The concept of giving is not new to us. All religions consider it virtuous to give and ask its followers to give. While people generally do have incomes to give from, relatively, a fewer people have wealth from which they could think of giving. Also wealth is required for future needs. However there are a few fortunate ones whose wealth far exceeds their own future needs and also the needs of their families and heirs for generations to come. We have in our midst people like Azim Premji, Narayan Murthy and Sudha Murthy, who are giving away large portions of their wealth. One truly admires them.
Warren Buffet, and Bill and Malinda Gates who are amongst the richest persons in the world launched the “Giving Pledge’ in 2010. Billionaires are requested to publicly commit to give away atleast 50% of their wealth either during the lifetime or on death for philanthropy. The total number of billionaires who have taken this pledge are 122. Bill and Melinda Gates who launched this “Giving Pledge Movement” have expressed themselves in the following words:
“We have been blessed with good fortune beyond our wildest expectations, and we are profoundly grateful. But just as these gifts are great, so we feel a great responsibility to use them well. That is why we are so pleased to join in making an explicit commitment to the ‘Giving Pledge’”.
Our country has witnessed one of the most unique and the largest ever giving away of wealth. After independence, the Maharajas of 562 princely states were persuaded to give away voluntarily their entire kingdom and merge their states with the Union of India. This in an achievement, which is unparalleled in history for which our country would ever remain grateful to Sardar Vallabhai Patel.
Later, we also witnessed the ‘Bhoodan Movement’. Vinoba Bhave, by persuasion, managed to collect 47 lakh acres of land from the land owners, which would mean the area of size of a country like Kuwait. What an achievement!
One remembers Mahatma Gandhi who advocated the spirit of trusteeship which could solve this problem. These are his words: “Earn your crores by all means. But understand that your wealth is not yours, it belongs to the people. Take what you require for your legitimate needs, and use the remainder for the Society.”
It is extremely difficult to implement this concept of “Trusteeship”. But at least, we can make a beginning and start by giving away a part of our excess wealth for charitable purposes.
We have talked about great philanthropists. However, I have come across one instance of giving away which pales into insignificance and surpasses what has been done by all these philanthropists.
Dr. Girish Kulkarni, who is a founder trustee of “Snehalaya”, an organisation which fights child prostitution and has succeeded in freeing Ahmednagar district of this evil of child prostitution narrated this to us when we had visited Snehalaya about a year and a half ago. Dr. Girish and his team is working for the welfare of commercial sex workers, their health and other problems and also looking after their children, many of whom suffer from AIDS. One day, a commercial sex worker named Sharda Gowda sought a lift from Dr. Girish to Pune from Ahmednagar. On the way, she asked Dr. Girish whether they would accept any gift from her, to which Dr. Girish replied in the affirmative. Dr. Girish was stunned when she offered a valuable piece of land at Katraj near Pune to Snehalaya. She gave away land worth over Rs. 20 lakh, on which Snehalaya has built a centre for poor children, which is used by over 150 poor children everyday!
In my 78 years, I have not come across such a magnificent act of giving away. This is why my heart bows down in Namaskaar to a woman I would never see in my life. This is Giving. “No One has ever become poor by giving”
