Hearts Behind the Foundation: Geeta Mahajan

“To do meaningful work is to contribute – to create value in society.”– Charles Koch

I owe a lot to Genesis Foundation. It has been my constant in the last 8 years as things have gone up and down andit is my source of strength. I’ll always be grateful to my ex-boss Captain Raghu Raman who introduced me to Prema Sagar and the Foundation which works for the treatment of critically ill children.

A throwback photo with Prema Sagar and the team (2013)

My career path started with the National Disaster Management Authority and the National Intelligence Grid, before moving to Genesis Foundation in 2013. At that time since the team was a small one, I was helping with the accounts, donations, events, excels, content etc.

But my most significant moment after joining Genesis Foundation happened when I met the first beneficiary child at Max Hospital, Saket. To this day, I can recall clearly how I had goosebumps and I couldn’t stop crying after meeting that little girl. Her resilience to overcome made me so emotional and that day I knew in my heart that my life had just taken the most meaningful turn ever.

Meeting a beneficiary child, Golu Kumar at Max Hospital, Saket (2019)

Since then it has been a journey of constant learning, meeting children and their parents. Infact, when I got married and had my first child, as a new mother, the thought of leaving my child behind with someone for the first time felt so painful. I kept thinking about all the children our Foundation supports and how every day away from my team despite was equally difficult and brought me back to work stronger and quicker than I anticipated! It’s never easy leaving your infant baby at home and many might be inspired to do it to earn an income… but for me it was those children.

Every time families travel to hospitals in Delhi NCR or other cities, they feel clueless about treatments and when I get to meet them, I know I represent the Foundation for them. It brings me immense pride in providing them the assurance and comfort they seek. In a way, with each child that the Foundation saves, it’s also a realization of what Prema and Jyoti Sagar went through with the loss of their own son. It’s their honest and hard work that inspired me to visit Missionaries of Charity with them and now I celebrate my children’s birthdays there with all the wonderful kids.

Celebrating my second son Mrigank’s first birthday at Missionaries of Charity. (2019)

The Foundation has helped me become who I am today. After my mother-in-law was diagnosed with tongue cancer recently, overnight I became the anchor for my entire family. It has been years of interacting with beneficiary families that I stand strong in my personal life, knowing it’ll get better because the Foundation has built this resistance in me overtime. Now I understand those families even better and all the stress they go through with the treatment of critically ill children.

At CEOs Sing for GF Kids, Mumbai, a GF Fundraiser (2017)

A lot of people do all different types of jobs, but for me my work managing the administration in the Foundation, is not just about the job title or the monthly salary. It is the emotional attachment to my Foundation family, which grows by the day as we support more children with Congenital Heart Defects and the mental satisfaction I earn through it.

I’m forever grateful to God for landing me at Genesis Foundation because the meaning it gave my life cannot be put into words.