Reader’s Digest India – August 2019

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 we

were 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 to

Reader’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