A Journey of Grace: The Story of Ardhrata Fellowship

Altruism is an English word meaning selfless service to others without expecting anything in return. This has no simple equivalent in Malayalam. This piece is about a person who is the personification of altruism that I have had the privilege of knowing and admiring.

Prof P C Varghese (PCV) taught chemistry for many years at the CMS College, Kottyam, the college established by Anglican Missionaries in 1817, many years before even Bombay had a college. He was an idealistic teacher, with a strong commitment to teaching and the care of students entrusted to him. There are stories about how he would refuse to submit to student indiscipline, including calls for student strikes. His love for teaching extended to the love of writing a popular textbook for the students; College Chemistry was published in 1968. He is passionate when speaking about the things he believes in, though extremely polite when dealing with people. His use of very flowery English language when complimenting people, though quaint, is endearing.

PCV came up in life through paths of extreme hardship and deprivation. He was born in the family of a poor labourer in Erumeli, a town in the central Travancore region in Kerala. Whereas an ordinary person, faced with the necessity of an incessant fight with poverty and hardship in life, would have become cynical and misanthropic, PCV developed into a man of empathy and altruism. He has a large family, which includes his wife, children, brothers and their wives and children, all of whom contribute to PCV's philanthropic activities.

Despite having to do odd jobs to support the family while he was in school, PCV performed brilliantly as a student. In the SB College in Changanassery, he secured a gold medal for passing out with the highest marks in B. Sc Chemistry. Following this, he enrolled in CMS College and passed out with a first-class postgraduate degree in 1965.

PCV got his first job in the Catholicate college in Pathanamthitta in June 1965 and after a year he joined the CMS College. The possibility of supporting the college education of his brothers motivated him to make this shift. With a regular income from 1965 onwards, the seed of an idea that the adversities in his life had injected in him began to grow and he started his journey through the altruistic path by helping people in need, though on a small, informal scale. Priorities of his family responsibilities did not allow him to try anything large. With time, the idea matured along with his life and experience and inspired him to found an activity which evolved into the Ardhrata Fellowship formalised in 2002. Among the people who helped develop the idea further are Fr. M. V. George (later H. G. Geevarghese Mar Osthathios) and the scholar-priest Fr. T. J. Joshua.

The influences behind what evolved finally into the Ardhrata Fellowship were manyfold. The deprivation during his childhood and interaction with people of shared misery were strong influences. The acute financial constraints faced by the family during PCV's college education during the 1959-1965 period was another. Personal experience during his teaching, which made him learn about the socio-economic conditions of students, was the third. PCV believed strongly that knowing about people around you is an essential part of being human.

The primary aim of Ardhrata is to provide financial, medical and other forms of assistance to people below the poverty line and those from backward communities. It focuses on providing financial help for its beneficiaries to pursue education beyond the +2 level in a subject likely to yield a job. Assistance for medical help, funds to build a house, assistance for getting married, financial help for self-employment, support to care homes for the elderly and children, food for the hungry: so go the categories of help.

The first case where Ardhrata provided help was to offer medical and livelihood support to a paralysed person staying in a hut along with a frail widowed mother. PCV would take him regularly to an expert physiotherapist in his car, for several months for treatment. He improved considerably and could stand up with a little support. After the death of his mother, he was put up in a care home. PCV still remembers Rajendran and his grateful smiling face.

A typical case is that of a 25-year-old girl pursuing a Medical scribe course, who had to clear her fees before sitting for the final examination. Her younger sister had availed Ardhrata's educational assistance for the BSc Nursing course. She had strived hard knocking at many doors to raise funds to clear off the arrears; but failed. Finally just two days more for the arrears clearance deadline, ARDHRATHA helped her with the required amount to clear off the dues.

Another BSc Nursing student from a family in abject poverty with several months of accumulated fee arrears and no means at all to pay the amount and sit for the year-end exam, sought help after all other attempts failed. Substantial support was given and she completed the course and is decently employed now, transforming the family's socio-economic condition and ensuring a bright future for herself.

The case of a woman, whose husband had committed suicide driven by financial difficulties, leaving his children orphans and sick and compelling them to sleep under tarpaulin sheets tied on trees, by the side of the railway line in the Muttambalam area, came to Ardhrata's attention. The family received medical assistance and support for a rented hut for a few years. Finally, Ardhrata's deep concern for the family resulted in buying a small piece of land with a house, which was properly repaired and transferred to their ownership. The elder girl was married off decently later with further assistance. They all live in peace and happiness now.

The fund is managed by the Managing Trustee with advice from other Trustees and also with appropriate guidance, whenever necessary, from the Patrons and the Chartered Accountant. All decisions are made by consensus and with prayers to ensure perfect justice, so that ‘No’ is never said to a needy and deserving applicant.

Ardhrata collected nearly Rs 73 Lakhs in the year 2023-24 which was spent on 700 families. Over the two decades of their activity, they have dispersed nearly Rupees 70 Million covering nearly 20,000 beneficiaries.

The service provided by Ardhratha Fellowship is essentially silent. There are no advertisements of any sort. There is no propaganda about the type or extent of service anywhere including in the social media. The fellowship respects the dignity of the person who receives the support and never uses such information for publicity.

The office expenditures such as rent, electricity charges and phone charges are all borne by the Managing Trustee and his family. All travelling expenses are personally met by the functionaries and the office work is done by two of the trustees. All this makes the overhead expenses minimal, of the order of 1 %. Any amount donated to the Fellowship goes fully to satisfy the needs of the most deserving in our society.

Prof P C Varghese is the Managing Trustee of the Ardhrata Fellowship. He believes that the legacy he has created will continue through his children and his younger siblings and their children all of whom are actively involved in the activities of the Trust.

The contact details of Ardhrata are "Ardhrata Fellowship, Archana, Old Seminary Road, Chungom, Kottayam, Phone 0481-2566001, Mobile 9447598549, Website: https://afcharity.org/".