Battling Poverty, Debt, and Disgrace, Kuwait based Indian Engineer Emerges as a Donor Par Excellence :- who hails from Tamil Nadu, has provided financial aid to more than 11,000 poor studentsWhen Ilangovan Sivanmalai's dream run as a serial entrepreneur started crumbling and landed him in a debt of Rs 2 crore at the age of 37 in 1995, he found himself in a far worse situation than the dreadful years of childhood poverty he had experienced.
"I sold almost all my possessions including land, vehicles, and my wife's 120 sovereign of gold jewellery to settle the debts, but still fell short by Rs 52 lakh," recalls Ilangovan. "At that time I was also working as a lecturer in a polytechnic at Coimbatore. But I knew the meagre income won't be sufficient to clear the remaining debt in my lifetime."
Ilangovan Sivanmalai, a Kuwait based engineer, who hails from Tamil Nadu, has provided financial aid to more than 11,000 poor students (Photos: John)
Ilangovan took up a job in Kuwait as an AC maintenance engineer. He has worked in that country since then, and is now employed at the government owned Kuwait National Petroleum Company (KNPC) as a HVAC (heating, ventilation and air-conditioning) design engineer.
Needless to say, he cleared his debts long ago - within three years of working in Kuwait - and now earns around Rs two crore annually. But what makes his success story an extraordinary one is that he donates more than 20 per cent of his income for charitable purpose.
"I have donated around Rs 4 crore to charity till date," says 60-year-old Ilangovan. In 2009, he founded Aravanaippu Trust in Coimbatore in memory of his father Kulanthaisami to help the educational needs of children from poor families.. The NGO also receives contributions from his friends, well-wishers and other philanthropists.
"We have extended financial support to 11,551 children, many of whom have lost their father," says Ilangovan. "I don't claim to meet their entire educational expenses. We provide an annual support of Rs 2000 to school students, Rs 5000 to arts and science undergraduates, Rs 10,000 to engineering students and Rs 15,000 to medical students."
Ilangovan also supports civil service aspirants from poor families. "We help children from poor families who clear the preliminary exams to prepare for the main exam and interview. They are given Rs 25,000 to pursue their studies. In some cases, we extend the sponsorship for two years. Out of 114 children we supported, 51 have got into IAS and 32 into IPS," says Ilangovan, whose aim is to provide financial aid to a total of 25,000 children in his lifetime.
Ilangovan was born into an agricultural family that lived hand to mouth
"My father had a wound on his chest from which blood always oozed and he could not do much hard work because of it. My mother ran the family with the money she earned through handloom weaving and from the buffalo milk we sold daily," says Ilangovan, who studied in the local village school till class five and then attended high school at Vellakovil, four km away.
full article in the link below
http://www.theweekendleader.com/Success/2798/rising-like-a-phoenix.html
Posted by: Ravi Narasimhan <ravi.narasimhan.in@gmail.com>
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