Shankaramma resigns herself to god and good fortune!

As the light progresses towards a golden ochre and the sun towards the horizon, Shankaramma begins to wind up the construction worker, in her vastly different profile from the farmer she used to be.
Seemingly the social butterfly of this street, she wanders, with child on hip, chit-chatting with men lodged on footpaths, pausing every few minutes to scream out a thing or two to co-workers on the various floors of the building they are constructing.
Happy to engage in some more evening banter, she agrees to talk with me, a curious glint emerging from her eyes that struck a colour somewhere between hazel and brown.
Hailing from Raichur, she now comes to bigger cities to build buildings that become temporary homes for her and her family that consists of 3 children and her husband. She was married 8 years ago, at the age of 12, if her estimate of her current age being 20 is accurate. I exclaim that she is younger than me, although the wrinkles around her eyes seem to indicate otherwise, and she breaks out into a disbelieving grin, revealing faintly caramel coloured teeth.
Complementing her carefreeness, she resigns herself to God and good fortune to make her future. Our conversation trails off when she can’t find her one and a half years old son and the brigade of children surrounding her begin to scout for him under vehicles and behind rubble. They find him on a pile of sand, unaware of the tizzy his lack of presence had caused.

The young face of the Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust, Niska is a dynamic well-travelled advertising professional with a post graduate degree from London, UK. She grew up with the social ethics that her parents and grandparents believed in and even as a young child, used to accompany her mother to the various 4S Foundation projects. As gen next of Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust with a forward thinking global perspective, she is looking to expand the reach of the Foundation into new areas. She feels especially passionately about new-age projects like alternative energy for villages, eco friendly industries and sustainability programmes.

A very successful corporate Image Consultant, who lived in Africa and the Middle East. A personal tragedy, the loss of her surgeon husband, forced her to step out of her secure comfort zone and become a financially independent woman, capable of providing her three children with a secure future. A dynamic Rotarian and Founder Director of The Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust, her goal is to enable young women to fend for themselves and become productive members of society. In a world where so many urgent social problems need tackling, she believes that pooling resources, partnering with like-minded, influential individuals and involving them in social change projects is really the smart way forward.

Subbarao, a highly successful corporate head, also wore many different hats over the course of his illustrious life and career. He was many things to many people. Influential CEO of a multinational company, caring husband and father, Sai baba devotee, composer of popular hymns and bhajans, author of a devotional book and co founder of the 4S Foundation which was later renamed Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust. He passed away in the mid-2000’s but the work he started in collaboration with his wife and daughter lives on.

Lalitha Subbarao is the inspiration behind the Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust. Armed with a strong social conscience and a broad based global education (Masters from Ohio State University, USA) plus a deep desire to help disadvantaged women, her dream is now being realized through the efforts of the Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust. Lalitha was a woman of substance who worked quietly and steadily towards the betterment of those around her. Besides being a role model to her children, she authored and published two books–Nanu Mattu America in Kannada (America and I) describing her student life there in the mid 1950’s and a comprehensive book – Festivals of India. She rightly believed that women must be educated, empowered and financially independent. An educated wife and mother would in turn be a strong positive influence in the family and society at large, just as she was. Her legacy is carried on by the Lalitha Subbarao Nanjundayya Memorial Trust.