As you read on, you could well be on your way towards making a difference in a child's life.

I consider myself, and you among several others, to be very fortunate given that we've had access to quality education. In my belief, it is this foundation our parents gifted that has single handedly prepared us - to strive for a higher standard of living; to face the unending challenges of a professional circuit; to forge ahead with confidence in the face of adversity; and eventually, to give back something in return to society. I am very pleased that Asha-UIUC is presenting me with this unique opportunity to accomplish this goal, as I train for and run the BOA Chicago Marathon 2009 in an effort to raise awareness and mobilize resources for educating underprivileged children in India.

Over a third of India's population comprises of children below 14 years of age, of which a large portion is uneducated and lives in poverty. Since this constitutes the largest "young" population worldwide, we desperately need a campaign towards empowering them with education and the necessities to guarantee a better tomorrow for our society. Asha for Education is a renowned charity organization that identifies and seeds projects aimed at this purpose. What started as a small dream of a grad student has grown to the scale of self-sufficient chapters across several universities and working communities in the US. You can obtain details of each of Asha-UIUC's 16 ventures on this projects page.

Every year, Asha-UIUC trains and prepares a group of runners for the Chicago Marathon. In a rigorous 5-month summer program, we bring to camp the expertise and dedication of a group of strongly motivated students to train from scratch and conquer 26.2 miles. While I am no athlete and merely took up the challenge because of the greater objective, I quickly realized that this is no walk-in-the park activity. Every new run involves pushing the envelope further, with imminent risk of injury and exhaustion. However with the care and expertise provided by past runners, every new run transforms into a personal best and another milestone crossed towards the ultimate goal. Over the past 5 months of rigour culminating in one exhausting race, I cheer and motivate myself to carry onward whenever I break sweat and endure pain - for I believe that when I eventually square off against forty five thousand fellow competitors on the streets of Chicago on Oct-11, all of this and your support is going to light up a good many young life. I feel that this effectively adds purpose to my pursuit and gives me a feeling of accomplishment.

Over a period of 20 weeks in training, I have developed a routine for a healthier living. Although I am a coffee connoisseur, I realize that from my marathon campaign I have cut down my afternoon coffee every day. Do a little math: these one hundred coffees equal $200 saved, which I pledge for this cause. As some wise ad-campaign once said - a lot could happen over coffee! In support of my marathon campaign may I suggest donations in multiples of 26, symbolizing every mile I run? I treat this as your generous appreciation and cheering for my effort and draw motivation for race day.

I humbly appeal to you - kindly join me, my fellow runners and Asha-for-Education, to positively contribute towards educating and empowering children with a better life!