North South Foundation
NSF
National Championship Finals 2006
Evanston IL,
Aug 26-27, 2006
NSF
Regional Contests Ceremony
Hinsdale IL,
Mar 2009; Champaign, IL, Mar 2009
Peoria IL, May
2007; Grand Rapids MI, Apr 2008
Good evening everyone. I feel very more of an honor
than pleasure to be here with all of you today. I
thank the coordinators for having me here this great
evening. First of all, my congratulations to all the
participants (participation is more important than
winning) and my best wishes to all the winners for
the National Finals.
Before I speak on my association with NSF, let me
thank you all for your kind support for North South
Foundation.
Today, I am not here to talk about the NSF contests –
how they started, what they are and how much positive
change they are bringing in our children’s lives. This
is not my talk today. You know about all this much
better than I do. I am here for something else. I am
here to show you how each one of us in this room is
making a difference by being part of NSF.
I believe, most of you know only one side of the NSF
coin i.e educational contests at the regional and
national level to help our children excel in various
categories like English, Math, Geography, Public
Speaking etc. However, all this makes only 50% of what
NSF is. NSF was never really meant for the educational
contests. There is something else that NSF does in
India.
The real purpose of the foundation lies on the other
side of the coin AND I am here to show you what that
is.
All I am going to share with you is my little story
and that should explain you everything about what NSF
does in India. I was neither born in this country nor
had any family tie ups here. In fact, I never thought
during my school days that I will be in a country like
USA working as a software consultant. But, some
miracle happened to me and helped me grow this far.
During my school days, I had received state ranks in
both the 10th and 12th
standards. I also took the Engineering entrance
examination and got one of the top ranks there as
well. Unfortunately, free education ends after the 12th
standard in
India.
So, my state ranks and top scoring did not really mean
anything to anyone and they were not enough to get me
into college. You know why? Because, I couldn’t
afford to pay $200/yr as tuition fees to join the
college. The $800 it cost for 4 years of course was a
very large amount for my family. My father was a small
time tailor who stitched clothes for the people in my
village, and could hardly save any money for my
education. When I approached him for the college fees
he immediately replied, “Are you out of your mind?
You know that I am only a tailor and that your mother
doesn’t work. All I can afford to do is feed you and
your mother, but I can not save $800 for you even if
you give me another 10 years of time. Think about some
alternatives.” Then I realized that he was right
and there was no way he could ever support my tuition
costs.
The realization was very frustrating and frightening.
I had done so well in my studies, and I had a strong
desire to continue my education. Unfortunately, my
desire was not enough to fund my studies. You won’t
believe, how many sleepless nights I went through with
a fear that I would have to quit college. This was
the time that NSF came into my life. One day, I came
across a notification about NSF in one of the daily
newspapers, which stated, “We offer financial help to
poor and bright students.” The moment I saw it, I
immediately knew that I was qualified to receive such
help. I applied for the scholarship and fortunately, I
was selected and offered a scholarship of $200/yr for
all 4 years of my graduation. This was such an immense
and timely help that I received. As a result of the
scholarship, I was able to complete my undergraduate
degree, got my masters from IIT, Kharagpur, and
settled down as a software professional working here
in USA.
That was the kind of role NSF played in my life. It
really made a big difference and made me what I am
today.
If NSF wasn’t there, I wouldn’t have been here today.
I would not have been able to continue my education
and I would have followed my father to become another
tailor in my village – not knowing about education,
not knowing anything about the world AND probably not
knowing anything about myself.
I got the lifetime gift of education from NSF. Why do I say it is a
life time gift? We all know the importance of
Education and that’s the reason why we are all here
today. Education offers you many opportunities, and
makes you a complete person. The importance of
Education can be best described by a Chinese proverb –
“If you want to think one year ahead, plant rice
If you want to think ten years ahead, plant trees,
BUT
If you want to think hundred years ahead, give
education to people”
That is the beauty and power of education. This is what we at NSF
believe in: providing education to hundreds of
deserving students every year with support from people
like you.
Another interesting point that I would like to mention
here is – in addition to monetary help, I also
received something else from NSF – “Giving
attitude, Sense of giving, Joy of giving.” Why a
person sitting in Chicago, USA, is so concerned and
wants to help a poor student from a village in INDIA?
What exactly connects them both? This strange
situation encouraged me to think beyond my textbooks
for the first time in my life. No matter what you do,
what you earn, and where you are, there is always at
least one person in this world who needs your help and
support. It is your responsibility and a God-given
opportunity to help those in need. This was the
realization that I got after knowing and associating
with NSF.
This inspirational message motivated me so much that –
7 years ago (in 2002), I founded a small organization
called
PADALA CHARITABLE TRUST
in my district in INDIA to try to help poor but bright
students each year. I find the poorest section of
students with the best academic records and offer
financial help for their higher education. I tell them
not to worry about their tuition costs, their uniforms
and books – I’ll take care of all those. Just continue
your hard work and go on. So, what do you think I am
doing here? All I am trying to do is “Pay it Forward,”
nothing great, nothing big, just something that I feel
I am responsible for.
As of today, I have managed to give 284 scholarships
to such students. More importantly, I have been
successful in inspiring them to help other needy
around them. A dozen of the recipients have already
settled in good jobs, successfully supported their
families, and are already on their way to help other
disadvantaged students. Very frequently, I receive
checks from my scholars whom I supported in the past.
They ask me to use that amount to help the other needy
students. So, the significance of my experience is to
see how “the scholars” can become ‘the sponsors”.
This is the message I always wanted to pass on to my
scholars – “Pay it forward.” Such philanthropy is
like a chain reaction of “Paying it Forward,”
initiated by just one person,
Dr. Chitturi,
and supported by a great number of wonderful
volunteers & donors. I am very confident that this
cycle of Paying It Forward continues for ever touching
as many lives as possible.
I am just one example and one little branch of NSF.
There are hundreds of people like me being helped and
inspired by NSF each year. As of today, NSF has 17
chapters all over
INDIA
serving the poor and needy.
Now you all know what the other 50% of NSF that I
mentioned in the beginning. This is the main intention
and the very cause for NSF existence – help our
children in
India.
Give them access to higher education and let them grow
as greatest assets of our country.
This is the kind of difference every one of us
including our kids is making by supporting North South
Foundation.
I promise you that each penny you donate to NSF and
each minute that you volunteer for NSF counts and it
reaches the most deserving in our home country,
INDIA.
So, please continue your patronage to NSF. Once again,
I thank everyone for giving me this wonderful
opportunity to be with you this great evening.
Finally, I conclude by saying one thing that I always
believe in and try to practise:
“Your Talent is God’s gift to you. What you do with
it, is your Gift back to God.”
THANK YOU
Suryaprasad Padala
Founder & Chairman
Padala Charitable Trust
Padalasurya@yahoo.com
Cell: 001-219-308-2760
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