DIA KOTHARI

Dia Kothari is a health coach, business woman & most importantly a happy mom, wife, daughter, sister & friend! Her permanent member role in Angels Link Foundation(ALF) began in January 2011. It was the start of a whole new chapter in her life, one where charity & compassion were to become a driving force & a very important part of her identity. ALF inspired her, she believes in numerous ways and gave her channels to give back to Mumbai city that has given her so much. After 14yrs, ALF has become the daughter she passionately nurtures & cherishes. 

ALF is a very important part of who I am as an individual. My other interests are travelling, tennis, health & wellness, pottery, arts and music. I am a very passionate and intense individual, bordering on idealistic and resilient. I believe in creating value in my life by being a constant learner and adventurer.Right now, I am in an interesting phase of letting go of my 20yr adult son and embracing my new found freedom. I am diving into an entirely new phase of life at 50yrs-the adventure of the unknown. The learning curve and rollercoaster ride is steep and fun.So here’s looking forward to many more fun years ahead with all my passion projects.

My magical journey with ALF started in 2010, when I attended an ALF event as a donor member. I was introduced to this amazing organization by a dear friend of mine Sheetal Kothari, who was one of the founding members of ALF. The event was at St. Jude India Child Care Centre for cancer patients. Children with cancer has always been a cause very close to my heart. l was inspired to visit this centre and experience an ALF entertainment event for the less fortunate. I was lucky to get a lot of toys through a toy drive with my family and friends. So, like Santa Claus, I went with boxes of toys and a Casio keyboard. The angel members were amazing at how they brought smiles on the children and parent’s faces through games, music and love. I was so emotionally moved by the magic they had created that day, I immediately decided to become a permanent member with the promise of my dedication and hard work.

The Universe did listen to me and introduced me to the toughest experience of my tenure at ALF — the Children’s Home at Umerkhadi(Juvenile Detention Centre). When I entered this facility, I felt ill-equipped in relating to these children. My heart went out to all the 450 inmates both, boys and girls.ALF already had a dance programme set up for the children every week. It was amazing to see how dance helped them forget their troubles temporarily and also gave them a platform to express their frustration and helplessness. I grew very attached to the Home and kept running different programmes there. I conducted an eye camp with the Lotus Optometry College. We also initiated an egg-a-week programme for the children to boost their nutrition. We did some yoga classes and also some Art of Living sessions. I found this experience very challenging but motivating. This truly set the stage for the coming years for me.

Every active Angel of a 13 member team has the same responsibility of being a team player and conducting events monthly with different institutes and for different causes. The year 2011 was a very special year because it gave birth to the Children’s Activity Centre (CAC) in Gadge Dharamshala at Dadar. My responsibility was to run this centre and take care of the team running it. It’s was a magical haven where children come to forget their struggles and play like normal Children. More than 2,500 children have been touched by CAC.

I have been blessed in my life with a wonderful life partner, an awesome son and a good family. Being so blessed, I started to ask myself a fundamental question ‘lf I have been blessed with so much love then it is but right to give back love & more. I felt a great need and urgency to create a ‘giving’ ecosystem around me, to fill my life with experiences that enrich my life and those around me. ALF was that important conduit & channel for me to fulfill this dream.

Each ALF event is a favourite memory of mine. The vibrations surrounding our events have been so strong, be it at a blind school, home for the aged or an orphanage, that we feel an aura that is as big as the Universe. One such favourite memory is Regina Pacis, a home for orphaned and less fortunate girls. We created a fun-fair and it was so magical to see every one of the 100 girls, including the nuns, soul happy!

There are so many stories in my 14 years at ALF that I don’t know where to start. Let me share the ones that have been deeply imprinted in my soul. CAC at the Gadge Dharamshala is a concept that was my dream come true. I did not realize how important this haven would become to the children, who would return from their villages after 6 months for their next session of chemotherapy and couldn’t wait to visit the centre again.

Once a girl was so happy to meet me, she showed me her school pencil case and it had my name etched on it everywhere. On asking her why she did that, she replied,

‘For good luck. She said that after experiencing this centre, her life had become happier. I was truly moved by her gesture, which made my resolve, to ‘give back’ to more causes like these, stronger.

I dream that ALF will continue to inspire people and help them discover the true feeling of Joy of Giving. I hope it keeps spreading our magic of connection, blessings and laughter to families, friends and those less fortunate and makes a difference in their lives. I hope we grow and help more institutes in our state and hopefully all over India. We hope to inspire more people like us to believe that it is not that hard to give back in small meaningful ways. My dream is to keep inspiring this work to touch more and more avenues of compassion and hope. Great things can happen in the most simple ways and I believe truly in the power of synchronized effort. 

“Every awakening & experience through ALF for me has been a golden thread in the tapestry of my blessed & grateful life”