Achieving financial success is just the beginning of the journey, certainly not the end. Real success is measured by how much you give back to the community. Becoming rich does not automatically mean happiness for the rest of our lives. Happiness comes from emotional fulfilment, not wealth. Serving those in need brings humility in life, and happiness is found by making others happy. These are the thoughts of V Partner Kavita Sugandh, who has become an inspiration in her community. Her philanthropic endeavours under the name ANANTA bring about real and sustainable change as she also brings hope for a better and brighter tomorrow.
V Partner Kavita Sugandh has illustrated what real success means with how she chooses to use it for the greater good. From an early age, Kavita displayed all the traits of an entrepreneur, starting small businesses even while she was in her teens. She has never shied away from hard work and believes firmly that there can be no real, lasting success without it. It’s no surprise that today she is a successful entrepreneur and a role model for thousands of women who look up to her for inspiration. Kavita takes that responsibility seriously and uses it to bring about real change in the community.
Her social impact movement ‘ANANTA’ is a testament to that commitment.
‘ANANTA’ – Making a Difference
Inspired by Kavita’s leadership and example, many young and dynamic individuals have come together to make a positive change in society. Around 600 young aspiring and successful entrepreneurs in India are carrying forward her mission by driving change and making a real and tangible difference with ANANTA. They focus on feeding hungry children and helping them dream of a better future. Kavita reasons that when a child is hungry, it does not care about anything other than food. She believes that if ANANTA can help address this basic need, they will only get a chance to think about bigger dreams. Providing children with food and basic amenities and then getting them to explore further opportunities in life is what ANANTA’s mission is all about. The word ‘ANANTA’ means infinite in Sanskrit – a concept that is timeless and age-old. It is believed that the universe is infinite and cyclical. There is no beginning, and there is no end.
What ANANTA Does
The team at ANANTA has undertaken many social projects to work on. These projects’ entire focus is to bring about positive change and uplift the needy and the underprivileged. The culture of ANANTA is to place service above self, a concept inspired by RYTHM. Some of ANANTA’s projects are as follows:
1. Food Bank – Roti Ghar
Roti Ghar, which literally translates to ‘Food House’, is an initiative formed to cook and feed malnourished kids’ meals. In collaboration with Khushiyaan Foundation in late 2018, the ANANTA team started feeding 400 kids in Mumbai slums. The number has increased to more than 800 per day now. They have added Bangalore and Hyderabad as new locations, with 150 and 200 kids fed every day.
2. Education Support
ANANTA has built the Aarna English High School in Thane for children from low-income families who do not have a proper education. Around 350 kids are currently enrolled in the education programme, most of whom are children of minimum-wage labourers.
3. Welfare for Animals
Another initiative in collaboration with Khushiyaan Foundation has seen Kavita Sugandh take it upon herself and her team at ANANTA to provide food, water, and medical care for stray animals in Mumbai and Thane. Since early 2019, team ANANTA is dedicated to feeding stray animals that have currently reached 400 daily. These include dogs, cats, birds, cows, and more. Several bird feeders and water bowls have also been installed all across Mumbai. The next step for team ANANTA is to rescue and shelter old, abandoned animals. Recently, Ananta started an animal shelter ‘Home for paws’ in Thane, Mumbai. Right now, there are 50 animals in the shelter.
4. Empowerment of Women
Yet another project with Khushiyaan Foundation saw team ANANTA foray into meeting the female child’s needs in particular. It is no secret that menstruation is still a taboo subject in many households in India. In low-income and disadvantaged communities, the lack of awareness and access to information is even more troubling. Team ANANTA provides eco-friendly sanitary napkins to more than 2000 underprivileged young women each month in Mumbai. Additionally, they have also set up the ‘N