, is a trained film-maker and journalist. She is nowa well-recognised expert indigital media.

Alumnus,ACJ ChennaiFrost & Sullivan

Amruthalakshmi Rajagopalan

Amrutha adds the touch ofyouth to the effort. She hasplayed a pivotal role in ourbranding. She is our link to thedesign world.

Post Graduate StudentNational Institute of Design

Suresh Krishnamurthy

Suresh lends an old-worldcharm and balance, attributesincreasingly rare now. Suresh isthe Managing Trustee of TheGangaTrust.

Finance ProfessionalCRISIL

the governing board

the advisory board

Dr Suranjan Bhattacharji

Suranjan has devoted his life toworking for the physicallychallenged. He is the Director ofthe reputed Christian MedicalCollege (CMC) inVellore.

Rasheeda Bhagat

Rasheeda, a journalist withseveral decades experience, is aSenior Associate Editor in TheHindu Group. She covers life-related issues in depth.

Sunil Gautam

Sunil is the founder of Hanmer& Partners, now known asHanmer MSL. An expert inpublic relations, he will helpreach our message far and wide.

P Unnikrishnan

Unni, a renowned Carnaticsinger, is also acclaimed for hisrendition of film songs. UnniSingsfor Special Needs is his uniquecontribution to our cause.

Dr Guru Nagarajan

Guru, with a doctorate incommunity-based rehabilitation,is a Social Worker in CMC. Heis working for the physicallychallenged for 20 years now.

W S Ravishankar

Ravi, a 1993 alumnus of IIM,Bangalore, is the founder ofBanyanTree Advisors and ProbeEquity Research. He bringsexpertise in start-ups.

S Ramakrishnan

Ramki is the founder and CEOof Sports Mechanics. Ramki andhis firm have a long associationwith the Indian cricket team asCricket Analysts.

the ganga trust charter! The GangaTrust shall strive to be an organisation with a conscience.

! The GangaTrust shall seek to achieve excellence in execution.

! Means shall be as important as ends in all the activities of The GangaTrust.

! The GangaTrust shall always operate in a transparent manner.

! The GangaTrust shall never associate itself directly or indirectly with any political, religious or caste activity.

! The GangaTrust shall never accept any contribution in cash or kind from anonymous sources.

! The GangaTrust may accept contributions only from organisations with a reputation for ethics.

! TheTrustees and employees ofThe GangaTrust shall maintain anonymity at places where it offers support.

! The name ofThe GangaTrust shall be used in the public domain only for bringing in partners and spreading awareness.

! The GangaTrust shall always be prepared to learn from good, average and bad outcomes.

! The GangaTrust shall be a paper-less organisation except for documents needed by law and for creating awareness.

! The GangaTrust shall embrace prevailing and emerging technologies as it strives for optimum quality.

key operating principles

! The size of theThe Governing Board ofTrustees shall be capped at seven and reviewed every three years.

! The Governing Board shall meet at least once a quarter, including by video link and conference calls.

! The GangaTrust shall normally not have arrangements in which anyTrustee or relatives are interested.

! The GangaTrust shall have a seven-member Advisory Board to avail expertise in diverse areas.

! The GangaTrust shall pay its employees a fair wage and strive to be a lean outfit.

! Capital preservation shall be the sole objective in deploying the funds ofThe GangaTrust.

! Funds shall not be invested in equity, commodity-oriented or other risk assets, directly or indirectly.

! Operating expenses shall be communicated and approved by two designatedTrustees on a monthly basis.

! Any expense or obligation in excess of Rs 25,000 must be approved in advance by the designatedTrustees.

! The bank account ofThe GangaTrust shall always be operated by twoTrustees.

! The GangaTrust shall adopt the calendar year for the purpose of performance review, reporting and audit.

! A report on the work ofThe GangaTrust shall be made available in soft copy form on the first of January every year.

Introducing Partners For MobilityThis is the first in our Partners-In-Caring network tosupport rehabilitation of physically-challenged persons.A group of 50 sponsors has made a lifetime commitmentto make a sizeable and defined contribution every year.This support enables us to pursue meaningful work onthe ground.We have started work with the Mary Verghese Instituteof Rehabilitation in Bagayam, Vellore, which doesawesome life-changing work.This has been our first port of call due to first-handexperience of the founders and confidence in theintegrity and quality of work.

A rare opportunityDr MaryVerghese is the pioneer of Physical Medicine & Rehabilitation in India.

In the early sixties, she was also the visionary who was responsible for starting theRehabilitation Institute in the Bagayam campus of Christian Medical College inVellore, an institution, which appropriately now bears her name.

This initiative was based on her experience at a specialised facility for spinal cordinjury in Australia.

What started as a two-bed unit is today a world-class centre for rehabilitation andcaters to about 600 persons a year from about 125-bed facilities in Bagayam andthe main CMC Hospital inVellore.

Dr MaryVerghese was a great surgeon from the wheelchair and an inspiration topersons in her care in her lifetime and even beyond. She had a spinal cord injuryin 1954 when the picnic van in which she was travelling overturned.

Our Partners For Mobility program had the privileged opportunity to help in therestoration of a montage of Dr MaryVerghese.

We have also helped create two new message boards on Dr Mary Verghese’swork that inform, educate and inspire persons undergoing rehabilitation.

Back to School

Manoj Kumar, aged six and cheerfully fighting his wayfrom a high-level spinal injury, has gone back to schoolin June 2011 and has started in Class One aftermissing a year.

He is going to Anita Methodist Higher SecondarySchool inVepery, Chennai.

This school has a good track record and has also beenopen to enrolling persons with physical challenges.

We take care of the education requirements of Manojand his younger sister, Divya.

We wish them very best.

activity report 2011

activity report 2011Jai HoJaishankar ofVellore was injured in an accident in Bangalore in June2008 that left him a tetraplegic, paralysed from neck down.Threerounds of rehabilitation meant progress, but not enough, as hefound there was little to do when he got back home.

Sulking and killing time was the order of the day.The social workersin CMC came up with an idea drawing from the experience inrehabilitation of another person of almost similar profile.

The idea was for Jaishankar to have a computer that could berented out to children for learning and playing.A noble gesture bya doctor meant a computer was in place quickly.

Support from two community groups soon meant a secondcomputer. His initiative added a small stationery outlet.

Jaishankar is now a confident person and believes he has beengiven another chance, another life.

May his small computer centre grow and benefit not just him, butthe community, too, as it brings computer knowledge to those whocannot afford the facility at home.

Awareness ConcertThe Ganga Trust intends to do one concert a year in order topromote awareness about the ability latent in physically-challengedpersons. In the first, Unnikrishnan, renowned Carnatic singer,performed at a Concert For Mobility in Vellore on February 26,2011.The concert was held to a packed 1000-member audienceat the Ida Scudder Auditorium in CMC Bagayam Campus.

Mattru Thiranaaligal, Ulagai Mattrum..Minnur Mahadevan - who is an enterprising small businessmantoday after a spinal-cord injury in 1990 - has penned a superb song`MattruThiranaaligal, Ulagai MattrumThiranaaligal’ focusing on theability of physically-challenged persons to act as positive changeagents in the world.

The lyrics were so good that Carnatic singer Unnikrishnanperformed the song at the Concert For Mobility.This is also theadopted theme song for Spinal Care India. We played a part inbringing Mahadevan’s talents as a lyricist to the public domain.

Technology Centre in Rehab, BagayamEach person with spinal cord injury spends at least three months in thefirst round of rehabilitation.The process offers time and space to learna new skill. Several do not have access to or awareness of computers.

Learning basic computer skills can help a person in communication,reading news & views, entertainment, networking with peers andgetting to know about government programs. It may also be a good firststep to basic computer jobs.

To help train persons under care at the Mary Verghese Institute ofRehabilitation in a new skill-set, a technology centre with six desktopcomputers has been set up as a first step.

This facility is dedicated to the memory of Narendranath, Class of 1991,IIM Bangalore.

activity report 2011

! Adoption of May 26, the birthdayof Dr Mary Verghese, as AbilityDay;

! Establishment of The RehabAlumni Network for personswith spinal cord injury andacquired brain injury;

! Enhancement of RecreationalFacility at the Mary VergheseInstitute of Rehabilitation for thebenefit of persons under care;

! Publication of The RehabNewsletter, a quarterly journal;

! Augmenting resources ofphysically- and economically-challenged persons undergoingrehabilitation through a StampsProject;

! Setting up of Spinal Care India, anaspiring Pan-India forum forpersons with spinal cord injuryand spinal disorders;

! Partnering with the MaryVerghese Institute ofRehabilitation in a trainingprogram in CommunityLeadership Skills for persons withspinal cord injury who arealready doing appreciable fieldwork;

! Enhancement of resources forvocational training programs forphysically-challenged persons atthe Mary Verghese Trust forPhysically Handicapped inVellore;

! Support for a SocialWorker whofocuses on tracking field-levelrehabilitation of persons withsevere physical challenges;

! Partnership with another NGOto organise a drawing & paintingcompetition for physically-challenged children as well asthose with special needs; and

! Institution of the Dr MaryVerghese Award for Excellencein Empowering Ability.

Initiatives we support

Appreciation 1S Ramakrishnan best exemplifies service to community in its purest form.We know of no otherindividual who has done so much for those around him despite facing the most challengingsituation in personal life.

S Ramakrishnan is the founder and President of Amar Seva Sangam. He is the embodiment ofwhat can be achieved if the mind stays positive, is supplemented with courage and enthusiasmand underpinned by integrity and humility.

An accident during the Indian naval officer selection interview turned Ramakrishnan’s worldcompletely in 1975, as he became a complete tetraplegic. He was an engineering student whenthis life-changing event took place.

A high-level cervical spinal cord injury means Ramakrishnan needs help at every turn to takecare of even simple day-to-day tasks, not to speak of barriers of various hues at every step.

Yet he dreamt big and has been executing his vision in a seamless manner.

What started on a small scale in 1981, as Valley For The Differently Abled in Ayikudy nearTenkasi,Tamil Nadu, is today a shining example for everybody working in the field of service.

That he managed to set up such an institution in a period when scope for communication andnetworking was a far cry from what it is today adds to the magnitude of his achievement.

Amar Seva Sangam, named after Dr. Amarjit Singh Chahal who helped in the rehabilitation ofRamakrishnan, completes 30 years of excellence in 2011. Its services now transcend the worldof the physically challenged, making a difference to many-a-village in the vicinity of and beyondAyikudy.

LiveTo Serve is the motto of the Amar Seva Sangam. Hospitality gets a meaning in Ayikudy.Tomeet Ramakrishnan in person is an experience that is rarely matched.You will instinctively knowyou are with a person of unparalleled excellence.

Do check out www.amarseva.org to learn more about this outstanding personality and anequally outstanding institution. If you happen to be in Madurai orTirunelveli inTamil Nadu, takea few hours to visit Amar Seva Sangam and get a first-hand experience of what is service. It willbe a valuable investment of your time.