There were lots of tears and emotion, all shed for poor people in India.
The event was the 5th annual fundraising dinner for 'Aim for Seva' started by Swami Dayananda Sarswati, 'a movement to inspire people to care for people who need help' and they start 'from remote villages (and link these villages) with the mainstream communities.'
There were over 500 people, many of them physicians, surgeons and wealthy business people with their children, present at La Suhaag Banquet Hall on October 6 where from one evening onwards the organisers, headed by Dr Terry Papneja, his wife Nimmi and their group of volunteers raised $190,000 (by the time of writing) as more pledges are still coming in.
During the last 5 years, including from this year's event, Terry Papneja said they have raised $940,000, all for education and health of poor and needy children in India.
The video presentation of life for poor children at one hostel, donated last year by Dr Naresh Sharma, was made by well known cardiac surgeon Dr Gopal Bhatnagar who had himself donated a students home ($43,000) in 2004.
He moved people when he linked poverty and the freedom fighters, including the Jallianwala Bagh tragedy of 1919.
"Open your hearts (and donate generously for poor people) and continue the work of those freedom fighters, our forefathers and sacrifices of those men and women," Bhatnagar said in a voice literally cracking with emotion.
"You either give generously or Dr Bhatnagar will change your heart and why do you have to go through that torture," Indian Consul-General Satish Mehta, who was amongst the speakers, suggested humorously.
Kunal Kohli, 15, from Central Peel Secondary School in suburban Brampton donated $1,000 to Seva that he himself had raised through his classmates, friends and neighbours. Ketan Khanna raised $500, also for Aim for Seva.
How much does Kunal Kohli know about the Seva or poverty in India: "I don't know much about poverty in India. All I know is Seva is trying to help children to get education. I just want other children in other countries to have the same things that we have; to enjoy the same things that we do and for them to be able to get housing, family, education, etc.," he told this reporter.
The chief guest of the evening was Arjun Jasuja, now Chairman and CEO of Sigma Systems, who has been involved in IT industry for 30 years. His company with about 500 employees in Canada and India is the world leader in cable industry with software products for telecommunications.
He pledged $43,000 to build a hospital near his hometown of Katni (Madhya Pradesh). In an emotion-filled keynote address, Jasuja spoke about how he has personally been touched by the poverty as he went to junior school in Katni where only the teacher used to have a desk and a chair with all children squatting on the floor.
Interestingly, he spoke in English, pure Urdu, Hindi, used poetry, started singing verses, all to move the audience to open their hearts and share their extra wealth with the poor and needy children in India.
Jasuja said he has shared his extra wealth with the needy people, but accepted that he was not doing enough.
In a separate interview he told rediff.com, "Aim for Seva is a community support organisation and its emphasis is in two key areas:
He opted to donate money for the hospital as he knows first hand how difficult it is for people in villages surrounding Katni to get any medical help.
"My desire, therefore, is to build a hospital at or near Katni, this town with about 300,000 people. I want a nucleus of villages to benefit from the proposed hospital," he said.
"Poverty is terrible. If you really look, many people can't even reach Katni. So, casualties due to lack of healthcare and medical facilities keep on mounting. There are not even doctors there. Therefore, for the last few years I have been sponsoring my nephew Dr Brahmanand Jasuja to organise medical camps where he provides free medicines and consultations to poor people. The camp is called 'Rajiv Gandhi Medical Camp', and my nephew's work has also inspired me to donate," said Arjun Jasuja.
Chief organiser Terry Papneja, who runs a very successful dental practise in Toronto, talked about some amazing stories as to how in 2004, Dr Bhatnagar's 10-year-old son Sagar inspired his parents to donate a students home ($43,000) and how last year 20 children from one extended family got together to donate a students home ($43,000) to honour the memory of their grandmother, all part of their own savings, their pocket money, evening and weekend work, etc.
Papneja said they had in June put up a 4-day camp in Atlanta (Georgia) during the annual convention of Association of Indian-American doctors where the response was stupendous.
"One retired medical doctor offered to donate his $250,000 home in India that would result in the Seva making six students homes there," Papneja said.
"Our organisation (Aim for Seva) in a short period of time has had tremendous growth," Papneja said. "The movement is gaining momentum and awareness. There were 500 guests this year and we got many sponsorships from the business community, including a platinum sponsorship from Scotia Bank."
Besides Arjun Jasuja committing a hospital, another person, who wishes to remain anonymous, donated a hostel ($43,000) and they got a total sponsorship for 190 children ($500 annual per child with a commitment for 10 years).
Going back to 'the Quit India Movement and 1919 tragedy in Amritsar', Gopal Bhatnagar suggested guests in the banquet hall should ask themselves "how much wealth is enough for us as sometimes you have to say 'I have the ability to generate so much of wealth because of those poor people and those freedom fighters like in Amritsar in 1919, like Chandrasekhar Azad. They were not rich people, but their sacrifices have allowed the next generation to be free, healthy and wealthy. That's why I say when we dream of those great achievements, we are standing on the shoulders of those giants, who came before us. When we forget that our ego gets ahead of us."
One could observe moist eyes in the hall as Bhatnagar, a diminutive figure, said, "I am personally very passionate about this cause and I believe the struggle for freedom still continues and we have to help each and every Indian to fulfill their dreams and desire."
"Please remember what we are all here for," he concluded with a standing applause from across the hall.
Top Picture: Dr Gopal Bhatnagar making his presentation at this year's Aim for Seva fundraising dinner in Toronto.
Picture 2: (From Left) 15-year old Kunal Kohli, Arjun Jasuja, CEO of Sigma Systems, and chief organiser Dr Terry Papneja.
Photographs: Ajit Jain
