Kalyanam Karoti, an organization established in the year 1981, has carved a niche in helping the deprived. It has proved that life is all about moving ahead and don’t let any obstacle pin oneself down. The organization has significantly gratified its name ‘Kalyanam Karoti’ which means ‘well – being for all’. There are obvious benefits in helping others, from reciprocity to being aligned with our values to simply feeling good.
During last four decades this organization and its people have served its eudemonic purpose through ophthalmic surgeries, prosthetic limbs for disabled, distribution of wheelchairs, tricycles and crutches etc. It has also taught the most important sermon of life, that is, self reliance by distributing sewing machines to disabled women in order to enhance their living.
The notion of helping the needy was conceived by Shri Vimal Kumar Sharma, a social reformer, in 1978, when he organized an eye camp in a small village called Chandraval, UP. The accomplishments of the camp made the thought grow and become more potent therefore making it an incessant process. Soon after this the organization Kalyanam Karoti came into existence as to fulfill his primal vision which continues till date.
An initiative coined by Shri Vimal Kumar Sharma gained impetus in the year 1981, International year for people with disabilities, most revered Shri Radha Krishna Agrawal ji, Former Vice – Chancellor, Kanpur University and Chairman, Public Service Commission instituted Kalyanam Karoti, along with the assistance of other founder members, and served as its Founder President.
Mahadevi Verma, a venerated poetess once described Kalyanam Karoti as an implicit lyrical epic of compassion.
Dynamic curator of Kalyanam Karoti Shri Radha Krishna Agrawal ji left for heavenly abode, in the year 1984.
He was a quintessence of bliss and compassion in its true sense. Kalyanam Karoti is a paradigm of his altruistic efforts and services. His propitious reminiscence continues to be inspirational.
The pillars that stood tall and strong and continued to serve the humanity were the founder members of the organization - Shri Radha Krishna Agrawal ji (Founder President), Shri Vimal Kumar Sharma (Founder General Secretary), Dr Ghananand Pandey, Padmashri Dr B N Sinha, Dr K N Tandon, Dr Ramkrishna, Shri Pooranchand Pandey, Shri Devakinandan Mittal, Shri B N Kakkad, Shri Ajmal Hussain, Dr V B Pratap, Shri Prabhakar Wardhan and Dr Ashok Sharma.
Change is inevitable, therefore the positions abdicated by some of the founder members was succeeded by great minds in order to keep going. They were Shri Guru Sharan Lal Srivastava (subsequent President), Shri Umesh Chandra Srivastava, Shri Narsingh Narayan Tiwari, Shri K B Kharbanda, Shri J P Chandra, Shri Shyam Kishore Jaitly and Shri Jagjeevan Lal Rastogi, who stood as an epitome of strength and encouragement.
The reputed begetters laid the foundation of their philanthropic vision and the journey began. Since Kalyanam Karoti is a NGO, thus raising funds for the cause was of prime importance and by the grace of Almighty it always got fulfilled. As analogy pervades people’s thinking and some of the hands joined together to help and let the vision thrive. Some of the benefactors were Shri Chandrabhanu Gupta, Param Pujya Shri Nritya Gopal Dasji, Shri Radha Krishna Agrawal, Dr H K Mehra, Shri Vichitra Narayan Sharma (Gandhi Ashram), Param Pujya Shri Pathik ji Maharaj, Shrimati Manorama Agrawal, Shri Vindhyeshwar Pathak, Shri Gurusharananand ji, Shankaracharya Shri Jayendra Saraswati ji, Shri Trilok Chandra Seth ji, Shri Mushtaq Ahmed, Shri Om Pathak, Kusum Prabhakar, Shri G P Dakshini and Helpage India. Their generosity and benevolence became the most valuable endowment towards charity.
To empower every disabled to emerge as specially or differently abled, countless efforts were made. One of them was the establishment of ‘Kalyandham’ at Mathura, UP in the year 1991, to dispense prosthetic limbs and calipers. A town remembered as a birth place of Lord Krishna where the thoughts and existence of an individual rejuvenates.
An additional tributary to Kalyanam Karoti materialized due to the inspirational conjunction of Param Pujya Shri Nritya Gopal Das ji, in the form of an eye hospital, prominently known as ‘Shri Deenbandhu Netra Chikitsalay’ at Ayodhya, UP in the year 2005. The place well known to be the birth place of Lord Rama and the efforts of hospital add to its sanctity.
Kalyanam Karoti is an epithet of generosity and zeal in perpetuity, that seeped into so many minds with the philosophy of spreading light and hope among people in need and inspired them to come forward and extend a helping hand.
“Try not to become a person of success, but rather try to become a person of value” – Albert Einstein