A man of hope who realised his dream
Siddhartha Kaul: A vision for children. Pic by Indika Handuwala
The Sunday Hindi movie on the black and white television screen installed in the first SOS Children’s Village in Greenfields, India in the late ’60s by J.N. Kaul, was not only the ‘highlight’ of each week but an occasion which called for brotherhood and merry-making. With food to pass around and blankets to nestle in, it was more a ‘family carnival’ chuckles Siddhartha Kaul, President, SOS Children’s Villages (SOSCV) International, reminiscing about his earliest memories of ‘community feeling’.
Mr. Kaul who flew to Colombo last week to join in the 35th anniversary celebrations of SOS Children’s Villages, Sri Lanka, is proud to see the ‘Sri Lankan SOS tree’ branching out to give shelter to so many young lives wanting the love of a family.
When his late father, J.N. Kaul, nurtured the first Indian SOSCV, taking a cue from the founding father of SOS International, Prof. Hermann Gmeiner, it was only natural for young Kaul to integrate into this bigger family as the Bhaiya (brother). Passing out from High School, Siddhartha was at the crossroads. It was his mother’s wish to make an ‘engineer son’ out of him and his father’s to make a ‘doctor son’. Young Kaul wanted neither and chose architecture only to call it quits as a jaded young apprentice who saw a doomed professional journey before him! “Perhaps I would have turned out to be a teacher of English Literature as it was something very close to my heart, but today I’m happy I’m neither!” says the smiling global ambassador of goodwill.
In 1978 when SOSCV India invited him to launch the first of its kind in South India (in Chennai), he accepted wholeheartedly. Still in his 20s, Kaul “did not quite know the scale of it,” and what drove him at such a young age, he still cannot fathom. “I was so fortunate to have had so many rallying around me to champion the cause and who knows? Maybe they took pity on me because I was so young!” he candidly admits.
It was the same when he was sent to set up the first Sri Lankan SOSCV in 1981. Once again people rallied round. “Funnily enough, nothing worried me then- the native language or otherwise. But if I’m to do the same thing today, I would be worried about a million things,” he adds with a smile.
Going back 35 years, Mr. Kaul recalls the entire Sri Lankan system including the state mechanism and the civil society groups such as the Sarvodaya Movement which took ‘SOS Mothers’ under its wings for training, to be “open, receptive and ready for something different.” The political fabric of the country however was volatile with communal unrest brewing. “That was not the time where I could claim to be an Indian walking on the Galle Face,” recalls Mr. Kaul who used to pass off as a “Greek” to the curious strollers on the Mount Lavinia beach!
SOS founder Prof. Hermann Gmeiner with mothers and children at the first SOSCV in Piliyandala. Pic courtesy SOSCV, Sri Lanka
The Piliyandala SOSCV he laboured to realize is close to his heart. “It is a place where I would say that I can go to sleep, because I’m convinced that the notion of ‘service’ has fully settled into the minds of those who serve here. I’m so proud of the place and the good work steered by it.” Revered as the ‘grandfather’ today by the second generation of the SOS family here, he remains a ‘father figure’ in the lives of scores of youngsters he watched growing up.
Taking the reins from his predecessor and guru Helmut Kutin in 2012 as the President, SOSCV, International, Mr. Kaul kept the legacy of the pioneers alive. The commitment towards young migrants, children coming under judicial protection and vulnerable children in conflict-ridden parts of the globe, mirror the organization’s social consciousness in a changing global landscape. In this setting the need to ‘reinvent’ the programmes and multiple the number of service providers is unprecedented, he notes. Fostering ‘community sensitivity’ is also one of their core values. The recognition by the Royal Family of Spain last year with the 2016 Princess of Asturias Award for Concord in appreciation of the organization’s pledge towards ‘solidarity, protection of heritage and understanding of humanity’ as the prestigious accolade sought to uphold, is significant in this context.
The strategic intervention of ‘Journey to 2030’ as Mr. Kaul explains, envisages economic and social sustainability. Rewiring both the strategy and human capacity of SOS Children’s Villages and shifting resources to locales where economic poverty is most acute and child vulnerability high, is the want of the hour, though posing formidable challenges for the organization, observes its President. SOSCV International’s agenda is also aligned with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals . “We also urge the governments to reflect on their existing policies and formulate more child-friendly environments where children can flourish,” says Mr. Kaul who also urges the civil society to become proactive partners in embracing the adage of the larger SOS family – ‘a loving home for every child’. The best in life a parent would aspire for a child, should be extended to society at large, believes Mr. Kaul. “We simply cannot turn a blind eye to a child begging on the roads. We just cannot ignore such sights as ignoring could be extremely dangerous,” he reflects.
A man who has walked the talk, Mr. Kaul has one dream: to see all young people coming under the loving care of SOS Children’s Villages, enjoying ‘decent lives’ and shaping their futures for the betterment of society. He derives immense joy in the simple rewards life brings his way. “When I sit in the verandah sipping my morning tea, seeing children dressed up ready to go to school, lifts my spirits. There is so much of hope in that sight.”