Swami Vivekananda– Bedrock of “Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation”

On September 11, 1893 Swami Vivekananda stood before the Augusta body of “World’s Parliament of Religion” in Chicago, USA and gave the most profound message of ‘universal brotherhood’ to the humanity that reverberated throughout the world. He was, then, well aware of advances made by the Western world and their relentless pursuit of more knowledge. Before going to USA, he extensively travelled throughout India to know the ‘soul’ of his own country so that he could appropriately present in Chicago what Indian spirituality had to offer to the global diaspora. What he discovered during this ‘Bhraman-yatra’ (pilgrimage)was enlightening as well as unsettling. He was awestruck by the role that the religion had played in keeping the masses humble and caring for each other - in spite of dire material and intellectual poverty – and was baffled, at the same time, by the shear indifference of the masses to life’s inadequacies on existential level. The crux of the matter for this paradoxical disparity between the ‘East’ and the ‘West’, according to Swamiji, was the lack of conventional literacy structure in India, in spite of its rich cultural Heritage and educational traditions. This was more so pronounced in rural and tribal areas where 70% of the populous resided.
The main reason for their indifference or disinterest in basic education was not only the hefty amount of time consumed by their struggles to make a living, but also, due to the lack of appropriate educational environment to complement their life’s routine. According to Swamiji, “a nation is advanced in proportion to the education and intelligence spread among the masses.”Noting the vicious cycle of poverty and illiteracy in India Swamiji felt that, “if the poor boy cannot come to education, education must go to him”.With this as the guiding light, “Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (EVF or Ekal)” has been doing just that for past 30 years, under the leadership of Ma. Shyamji Gupta, a social reformer of repute. Swamiji had concluded that, “the only service to be done for ‘masses’ is to give them education, to develop their lost individuality”.This was nothing short of his clarion call for the empowerment of the village folks. Ekal had been raising funds for these neglected masses for past 30 yearsand ever since transforming India through integral development - one village at a time.

After last year’s phenomenal success of magnificent fund-raising gala - ‘Future of India’ - “Ekal Vidyalaya Foundation (EVF)”, this year, is launching the most ambitious plan to host three Galas, at three strategic locations in USA.In sold-out Yr.2017 Gala at majestic art-deco‘Cipriani-Wall Street” banquet hall, ‘Ekal’ raised $2 Millionfor its Literacy, Healthcare and Integral-Development projects for rural India.It was Ekal’s first ever attempt at gathering generous individuals for its nation-building cause. According to EVF-USA President, Suresh Iyer, this unprecedented show of support from philanthropists brought the year-end tally of donations to $8 Million.

Every year, Ekal’s hosts over 50 fund-raising events in major metropolitan centers across USA, by bringing famous ‘Bollywood Artistes’ for concerts. Earlier this year, Ekal had invited two groups of talented performers for this purpose. One group was headed by Kathak dancers Aditi Bhagwat & Kunal Tavri and another group was headed by Kaushik & Pranita Deshpande. They each were the star-attractions in 23 and 30 concert-events, respectively.The response to these concerts was so overwhelming that the events were sold-out at most of the places in advance. Over the years, Ekal’s progress has been consistently exponential. Now with three forthcoming Ekal galas planned for high net-worth supporters, Ramesh Shah, the Chairman of EVF-USA has no doubt that Ekal in 2018, is going to hit $10 Millionmagical mark for the first time.

As of now, Ekal has 72,000schools under its wings, grooming 1.92 Millionchildren annually – more than half of which are girls. Hon. PM Modi, in his prophetic call to eradicate illiteracy from every small corner of the nation, wants Ekal to establish 100,000 schools by year Yr.2022 – 75th anniversary of India’s independence. The primary objective of glittering galas is not only to raised funds for this task of national concern, but also, to encourage every sphere, every strata of Indian diaspora to invest itself in India’s future.Threeeagerly-awaited galas, are all taking placein October - Houston, TX on October 6; Bethesda MD on October 12 and in New York City NY on October 13. For details of venue, tickets and sponsorship kindly tap into OR .The distinguished speaker at all three galas will be Media Moghul Dr Subhash Chandra (Chairman, Essel Gr of Companies that includes ZEE-TV). In addition, at NYC gala iconic former CEO of Pepsi and Apple, John Sculley, is going to grace the evening as a Chief guest speaker. This NYC gathering will also be entertained by ‘Indian Idol’ competition winner – ‘Sreeramchandra’. In Houston, along with Dr Subhash Chandra, another highlight of the evening is going to be renowned motivational speaker, Shiv Khera.

As the largest grass-root educational movement undertaken by Indians and NRIs, Ekal is socially conscientious, wherever it operates. Last year during ‘Hurricane Harvey’, Ekal volunteers not only worked along side ‘Sewa International’ in rescue and rehabilitation efforts in Houston region but also raised money for the victims. As the catastrophic destruction is currently unfolding in Kerala due to torrential rain and floods, ‘Ekal-India’ is actively involved there too with “Sewa Bharati”. Bajrang Bagra, CEO of ‘Ekal-India’ says,” the whole Ekal movement is all about giving dignity and self-esteem to rural-tribal folks of India”.