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Gifts in an Indian wedding are exciting. But what if you can direct the money that might be spent for a worthy cause? Check out Milaap.
Receiving gifts at a wedding is exciting. But weddings are also about positivity and good thoughts, right?
So when we got engaged, we decided that our whole wedding should be as made meaningful as possible. And that the ‘gifts’ we get should mean something. The first step we took towards it is to start a wedding fundraiser and encourage our friends and family to donate for a cause we care about in lieu of gifts. I personally know many couples who are looking for such options so maybe this will help you get some ideas.
We are raising funds to help 200 children get quality supplementary education through Bhumi. The beneficiaries of this fundraiser would be children from three homes in Chennai, India who will receive English, Math, Science and Computer Science supplementary programme through Bhumi.
We chose education because one thing that brought us (Raghav and myself) together were the thoughts of bringing about a change in the thought process of society in any way we can. And we believe quality education to be one of the major sources to bring about this change .
Bhumi is one of India’s largest independent youth volunteer non-profit organisations. Bhumi as a platform will enable over 12,000 volunteers in more than 12 cities across India for causes like education, environment, animal welfare, and community welfare.
Geographical Presence: Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Telengana, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Rajasthan, Chandigarh and Delhi NCR.
Bhumi has two core areas of work – Education and Civic Projects.
I was a volunteer with Bhumi’s Kanini program, which teaches under-privileged children basics of computers from 2008 – 2012. Though I’m based in the US now, I have always kept in touch and followed their initiatives. They are one of the fastest growing volunteer-based organization in India. Working with their founders Vaishnavi Srinivasan and Prahalathan Karunakaran is an absolute delight.
We are raising funds by creating a campaign on Milaap. This is an online fund-raising platform that enables Indians, non-Indians and non-resident Indians (NRIs) to make loans or to raise for a cause in India. One of my cousins had done this previously and that helped me get credible information about the same. We chose to go this route because the donations are transparent online and also our well-wishers from all over the world can donate easily through this platform. Also, we had many donors unknown to us who had come across our site and extended support.
You can create your campaign/fundraiser on the Milaap site and choose to donate the funds to a cause/organization of your choice. You can also donate it to one of the projects that Milaap already have. A Milaap representative reaches out to you once you show interest and walks you through the process. It is very user-friendly and the whole team is great.
Once the funds are raised, you can transfer it to the beneficiary (in our case Bhumi) directly. They do charge a small percentage as compensation when a donation is made to an outside organization but I personally found it worth for the services provided.
My personal experience and testimonial
I had gone through many ideas and options before we chose this. I find this to be a great way to fundraise just because of the ease of donating especially if you have donors from outside India. The website helps you get credibility since the donations made are transparent and link is easy to share on social media.
So other ideas we thought about were:
I encourage anyone who is thinking of declining gifts to strongly donate/fund-raise for a cause instead since that would help a donor and the beneficiary. Please feel free to email me if you would have any questions or simply want to discuss at [email protected].
Image source: Janani Viswanathan.
A free thinker, equalist who has never feared to voice out opinions. I believe that everyone deserves the same kind of respect irrespective of gender, identity, background, social or economic. And we need to evolve read more...
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Neena was the sole caregiver of Amma and though one would think that Amma was dependent on her, Neena felt otherwise.
Neena inhaled the aroma that emanated from the pan and took a deep breath. The aroma of cumin interspersed with butter transported her back to the modest kitchen in her native village. She could picture her father standing in the kitchen wearing his white crisp kurta as he made delectable concoctions for his only daughter.
Neena grew up in a home where both her parents worked together in tandem to keep the house up and running. She had a blissful childhood in her modest two-room house. The house was small but every nook and cranny gave her memories of a lifetime. Neena’s young heart imagined that her life would follow the same cheerful course. But how wrong she was!
When she was sixteen, the catastrophic clutches of destiny snatched away her parents. They passed away in a road accident and Neena was devastated. Relatives thronged her now gloomy house and soon it was decided that she should be married off.
Women today don’t want to be in a partnership that complicates their lives further. They need an equal partner with whom they can figure out life as a team, playing by each other’s strengths.
We all are familiar with that one annoying aunty who is more interested in our marital status than in the dessert counter at a wedding. But these aunties have somehow become obsolete now. Now they are replaced by men we have in our lives. Friends, family, and even work colleagues. It’s the men who are worried about why we are not saying yes to one among their clans. What is wrong with us? Aren’t we scared of dying alone? Like them?
A recent interaction with a guy friend of mine turned sour when he lectured me about how I would regret not getting married at the right time. He lectured that every event in our lives needs to be completed within a certain timeframe set by society else we are doomed. I wasn’t angry. I was just disappointed to realize that annoying aunties are rapidly doubling in our society. And they don’t just appear at weddings or family functions anymore. They are everywhere. They are the real pandemic.
Let’s examine this a little closer.
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