An eagle eye and a powerful swing was all that was needed to draw in corporates by the dozen. Golfing for a cause was high on the agenda for over 73 companies, whose bosses congregated at the Willingdon Sports Club, Mumbai on Friday.
Business heads and professional golfers putted with spiritual leader Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev on the green lawns, their golf clubs doubling as magic wands to help send rural children to school.
Jaggi Vasudev’s Isha Foundation is a non-profit volunteer organisation that focuses on social and environmental issues. Isha Foundation’s third edition of ‘Make a Life’ Golf Jaunt got off to a heady start, with several firms participating and doing their bit for society. Senior officials from Reliance, Essar, ACC, Procter & Gamble, Shipping Corporation of India, Aditya Birla Group, Parle Products, Rabo Bank, Allcargo Logistics Limited, Crompton Greaves, HSBC Global Asset Management, YES Bank, Everstone Capital and BlackRidge Capital Advisors among others, participated in the event.
The golfing event has been conceived and designed to raise funds. The event supports Isha Vidhya, an initiative of the Isha Foundation, which is committed to raising the level of education and literacy among rural children in India.
“Isha Vidhya offers education to the rural poor. As of now, we have 11 schools near the Isha Foundation ashram at Coimbatore. We need to raise the bar and ensure education in over 200 schools, and look to have at least one school each in Tamil Nadu’s districts,” said advertising guru Prahlad Kakkar, who is actively involved with the education drive of the Foundation.
Speaking about the initiative, Kakkar added, “There is a particular emphasis on English medium learning, and computer based education. It is a holistic approach that helps elevate learning beyond textbooks and schools.”
Up the ante The aim is also to team up with government schools in order to raise the overall standard of education in the country. More than half the students tend to receive a full scholarship.
For corporates, a healthy passion for the game of golf was not the only thing driving participants on Friday.
Another official who has undertaken a few courses at Isha, and has donated to the cause said, “There is a deep longing within us to reach out and share what we have earned. In a small way, we can contribute to ensuring not just knowledge for these children, but a healthy, sustainable way of life for the economically challenged.”
Correction
This story has been modified to correct the name of Allcargo Logistics Limited from All Cargo Global Logistics. The error is regretted.