Devadiya Foundation: Holistic Senior Citizen Care, Community Empowerment & Environmental Sustainability NGO

I started Devadiya Foundation because I saw urbanization quietly breaking apart Indian families, as people migrate from villages to cities and leave their ageing parents behind, often without support, materially or emotionally. As children, we forget that as we grow older, our parents grow older too. Devadiya Foundation was born from a simple belief: no senior citizen should feel abandoned because their children had to move forward in life.

Almost ten years ago, my grandmother slipped from her chair at 91 and fractured her back. Despite having a huge extended family, we struggled to figure out who would care for her, until one member stepped forward with genuine dedication for the next five years. That struggle taught me: our senior citizens should never be dependent on chance for love and care. That is the true origin of Devadiya Foundation.

"Anyone can show up once, that's seva, and it's real. Samarpan is what makes you show up the second time, to the same village, the same senior citizen, long after there's a fresh number to report. If seva answers what did we do, samarpan answers why didn't we stop."

In 10 years, I want Devadiya Foundation to be the first name every family thinks of when they worry about an ageing parent, anywhere. On the environment: "Ek Ped Apke Pita Ke Naam", one tree planted in your father's name, to save Mother Earth. Ultimately, I want to prove that Seva aur Samarpan is a working model other foundations can replicate.