ORIGINS
It was possibly providential, meeting Mrs.Kiran Bedi IPS, Retired Dir.General of Police, and Mr.Paalam Kalyana Sundaram MA, Retired Librarian, both in Chennai, four months apart. Incidentally, both used the same word – Bridge – in the context of service!
Mrs. Kiran Bedi-ma’am, in her typical ‘infectious’ enthusiasm said,
“Be the bridge between the haves and have-nots, using your goodwill, energy and time, for others”.
Which was how, she explained, that she achieved what she did.
Mr.‘Paalam’ Kalyana Sundaram-Sir, is a person who gave away his entire salary (working as a librarian), his retirement benefits and also the entire amount of Rs.30 crores (awarded by an NGO, USA) towards charity. This great soul, in his simplistic approach to life, said,“I’m just a bridge (called ‘Paalam’ in Tamil) between the haves and have-nots.” When I persisted in asking how he managed to give away an amount like Rs.30 crores, he said simply with smile,
“When I’ve decided to give away, how does it matter whether it is a rupee or a crore”!
I felt honoured and lucky to have met these two Mahatmas (Great Souls), who came from distinctly dissimilar linguistic, geographic and cultural backgrounds but believed in the distinctly similar concept of ‘bridging’ on humanitarian grounds.
Me, on the other hand, believe that we need to honour these Classes – The Farmers, Teachers and Defence Personnel, who, I believe, give more in their lifetime, than what they ever get back from us, as a society. As a gesture of gratitude, my wife and myself don’t accept medical consultation fee from these classes of citizens. However, subconsciously, I felt the need to do more.
This need that I felt, coupled with the two said impactful interactions, gave me a direction. We decided to form a trust and undertake the mission with ‘clinical precision’ as we were taught in medical school!
The Bridge Foundation was thus founded.
In the service of our nation,
K.Narasimha Rao,
Founder – Member Bridge Foundation