as the worldly pleasures take over, the idea dies an untimely death. Fortunately, this did not happen in isha kakaria’s case. A visit to an old-age home during her school years laid the foundation of her NGO, Tammana which started in September, 2008.

“I still go to that old age home today and still have a strong bond with everyone there,” kakaria shares. The NGO took off with an idea of gathering some friends together and going back to the old age home again. Even discouraging responses were many friends to encourage kakaria. Her first success story happened when tammana held an eye-donation awareness camp in Punjab university.

Currently boasting of 75 active volunteers, 26-years-old kakaria makes the entry into the NGO a difficult task. “the problem is that several youngsters, who join social work as a way of passing time,tend to lose interest as easily,” she asserts. So, to get entry into tammana, volunteers should be prepared to gather 15 blood donors or do something tougher. “it keeps their interest alive,” she avers.

The NGO usually works on various projects through the word of mouth. In summers, tammana usually organize chabeels and in winter, the volunteers go around donating warm clothes to several organizations, charitable institutes and in various slum areas of the city. Tammana hopes to bring about a positive change in the society. It recently started a play corner for ailing kids in GMCH, sector 32. “the environment there was so dull. Adding a dash of colour brought smiles on so many faces,” adds kakaria.

Hoping to cover more hospitals soon and also venture out of the tricity for various projects, kakaria is glad the NGO sustains itself on self-finance. “this is what makes us different from other NGOs,” she adds.

Having fewer financial requirements, the NGO usually invites people to assist in kind. Today, tammana is an integral part of kakaira’s life. The NGO has not only changed her life but also the life of her family members. “nothing could have been possible without their support” she says. So much so that she even quit a plush job in a leading software company to be more involved in the NGO.

Tammana continues to constantly inspire and change many lives. There are very few who will leave family, personal interests money and even jobs to work for social causes and kakaria is one of those.