He lives for others
By Syed Nooruzzaman

BROADLY, there are three categories of people. The first category consists of those who spend their time and energy on making money. In the second category are those who are interested in fame. The third and rare group of people comprises those who do anything they can only for self-satisfaction. They do not expect anything from society or the government. They live for others. Managing Trustee of the Human Care Charitable Trust, New Delhi, P.N.Thareja, belongs to this unusual class of people, who are few and far between.

The trust came into being solely because of his efforts in 1996, with its headquarters at Saket, New Delhi, where he lives. Since then it has done marvellous work. It has achieved enviable success in the areas of its operation — service to the poor, the aged and the ailing. And with funds donated by those who seek guidance from Thareja, a storehouse of divinatory knowledge.

Here are some of the trust’s major achievements: One, a free dispensary in Delhi’s Lal Kuan area and another at Nathupur village, Gurgaon. The staff and the funds needed for the Nathupur dispensary are provided by the trust, but it arranges only medicines for the Lal Kuan dispensary. The total expenses come to around Rs 10,000 per month. This is not a small amount for an individual to collect, but Thareja manages it with the donations he gets from friends, admirers and well-wishers.

Two, the trust provides medicinal help worth Rs 7,000 every month to people suffering from TB and cancer at Chakarpur village.

Three, the trust spends over Rs 5,000 per month on indigent persons — widows, students and others.

Four, the trust has provided monetary aid to over 300 patients for undergoing cataract operations, besides arranging quilts, blankets, woollen garments, shoes, etc, to the needy on a regular basis.

Five, the trust is doing yeoman service in the field of protecting the environment. A beautiful park in the D-Block of the Saket area of Delhi and the conversion of a service lane into a beautiful small garden, full of green and flowering plants, provide sufficient proof of it.

Thareja is 74. Yet he has inexhaustible energy and enthusiasm to serve as many needy people as possible. His trust has plans to enlarge its area of operation as there is no end to the donations he receives from patrons and well-wishers.

He has been interested in serving society in whatever way he could ever since his younger days. Thareja was born in a modest family in Mianwali, now in Pakistan. Circumstances forced him to shift to this side of the Indo-Pak divide. What helped him greatly in his pursuit of social service is his knowledge of astrology, numerology and palmistry. As most of his predictions were found to be true, people from all walks of life continued to flock to him in great numbers.

After he bacame the centre of attraction for the powerful and not so powerful — they included politicians and journalists — he successfully helped a number of charitable organisations in their efforts to raise enough funds needed for their humanitarian projects.

Thareja, who retired as Assistant General Manager, State Bank of India, in 1985, takes special care of cleanliness in the area where he lives. Over the years he has become a source of inspiration for those aspiring to jump into the sea of social service. It will be no exaggeration if he is described as the sentinel of Saket. Someone has rightly said that those who live for others never die.