The Art of Effective Giving

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R.M. Lala is the author of eleven books, including the bestselling The Creation of Wealth, a book on the Tatas, and Beyond the Last Blue Mountain, his biography of J.R.D. Tata. He became a journalist at the age of nineteen and entered book publishing in 1951, establishing and managing the UK division of Asia Publishing House, the first Indian publisher to be established in London. In 1964 he became co-founder of the newsmagazine Himmat Weekly, which he edited for the next decade. He was director of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust, Tata's premier charitable foundation, for eighteen years. He is also co-founder of the Centre for the Advancement of Philanthropy and was its chairman from 1993 to 2008. His books have been translated into various languages, including the Japanese.

INDIAN BUSINESS HAS A RICH tradition of philanthropy but the subject of this book, 'effective giving', is a more recent development. This evolved form of philanthropy emerged in the latter half of the nineteenth century when businessmen like Andrew Carnegie and Jamsetji Tata decided to set up foundations and trusts to put their vast wealth, generated by modern industry, to the greatest social use by addressing themselves to tackling major challenges which less well-endowed institutions would not even be able to attempt.

Russi Lala's book is slim in size but like all his previous books is an engaging read. He intermixes a historical overview of the origins and growth of 'effective giving' with a depiction of the lives and deeds of some of its main proponents, bringing in his own experiences as head of the Sir Dorabji Tata Trust when he is writing about compassionate business persons he knew personally, like J.R.D. Tata and Azim Premji.

ALMOST EVERYONE HAS EXPERIENCED THE Joy of giving at some stage or the other. Giving money, giving help in other ways or giving of themselves to a person in need, listening to him or her, or helping them with their problems. It springs from what the Greeks called fil-anthra-pi-the 'love of fellowmen'. This is the origin of the word 'philanthropy'. Wealth had nothing to do with the original definition of philanthropy, but over a period of time people came to relate the two, realizing that where love prevails wealth assumes a nobler purpose.

Some nations have the concept of philanthropy inborn in them, like India, where it has been a part of our culture. It is present in one form or the other in every religion practised here. Among the Hindus it is the tradition of daan which includes giving to temples, feeding Brahmins, charity to orphans and widows, etc. Daan is an integral part of the Parsi ethos too. People built wells and rest places for tired travellers and provided drinking water to men and animals alike. Giving, without any expectation of personal reward, is a principal tenet of Buddhism. Among Muslims, zakat-giving a portion of one's income to charity is widely practised throughout the social spectrum. Similarly, among Jews and certain sects of Christians, there is the concept of tithe-giving away one-tenth of what one earns to charity. Among the Sikhs there is a tradition of direct service by one's hands for a charitable cause. The langarin every gurdwara is an example of such service. The Jains are notable for their charity, which also takes animal welfare in its ambit. Jain teachers have set guidelines for donors.