SRIRAM VENKATRAMAN
AND MASHQURA FAREEDI,
Bengaluru
For development professionals
Sriram Venkatraman, 36, and
Mashqura Fareedi, 39, “It felt like
a ‘no-brainer’ because it is parting
with something that never really was
ours to keep and it made sense that it
would go to social welfare.” Venkatra-
man came to know about the pledge in
early 2019 through a social media post.
“I discussed it with Mashqura and wewere both excited about the initiative
and wanted to act on it,” he recounts.
Having grown up in a setting heavily
driven by philanthropy, the instinct to
give came naturally to both. Venkatra-
man, originally from Chennai, moved
to the social sector after seven years in
consulting. Fareedi, from Darjeeling,
was influenced early on by her mother
to give. “In spite of the many hard-
ships she faced, my mother started a
school in one of the most remote parts
of Darjeeling. So there was no run-
ning away from the fact that no matter
what your means, you can still con-
tribute,” she says. The pledge is just an
extension of that belief for both.
Today, besides their annual contri-
butions to various organizations, they
have also pledged to donate half their
wealth to charitable causes in their
will. “However, after having signed up
to #LMP, we want to be more consistent
with our support and plan our contri-
butions better,” says Venkatraman.
While the fear of not having saved
enough for the future often cripples
several well-intentioned people, Ven-
katraman and Fareedi assert that they
did not harbour any doubts or fears
about signing up to #LMP. In fact,
Fareedi feels this has brought the two
closer. “This would be the first time
we are doing something together
besides our work in our individual
capacity. I would like to think of it as
just the first step,” she says.
The couple realize that not every
person may find it easy to sign up toReader’s Digest
“We are cause agnostic. Social change
requires thought and action and we
support any group that is changing
peoples’ lives for the better,” say Sriram
Venkatraman and Mashqura Fareedi.62 august 2019