COMPASSIONATE FUNDRAISING FOR SOCIAL CAUSES.

Ms. Basudha Modak, an electronics engineer, educator, social changemaker; regular contributor to
Fundraising and charitable activities for and on behalf of CSR in and around Gauteng, one of the nine
provinces of South Africa. Basudha sports a hat full of feathers.

Basudha affirms: “There is no limit to the amount of good one can do, when we do not mind who gets
the credit for it.”

As long as I can remember, I have always stood up for the ones who couldn’t speak out when wrong is being done and somehow knew that one day I will be able to contribute to society.

Today being passionate about my thoughts and deeds are finally bearing fruition and I love what I do daily, just going out and meeting inspirational people. Irrespective of wherever I am today in life, my kids are my biggest contributing factor, one for always teaching me what love and compassion and true giving really are, the other for holding me up when I break and find it unable to face the world and its bitterness. They are my best friend, my secret keeper and my bouncing board, not to say my biggest critique.

Young girls very often ask me how I give of myself, being involved in so many projects, I calmy reply ‘Whatever little I can contribute to the society, I am finally leaving a better place for my kids, so that they do not have to struggle like I once did, as a girl, wife or Mom, just to be heard’. Whenever I hear that little girls from diverse backgrounds want to be me, I often advise them to be financially independent,
irrespective of their backgrounds, so that they never have to struggle to find their feet.

I reflect back to my previous version; the fat, spectacled ugly girl, who would spend hours questioning, why she was not beautiful, and why no one heard me?

The girl never did change but she changed her world to love her the way she is.

I can answer that now, to myself and all young girls who question themselves, the calling is simply that
when we do good deeds, we get the inner glow, you can walk tall and feel beautiful, with the thought of all the people that admire you. Being a public figure today I have a voice, and whatever my thoughts are I can easily change and mold the minds of young girls. Drive to them the fact that there will always be many to undermine you, but there will be thousands that recognize your potential and look forward to listening from you.

With the advent of social media, there are many places in Africa, even though I am unable to visit, due to my lack of resources, but girls recognize me, and I know that somehow I am able to shape their thoughts and their future. Very soon one day, I can look forward to the fact that I have spread my knowledge and my roots to a different world that is now struggling for recognition like I once did.

Today, I realize, if I had been stuck in a corporate job, would I have been able to attend all the hours
of therapies my daughter needed? Would I have been able to achieve my son’s milestones, and grown as
a mom? I absolutely do not believe in compromises and adjustments and sacrifices for our kids. We bring them to the world; it is absolutely our responsibility that we support them whenever needed, as
long as they are on the right path.

Long ago, after my parents’ struggles of raising, getting me educated, my parents were disappointed in me, when I left my job, as my emotions as a Mother overruled my role as their daughter, I vividly remember that my father broke down and cried until my last working day and that my immediate family was also very upset, then I rose and represented Tripura, and became their pride.I believe today, all my friends and well-wishers, including my family can finally say, that I have not been lost into oblivion, I have chosen to do what I love, and what they taught me since childhood, is being put to rigorous practice.

Some excerpts from the interview of our editorial team:

PV: What Defines your Passion? (What are passionate about, and why?)

Basudha: I am passionate about creating hope and building a community of women who care and also
have each other’s back. A smile and a helping hand are all that is needed to build someone in distress.

PV: Please, State your ‘Mission 2030’

Basudha: There are innumerable townships in Johannesburg and outskirts, that have amazing women
bringing up our future, with very little funding and knowledge. There are specials, kids, too who need
trained careers for whom it is just not a job. I am in the process of bringing them together along with a larger group of other passionate individuals into a foundation so that they can become self-sufficient, and impart their knowledge with others, overcoming their special abilities.

Basudha also serves as a Volunteer Social Media Manager for Dachshunds in Distress South Africa to rehome and adopt the neglected fur babies.