Microsoft GIVE Campaign - IshaVidhya

Overwhelming, is probably the closest I can come to describe my experience raising funds for Isha Vidhya during the Microsoft GIVE Campaign. To give a little context, every year in month of October every Microsoft employee can pitch for a charity of their choice and donations up to $12,000/year are matched by the company. This was a tremendous opportunity and the Seattle volunteers were very determined this year to start the first annual fundraising event for Isha Vidhya in the Microsoft GIVE Campaign.

Isha Vidhya being a relatively new charity inside Microsoft, we had to appeal to first time donors and be visible among other charities supporting education in India. With creative posters and a message from the former CEO of Microsoft India, Ravi Venkatesan, we kicked off our fundraising campaign with a lot of hope. The biggest hit was the $240 donor matching – we had a photo display of various children on scholarship along with their progress/thank you letters. Many people who had no previous association with Isha Vidhya came forward and donated generously. They were truly inspired by the work of Isha Vidhya and what appealed to them most was the English medium, computer-based education for rural children.

The centerpiece of our GIVE Campaign was a Table Tennis tournament with a $50 donation to Isha Vidhya as an entry fee. The tournament started slowly, but soon we got around 40 registrations and many people from various nationalities donated above and beyond $50. We had many talented players from the table tennis club and the competition was intense. Wei Zhao, a Chinese national was the winner.

Overall the tournament along with our campaign raised more than $10000. This would not have been possible, if not for the support of our Isha volunteers from Microsoft. Now that we have taken the first step, we hope to make it even bigger in the coming months and support the education of more rural underprivileged children.


For me, what I realized the most was that many people in my work place and outside are looking for a genuine opportunity to lend their support. All I did was to ask for their support to this cause. Thanks to all my colleagues at Microsoft for their participation and donations to Isha Vidhya.

Isha Vidhya is doing phenomenal work in the rural villages of South India through education. I am thankful to all the teachers, staff and volunteers who are dedicating their lives to make this happen.

Many of us are fortunate to reap the benefits of our education and this is our time to make this opportunity available to those in dire need.

- Shiv Sundar
Isha Vidhya Volunteer, Microsoft, Seattle, USA

Why I like to travel

Growing up, I spent my summers across various states on North India along the Himalayan belt. Living in single room house with my mom and dad at 10,000 feet above the sea level , where the only way to reach there was through a chopper , was exiting and liberating at the same time. I have lived in various scenic places such as Himachal Pradesh, Sikkim, Rajasthan due to the nature of my father’s job.

Two significant travel experiences during my adult life were gypt in 2009 and Peru in 2010 x-max .Having returned from Peru just a few days ago , I can still feel the cultural exuberance of Peruvians. Spiritual insights of Incan civilization and their love for mother earth( Pacha mama) has made me realize that we are living in this planet borrowing everything from the mother earth , Including the very body we call it ours.

I worked in Microsoft for 5 years and lived a very city oriented life. This trip to peru has made me realize that life lived with close proximity to nature (plants , animal) is most enriching.

Political Cliche

I was very pleased with Obama's victory in the presidential election this week . It reaffirmed my belief that one does not have to walk away from his true identity to be victorious in an unfamiliar terrain .

Obama believed in himself , he was convinced that he could make the lives of Americans better and people's trust followed through. This holds true for all aspiring leaders.

Movie Rights

Being a ardent follower of Kolywood and Bolywood news and gossips , my movie picks are usually on target . I keep myself updated on who is dating who , when is the next blockbuster being launched ,and which hollywood movie the plot is based on .

Recently I forced Deepthi to go with my two tamil movie picks despite her strong rebuttal.Let me take one movie at a time and explain how it was a failed movie experience .

Kuselan , I knew it was not a typical Rajini blockbuster , but I had my expectation on the lines of Lakha Lakha Lakha .Pasupathy is an amazing find for tamil cinema , meena is my all time favourite tamil hottie , but depressed face of pasupathy for entire length of the movie was difficult to sustain . Kuselan for me was a boring farce which had no highpoints .

Satyam,great music from HJ , sensible hero Vishal and bomb Nayanatara ideally should have been a perfect recipe for success .Movie actually went as expected till Upendra's flashback but after an interesting first half the second part of the movie as a big letdown .

Saroja , Varnam 1000 are my next picks , If they dont go well I might have to watch movie in solitude moving forward .

Wah Kya Chai Hai !!

I have been wishing for this from a long time . Every time I doled out $4 for chocolate-coffee , I wondered when would this be among the list of things they served . Ingredients were sold separately and one had to mix them together, but every drinker knew it was not the same .

I rejoiced , when I walked into Starbucks a few weeks ago, they started my much awaited Black Tea Latte Tea service . Black Darjeeling tea dipped in hot water mixed together with steamed milk and sweetened .

Next in my wish list is Hot Chai being served in my Office Kitchenettes .

The dawn on cricket leagues

Kapil Dev and folks may have started something that would stop a middle class parent from saying " Dont run behind the bat and ball ...you know well that only 11 people get to hog the lime light ,leaving the remaining idiots like you good for nothing " with their kids cricket obsession.

Formation of private cricket leagues would improve the lives of many aspiring cricketers. In the past a job in railways ,bank was the benifit earned by a state level cricketer but with companies like UB and Reliance owning cricket teams , players can earn big money .Hmmm.. UB KF ,It makes my evil mind wonder if the King Fisher swim suit model's would be cheering cricket matches.

I am hoping that these new avenues would motivate the younger brass to give a career in cricket a serious thought .The current trend of youth in india flocking towards science and technology, is creating an imbalance . Not many explore performing arts , sports as a career option .As a kid I wanted to be a cricketer but parental pressure put academics before games.I still continue to enjoy playing sports but I wish I could play sports for a living.

Hail the traitor .

Indian media seems to follow the principle of "Innocent until proven " to the core . As for the common folks , movie persona overshadows any real life blemishes . Gandhi was one of the most influential person this century , but I never thought that a national traitor could sway the public into believing that he is a true follower of peace and non violence by a mere portrayal of gandhisim in a commercial entertainer.

Millions of fans in the Indian household praying for the release of their favorite movie personality from a criminal case is just another case of Idol worship but the fact that media and educated crowd considering law and justice as obstacles to the release of a person who was responsible for a gruesome attack which killed thousands of innocent people including women and children is shocking.

In third world countries escaping crimes bribing your way through law is no biggie but publicly escaping betraying the whole nation in a act of terror shakes the very foundation the modern day society stands on .