Venkatraman K—Pencil Man of UAE

Venkatraman K believes that in philanthropy one should do the right thing, whether or not it succeeds. For him every society’s culture of giving is unique in that philanthropy does not exist in a vacuum but is a function of the society’s history, culture , political and economic  framework, taxation policies and so on.  And in most societies, that he is aware of, Western and south East Asian, giving is motivated by religious teachings as well as instinctive feelings such as compassion, pity, guilt or joy. The same is true of Indian giving and in this sense he would not say India is a special case, but is both different and similar because of a different configuration  of circumstances, and forces of globalisation.

Tell us something about yourself?

My name is Venkatraman Krishamoorthy. But I am more known as pencilman of UAE. I am a chartered accountant by profession running a software solution firm in Dubai for past 26years. Neela venkatraman, the better half of venkat is also a chartered accountant is the pillar of strength to venkat and supports all his endeavour. My MOTTO : ” SEWA IS DHARMA BE SELFLESS AND DO NOT EXPECT ANY GRATIFICATION / RECOGNITION. I have received several awards in recognition of my work namely ministry of foreign affairs has named in yearbook by nrimeda as  one of most iconic nri .Aster@30 has considered venkat as hero. Hariharaputhra samaj mumbai conferred samaj shakti award  for social service. Venkat created a guinness world record on oct 14 2016 for the largest donation of school supplies in 24hours. Venkat along with tamil 89.4fm created a guinness world record for largest donation of pulses in 24 hours.

How did the pencil project begin? 

In 2009 Raghavan and Aruna, founder of shikshayatan school arasavanankadu a free institution came to Dubaialong with 7 students .Venkat showed to raghavan a drawer full of pencils. Raghavan mentioned it is a luxury.

Stationery collection drive was started and today atleast one lakh children across india get tools of education. Similarly collection of uniform toys story books is taken up year on year with support from students corporates and well wishers. 

Www.education4all.info is a community partner with engage dubai chamber of commerce and works under umbrella of emirates red crescent to support refugee children in middle east and africa.

One of the red crescent official stated Venkat is  a selfless philanthrophist is a conduit or bridge between the donors and beneficiary.

Purnashiksha is an initiative started by raghavan along with venkat to interact regularly with 50 schools in thiruvarur. Providing waterfilters green board education cds science and also now benches.

Venkat along with neela visit villages regularly to understand need of schools and many village has skilled artisan. To cater to the need has started a social enterprise JOYFUL GIFTING.

Venkat pens poems in english and an amateur artist.

Venkat and neela embarked on a research mission when they were told about his maternal grandfather a reverred scholar of 20th century  who was a nyaya and mimamsa scholar. A national conference in baroda was called by oriental institute where scholars presened paper on his work. Venkat also has instituted an annual award for scholarly work in sanskrit in Baroda 

Venkat says SMALL GESTURES MAKES BIG DIFFERENCE. YOUR SMALL STEP IN SERVICE CAN CREATE RIPPLE EFFECT

Why is giving not a very active and integral part of Indian corporate world? 

As for lessons he would say that the single most important reason why philanthropy is not as high it could be in India , is the trust deficit and lack of integrity that people perceive in use of public money. Would be donors are not sure that what they donate would not be misutilised . So the first lesson is that philanthropy is limited by the lack of credibility of recipients and if one would increase it one must put in place measures  to overcome the trust deficit either by self regulation or state regulation, and values education.

What is your message for Indians living abroad and wanting to do social service back home? 

I have never said that we cannot serve our nation being abroad. Wherever you live, if you have philanthropic attitude, you can serve the country. If you get opportunity to go abroad- learn and earn there, get some exposure, get some experience and raise your confidence- but before it is too late, come back. That would be the thing I would like to see happen.I have interacted with a lot of students. I usually tell them to be honest and dedicated to their work. Don’t go after bandas and burnings, what you have burnt today will heat you after ten years. Now you think you change the society, but first change yourselves. Unless you change, you are sure to be the burden for the family and society as well.

Who has been your greatest mentor?

I know this sounds a bit cliché, but the person I truly call my mentor is my mom. Even when I was a child, she’d treat me like an adult. She gave me the space to grow, learn, and share my opinions and thoughts. Whenever I set a goal for myself, she did everything in her power to facilitate it. She led by example – I watched her live her life as a strong, motivated woman. I hope one day my kids can say that about me too.

Banker, Mentor, Restaurateur and Professional Magician—Omar Farooq

While we may all be presented with different obstacles and opportunities, it’s what we do with those experiences and how we use them to shape ourselves that will set us apart from everyone else. Goals are just dreams with deadlines. Dream big, and you are sure to achieve great things in life and in business. Goals are just dreams with deadlines. Omar Farooq set out to bring his  dreams to reality by taking action. He knew that he has the potential to accomplish anything and avoided putting limitations on himself. Most important, he dint wait for the perfect time to start dreaming big and making his dreams come true.

We grew up hearing about ‘the American dream’ – the dream that meant anyone from anywhere could move to the United States and ‘make it’. Dubbed as the country of equal opportunities where your highest goals could be achieved… but actually without labelling it, so many living right here in Dubai will admit we’ve been afforded the same (if not more) opportunities.

A truly tolerant society, and while other countries stagnate with over issues of politics and race, Dubai welcomes all and all are given the opportunity to thrive.

Meet Omar Farooq.

Omar’s Dad moved to Dubai from Pakistan and worked as a labourer earning between AED35 and AED40 a day. Skip forward one generation and Omar and his three siblings are all well-educated, working professionals.

Omar’s dad is his inspiration; he describes how his father worked double shifts to put his kids through good schools, and how his dad can now stand at the foot of buildings he helped build, while Omar and his siblings work within.

From praying for rain days (rain days meant the family splurged on the AED2 taxi to get to and from school), to graduating and entering the banking industry, Omar’s current job has also afforded him the luxury to pursue his passion in magic, and Omar is now a well-known magician in Dubai

Magician Omar is a full time Award Winning close up magician; with over 10 years’ experience performing at both private and corporate events. His original close-up magic, and prides himself with the fact that he actively involves his audience during his performance, there are no spectators only participants. This interaction is why OMAR quickly can break the ice in any situation.

The effects he uses can be individually tailored to your event. He also entertains with mix and mingles close-up magic at more informal events, giving his audience their very own personal magic show. Omar prides himself as a contemporary performer, who can fit seamlessly into any occasion. He mixes his precise sleight of hand with a good humoured approach to deliver his perfect non-intrusive form of entertainment.

He is based in Ras al Khaimah and has been regularly performing at Rixos Bab Al Bahr, Hilton and Bin Majid Hotels.

Magician Omar also owns famous BHAIJAANS BIRYANI RESTAURANT IN DUBAI NOW. HE IS A BIG FAN OF SALMAN KHAN. HE WISHES SALMAN KHAN VISIT HIM SOME DAY. VISIT BHAIJAANS BIRYANI AND ENJOY SOME AMAZING HYDERABADI AUTHENTIC TASTE.

Magician omar also owns a new start up called CARAGE. One stop car solution app.

Omar’s true motivation and inspiration is one and only his Dad Mr Fateh Muhammad. “I love the most in this world is my daughter Eshal. My strength and motivation has always been by life partner Sadia Omar.”

Omar is very proud of his siblings. “Umer Abdullah my younger brother in Pakistan is a senior government official working as Distrcit Education Officer. Muhammad Ashiq my younger brother is also a professional magician, whom I trained here in dubai and he is also civil engineer working with dubai government My sister is settled in Greece and we all miss her a lot. I am always there to support as many people as I can. I had placed many youngsters at different levels in different banks and companies. I work very closely with many charity origanizations and centers with children with special needs. I do magic shows free of charge for all such organisations”.

Omar’s advice to others is to give yourself permission to dream, to imagine and fantasize about your personal and professional goals–and the lifestyle you would like to have in the future. According to Omar, goals are just dreams with deadlines. He feels that visualizing your biggest dreams sparks your creativity and allows you to be more positive and more motivated.

Omar feels his secret of success is The dawn of realisation that dreams don’t come true overnight while you’re sleeping. It takes time, effort, and patience–and being completely awake and fully engaged. He asks budding entrepreneurs to assign realistic deadlines to theirgoals and be flexible with oneself.

Dr. Hubert Gomes—a multi-faceted personality

Dr. Hubert Gomes is an alumini of  Loyola High School and Chowgule College, Margao, and  passed his BDS from  Government Dental College, Hyderabad in the year 1983. Soon after his graduation he joined Goa Dental College as a teaching Faculty, and later started his full time Dental Practice in Margao in the year 1984.

Dr Hubert Gomes has many Firsts to his credit. He started the first Ceramic Dental laboratory in Goa in the year 1995, and followed it up by being the first dentist in Goa to introduce Carl Zeiss 25x magnification clinical microscope and Peizo Ostetome at his clinic, 15 years ago. Dr Hubert’s clinic is the first ISO Certified dental clinic in Goa, and today has 3 offices in Margao, with 12 Dentists in different specialties working for him.

Despite his seniority, Dr Hubert considers himself as a “student of Dentistry”, and continues to attend Seminars and workshops on Dental Implantology in different  parts of the world. He has had the previledge of training under some of the topmost Implantologist in the world like Dr Ophir (the inventor of Nobel Active implant), Dr Saj Jivraj Implant Prosthodontist from Los Angeles, USA and Dr Paulo Malo, the wizard who developed the  All-on-4 concept.

Dr Hubert Gomes is a multifaceted personality, and has varied interests from physical fitness to Ballroom dancing, and from acting in Konkani Videos and Films to Social activism. He is the only Dentist in India to be awarded the prestigious  “Karmaveer Puraskaar” by the Indian Confederation of NGOs in the year 2011 for his contribution to Social Justice in Goa. Since the last 14 years, he has an ongoing Community Project “Help Them To Smile Again” which provides free and  subsidized cost Dental treatment for financially poor patients.

Dentistry has been his passion for as long as he can remember, and he can honestly say that he loves what he does. Dr. Hubert Dental clinic has been growing because he has been constantly pushing the boundaries on ways to improve. He believes everyone has the right to feel great when they smile. His dental services are infact a way to create immense value in the world and literally change people’s lives.

Dentists nowadays have a common problem: people are afraid of going and already associate it with a negative experience. Dr. Hubert wanted to create a customer service offering that matched his clinical aspirations. He wanted people to know as soon as they had contact with the clinic staff, that they were here for them and will help them to overcome their problems and live happier, more confident and ultimately more successful lives.

After a short tenure as a Teacher at Goa Dental College, young Goa Dentist Hubert Gomes opened his first Private Dental Surgery in a small, rented room on 14th February 1984. This clinic had only basic equipment and simple decor, but was a beginning of a real ‘success story’. Thanks to God’s grace and the “word of mouth publicity’ of his satisfied patients, Dr Hubert came a long way to be recognized as one of the well known Dentists in India. With an in-house Dental Ceramic Lab, a Carl Zeiss clinical 25x Microscope, latest Digital Panaroma x-ray system, world class Sterilisation System from Melag, Germany, Laser unit, Piezo bone cutter (from Osada Germany) and a dedicated Implant treatment room, his dental clinic in Goa is certainly one of the FEW in India , which has all these hi-tech equipment. According to many dealers (suppliers) of Dental Implants and Ceramics, he is certainly one of the leading dentists in India, in this specialty.

Having withstood the test of time, Dr Hubert’s Clinic is known for its honest dealings and transparency in ‘treatment pricing’.