SVYM Family celebrates its 40th anniversary on 1st December.
Though friends may come into our lives at any given point in time, they define the course of our journey from the very day they come and make a lasting impression. The probability of meeting a friend, of such a beautiful becoming may be coincidental, but the growth and evolution resulting from it is not. I ascribe our friendship as an opportunity awarded to us to grow together, to evolve spiritually – in service of mankind.
SVYM has been fortunate to have many friends join our journey. I believe our common objectives, intentions and aspirations unify us to go on for another four decades – working towards building an equitable society for our future generations, and our vision of a resurgent India.
Reflecting back on the journey, the initial days of living with indigenous tribal communities and learning first-hand about human struggles and witnessing the universality of human values, of finding conviction in Swami Vivekananda’s words to serve fellow brothers and sisters, running a makeshift clinic armed only with physician samples or starting a school in a repurposed cowshed, the way Dr Balu, SVYM’s Founder, sees this journey inspires me in seeing it as a perpetual pursuit. He says, “It is a joy to see the new generation of SVYM build what we started ensuring that SVYM remains a living, evolving entity committed to Swami Vivekananda’s ideas and the mission of building a resurgent India. The work that we started was never meant to be finite, it was meant to be generative, inspiring others to take up the mantle of service and amplify the impact.”
Turning 41, SVYM is serving communities reaching the furthest corners of Karnataka, be it the aspirational district of Raichur up north, geographically demanding and inaccessible Kodagu in the west, Chamarajanagar down south and drought-prone Kolar towards the east. In many regions, implementing a comprehensive development model involving Health, Education, Socio-economic Empowerment and Climate Action, focusing on building the Human and Social Capital of the local communities towards community-centred development. A total of 40+ Programs are being currently undertaken by SVYM across Karnataka in partnership with 140 Corporate and Private partners, UN and multilateral agencies, Central and State Govt, NGOs and academic partners and the support of over 1500 Individual well-wishers.
The collective human potential of SVYM, consisting of 900+ employees is represented fairly by both genders (46% females), the Youth Movement lives up to its name with a mean age of employees being 33. Our volunteers further challenge the norms of what comprises youth, from being young college students experiencing the empowering fulfilment of serving others to doctors in their early 80s volunteering at our Palliative Care Centre. It is this robust and dynamic mix of self-motivated individuals that fuel SVYM’s inexhaustible spirit in responding to Swami Vivekananda’s clarion call – To arise, awake and stop not until the goal is reached.
We ascribe SVYM’s foundational core values of Satya (Truthfulness), Ahimsa (Non-violence), Seva (Service) and Tyaga (Sacrifice), of a deeply imbibed approach of ‘being equal partners in development’ and a service mindset, to have served as the fertile soil for the young and talented to sow in fresh perspectives and evolving ideas crucial to staying contextually relevant.
I believe SVYM finds its purpose in becoming a platform where individuals can come and share their abilities in serving others, in discovering there is personal gain in public service.
On our 40th anniversary, the entire SVYM family thanks you and reiterates its commitment to building a resurgent India.
I also take this opportunity to share with you our SVYM Annual Report 2023-24 capturing the impact we’ve made together in the year.