June, 2020

Hamdard National Foundation (India) is a result of the vision and goodwill of one person - Hakeem Abdul Hameed - my father. Every generation of leaders brings their own interests and biases to the management of an organization, but it is equally important to view our task from the eyes of the visionary who conceived and realized the organization. A faith in the original idea grounds our current activities.

As an original member of the Foundation since its inception in 1964, I have seen tremendous changes over the last 50 odd years, but the one thing that has remained constant is that we have been blessed with excellent and visionary members and advisers, who have stayed true to the objectives laid down by my father. Our current set of members have more than lived up to the task and help us deliver the maximum impact. It is a matter of great pride for me that over the years, the Foundation has established itself as one of India’s most respected charitable societies, impacting millions of lives.

The business arm of Hamdard is a charitable trust, while the Foundation is a charitable society. Few people who use and enjoy Hamdard products know that they are actively involved in the service of society, as all proceeds from the sale of Hamdard products go towards charity.

Education continues to be our focus. We believe that a good education not only ensures a good livelihood but also the freedom of choice and thought needed for a good life. It is our mission to nurture and grow the institutions founded by our founder. These institutions run the gamut from top universities to primary education to skills training and coaching.

We are very proud that today, Jamia Hamdard University consistently ranks among the best institutions of higher learning in the country, with some programs consistently ranking as the best in the nation.

We believe that talent and a will to learn should not be squandered due to lack of means, so we try our best to support deserving students with our scholarship programs, which help a large number of students fulfill their dreams of a good education. The future of our children and our nation lies in a good education. It will bear fruit over time. I know from my own experience that the mindset and habits one forms as a student last an entire lifetime, so it is all the more important to lay a strong foundation. At the very least, education opens up possibilities that are not available to the uneducated.

Apart from our focus on education, we provide social and cultural aid as our duty to society. In times of need, the Foundation has stepped up to support relief funds of Central and State governments in solidarity with our nation. Distribution of food, clothes, and blankets to those in dire need is carried out as a regular activity.

Just like our focus on education for the young and qualified, we also believe in supporting those who need our support the most - the elderly. We have an extensive pension program for elderly widows with no other sources of income. They are the most vulnerable in our society.

In winters, we have our blanket drive in which we provide blankets and jerseys to those who cannot afford them.

As a philosophy, we prize the tolerance and diversity of our culture, not as an abstract cliche, but as a thing we have to persevere to protect. If I had to venture to summarize the philosophy of our founder, I would say that he was a progressive with an eye to the future, and all his philanthropy was an attempt to support and promote new ideas one way or the other. As we venture into the future, it is this bent towards supporting and promoting new ideas that guides us towards new projects. I carry my father in my heart and try to spread the same message of goodness in the world.

Nothing about our founder was ordinary. His generosity, his legacy, his vision, are all extraordinary. When I think about his legacy, I think not only about his business and research acumen in making Hamdard a household name, or the dozens of institutions he founded, or his scholarly love of reading and writing, or his vast and varied social circle, but I think mostly about his extraordinary generosity, which was the best distillation of all his qualities. He had this rare quality of affecting everyone he met with a desire to be good. His generosity of spirit won him many friends across disciplines, from art to politics.

As we look to the future, certain trends are beginning to emerge. I place these issues in the broad category of sustainability. For example, the air pollution in North India is an imminent threat that requires immediate attention. Our dependence on fossil fuels and animal meat also require urgent action. Species of plants and animals are dying off at an alarming rate, but with proper care, I believe the process is reversible. Though we cannot bring back extinct species, we can prevent the deterioration of our symbiotic relationship with nature. I see the involvement of our Foundation in these and other more urgent social and environmental issues as we move forward.

So far I have resisted mentioning the biggest economic, social, and cultural calamity of our time, but I’d like to address it briefly. The coronavirus pandemic has upended society like nothing else in my lifetime. Every day has been a learning experience and we have had to calibrate our expectations accordingly. The loss of life has been sudden and disastrous, but we have also learned that our planet is surprisingly versatile, and changes that we initially thought might be irreversible, like air quality deterioration, can be fixed with a concentrated effort.

Hamdard National Foundation derives its income from royalty for the use of trademarks that it owns, and from direct donations from the business trust of Hamdard. Our income is directly tied to the business, and as the business has grown, so has the Foundation. We are extremely proud of the quality of our products, which include Sharbat Rooh Afza, the drink that defines India and is conversely defined by India.

The torch of the Foundation was lit by my father, and as I prepare to pass on the torch to the next generation, I am full of hope that the Foundation will live up to the vision of its founder and aid the needy as it has done through all these years. We are an open organization, which believes that good ideas do not have a hierarchy, so I invite everyone to submit their ideas and feedback to us.

Hammad Ahmed