When God wants us to learn something, he gives us circumstances

Kiran Desai Uncle, 88 years, just like his name, brings rays of light and hope to hundreds of children in the small town of Nadiad, in Gujarat. His core belief is to spend money wherein the benefit is ongoing and helps to build a life. More on that later, but first, a look back at his innings so far.

Raised in Nadiad, he always had an affinity for numbers. He finished his M. Com from HL College Ahmedabad and went on to work with Government in the Sales Tax department. That is when an advertisement came in for UK recruiting for Accounts personnel. He applied for a work permit and began his journey in the land of British with a new home, city, family, and job. His residence remained in Harrow for over 40 years. He worked for Initial Servicing Ltd all his life over 30 years in their Head office in Finance. The stability came not only from an employment perspective but also within. An avid follower of yoga, he even introduced his sons to yoga and set up a routine of spending weekends at the yoga ashram with the entire family.

Today a resident with us at PapayaCare, along with his wife, Saroj Aunty – he still follows routine, practices healthy eating, and never misses his exercises. He has even followed the Netti tube routine of the cleansing nasal airway passage, something that is not everyones cup of tea. While he does not believe in preaching, he says when God wants us to learn something, he gives us “circumstances” and that prepare us. And to think of it, the same person is changing the circumstances of hundreds of underprivileged students from his village in Nadiad.

Uncle has been running and funding an institution for the last 21 years (phew!) named Bal Sanskar Kendra in Nadiad with the help of a friend cum well-wisher named Vibha ben, who teaches the kids. Children from four years of age onwards are welcome to study all subjects during the weekend when their school is closed. They are also provided with stationery supplies and education scholarships by Bal Sanskar Kendra. He says it is heartening to see children who have grown up and with big corporate jobs, today still come back to the village and do their bit to teach and support the institution.

The soft-spoken tranquil persona that he is, he considers himself a collector of things- be it the newspaper cuttings, memories, or friends. We at PapayaCare feel honored to have him as part of our Big family and get a share of his wisdom with a dash of smile 🙂