Prashant H Fadia: The Philanthropist and the Causes

In a moving tribute to Prashant Fadia, close friends Adi and Rutty Guzdar have this to share...

 "Prashant was a true renaissance man, a lover of people, the arts, technology, business and food and a zest for living.  Rutty and I first met him at a Gurjar function some years ago when we were introduced by Smita Patel. We got to know him later through TiE Boston when we both served together as members of the Operations Committee.

It was through him and his love of art that Rutty and I were introduced to the Peabody Essex Museum and the Museum of Fine Arts. Rutty and I can recall many enjoyable evenings that we spent with him and Saluni going to concerts and plays.

Of course he loved gourmet food and specially the Parsee cuisine. One of my last memories of him was at our house when we had him and Saluni over for some good Parsee food. He was forever grateful to Rutty for cooking him a special meal.

WE miss him, but will always remember him fondly for the joy and happiness that he gave us during the few years that we knew him. In one of the more recent movies called “The Bucket List” the actor Morgan Freeman describes the true purpose of life on earth as “Giving Joy to Other People”. On this basis Prashant would get an A in living a life filled to the brim and overflowing with the happiness that he brought to other people."

Arts:

Prashant was an entrepreneur who started the Prashant H. Fadia foundation with the idea to give back to the larger community. There were several causes close to his heart and the first one being art and art endeavors. He established his first south Asian art gallery in his office and on the premises of The Sierra Systems Asia Pvt. Ltd., SEEPZ, Mumbai, India, which helped the upcoming local artists, by giving them a place to display their art for free. The gallery space was designed by him. The project was focused to use all environmentally friendly materials. This office space won several awards in the Society of Interior Design magazines in India. This project was also a featured topic in a prominent South Asian newspaper in the US.

Peabody Museum: One thing led to another and soon he had Dr. Susan Bean, who is the Curator of South Asian and Korean Art at the Peabody Essex Museum, Salem, MA contact him. She invited him to participate in PEM’s efforts to finish a publication "British Furniture from India and Sri Lanka". Through the foundation, Prashant supported this publication and marked his journey towards the art world.  Peabody Essex Museum is the oldest running museum in USA. Prashant served on the Board of Trustees & Overseers at PEM. The Prashant H. Fadia Foundation also dedicated a traditional Indian art gallery (the first of its kind in the US) at PEM.

Museum of Science: Prashant was also involved with the Museum of Science, in Boston, MA. The foundation has supported two OMINI screenings of the "Bengal Tigers" and "The Lions of Kalahari" at the Museum of Science. He served on the Board of Overseers at the Museum of Science.

Museum of Fine Arts: Prashant worked closely with the South Asian community to bring them closer to the Museum of Fine Arts. Saluni P. Fadia serves as an overseer at  MFA, Boston.

Health:

In the field of health, the Fadia foundation has worked closely with the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, MA and the Henry Ford Hospital in Detroit, MI. It has also worked with the Hand in Hand Foundation in the US and supported an orphanage in Orissa. The foundation has also worked closely with the Chinmaya Mission in Andover, MA and the Mahavir Heart Foundation in Mumbai, India.

Technology:

 The foundation has supported technology by working in collaboration with the TiE-Boston Chapter in sponsoring the Young Entrepreneur program. Sponsored by the Prashant Fadia Foundation and Microsoft, which backed the prize money of $10,000, this is an effort to interest youth between the ages of 14-18 in entrepreneurship and business.

Education:

 The Fadia Foundation has also worked with the Meru Foundation in MA, to support its school curriculum on the Salem India Story. The publication of the book has been supported in part through a grant by the Prashant H Fadia Foundation.

Social causes:

One major involvement has been with the  Akshaya Patra Foundation, which supports a free nutritious school lunch program for children and enabling them to come to school to gain an education. In this effort, it has donated two custom built vehicles dedicated for the distribution of meals in and around Vrindavan.

The Fadia Family: A giving family till today

The Foundation continues to work closely with several local and global charities. Ms. Saluni P. Fadia is the Director of the Fadia Foundation and continues to harness the vision of her late husband. Her recent support has been to ART MITHAS, a visual art initiative that hopes to bring the work of local area artists to the forefront.

American India Foundation: This column is also part of her initiative to support American India Foundation. Subsequent issues in this column is to bring into focus the work and efforts of the American India Foundation, a venture philanthropy which supports more than 100 NGO’s in India through its grants and whose aim is to act as a catalyst to bring social and economic change in India. The local Boston chapter of AIF is led by a leadership council of Raj and Nalini Sharma and Venkat and Pratima Srinivasan who are also on its Board of trustees.

Says Saluni Fadia on this new partnership“I am  looking forward to working with all of you on this special journey with AIF and its varied efforts to bring so much HOPE to folks in India at various levels and through various programs.

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