NRI millionaire does a real life Swades

Indo-Asian News Service
Chandigarh, December 28

The box office may not have welcomed "Swades", a film about a non-resident Indian (NRI) returning to help his village, but the real life story of a US-based expatriate's work in Punjab is already a hit.

Seventy-two-year-old Nanak Kohli has done well enough in the US to be heading a $200-million group doing all kinds of things, from giving technical manpower to investing in telecom.

But that wasn't enough. "It was my dream to do something for people back in Punjab to perpetuate the memory of my parents," Kohli told the agency.

Inspired by a suggestion from columnist and author Khushwant Singh to do something for girls in rural Punjab, Kohli set up three computer centres in Ghauran, Landran and Mahdiyan villages.

His idea was to train girls and get them outsourced work from the world over so that they could earn enough. Now, nearly 225 girls are already enrolled at these centres and are being trained to handle outsourcing jobs.

Kohli set up the Sunder Amar Sheel Trust in memory of his father Sunder Singh and two mothers - Amar Kaur and Sheela Kohli - for this purpose.

"My biological mother Amar Kaur died when I was just eight. My real mother was Sheela Kohli," he explained, saying he was helping his community in Punjab as he did not want it to experience the hardships he and his father faced after India's partition in 1947.

"I want these computer centres to become business centres that guarantee jobs and money to the girls," Kohli said.

Each computer centre is being given Rs.500, 000 ($10,000) for investment and 10 computers each. Air-conditioners and generator sets are being provided at every centre.

"My idea is to have 100 such centres all over Punjab. I have got very good support from my family and well placed volunteers who offered to work free of cost for these projects. I just can't believe that all this is happening," he said.

Kohli, known as the "Rolls Royce NRI from Washington", set apart Rs.10 million for the project. "I will give this amount every year. The investment should touch Rs.50 million as we push ahead," he said.

Kohli had initially planned to invest the money for bright students from IITs and IIMs, but Khushwant Singh asked him to reach out to the "poorest of the poor".

The computer centres were not the only thing Kohli had in mind.

"I learnt in Ghauran village that only one boy - S.S. Dhanoa, who retired as Punjab chief secretary a few years ago - had made it to the elite Indian administrative Services (IAS). I want girls from this village to do the same," Kohli said.

Kohli's efforts have changed the lives of girls in rural Punjab. His trust has selected two bright girls doing their graduation and is now training them to appear for the civil services exam.

"We will get them the best coaching to achieve this goal," Kohli asserted.

"We took 100 girls in specially arranged buses to New Delhi's Imperial Hotel for a function. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh's wife Gursharan Kaur was to come for the function, but she was down with viral flu," Kohli said.

"Khushwant was in tears as the girls and small children sang and danced their hearts out. The girls had come out of their villages for the first time," he said.

"We have had valuable support to implement the project from Satinder Singh, our project director," Kohli added.

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