Parul Mehta is dedicated to running social welfare programmes of her family's foundation
Parul Mehta is dedicated to running social welfare programmes of her family's foundationMonika's people
Freelance journalist and social activist Monika Trivedi talks to personalities who make the city what it is
"If I have to compromise on lunch, dinner or even shopping I will, but I will keep a commitment," says Parul Mehta, trustee of Ishanya Foundation.
KEEPING HER WORD: Parul Mehta says she will even compromise on lunch and dinner to keep her commitmentsParul is an extremely focused woman, who does not rest till she delivers what she has promised. Married into the successful Deepak family, she could have just taken it easy and led a life of leisure. But that just is not her style.
She works hard -- to the extent that she admits her own personal space has had to be sacrificed because of her desire to put work and family obligations first.u00a0
The Deepak foundation has been active in charitable work for over 20 years, mainly in Baroda, in the field of woman and child welfare. When the family moved to the city, her father-in-law requested her to look after the activities of the foundation in the state.
Training the youthParul and her husband Sailesh were keen on social work around their factories in state and started the foundation's work in Chindran village, near Taloja.
Since there were many foundations working for woman and child welfare, Parul brainstormed with her team and decided to work in the field of income generation for the youth. They started tailoring classes.
Around that time, the Mumbai floods took place, where a major cause of the floods was plastic bags. The foundation decided to make eco-friendly bags, which were designed aesthetically and then supplied to boutiques.
They now have 25 products such as gift bags, wine bags, saree and shawl covers, envelopes and table mats.u00a0
The Ishanya Foundation vision was much larger and along with her team of social workers, Parul decided to get ambitious and start an income generation programme in Pune.
She runs six courses in the fields of beauty parlour training, patient care courses, front desk management for hospitals and clinics, retail management with a focus on malls and supermarkets, security guard training and in the pipeline now, is a course for home assistants.
The resources are handpicked from some of the city's market leaders in the field. Social work teams mobilise students from as many as 20 slums with road shows and awareness programmes. The curriculum is created and personally looked into by Parul. She gets a weekly report on the activities.
With such an intense work schedule, she still manages to do yoga and listen to music to switch off.
"I come home from the office completely exhausted," says she. A 20-minute meditation session leaves her refreshed and recharged.
"Initially it was difficult to meditate, but now I look forward to it," says she. When her children were young, Parul concentrated on raising them. Now her family is her source of strength and together with husband Sailesh, they often brainstorm, which gives her ideas for her charitable work.
One such novel idea is the Yellow Ribbon NGO Fair she conducts. She realised that selling the products of her NGO was not easy and having a shop was not an economically viable option. A discussion with other NGOs made her realise that all of them faced similar issues.
That is where the concept of the NGO exhibition started. She has successfully held two exhibitions. In the first year they exhibited products of 45 NGOs and last year they had 70 stalls. Parul is an ambitious woman, and so this Diwali her aim is 100 stalls.
"When I see how the livelihood programme is instrumental in bringing change to so many people's lives, it gives me a high," says the lady with a big heart.
