Gurgaon: An ideal society means a society free from discrimination that focuses on freedom, equality, liberty, and balance. Motivated with this definition of an ideal society, the BNI Gurgaon and BNI Faridabad organised a charity match “Cricket for Blind” as a CSR event today at Wisteria Club, Baliawas, Gurgaon. The members comprising businesspersons, professionals, and entrepreneurs of BNI Gurgaon / Faridabad organised this event in association with ‘Samarthanam Trust for disabled’ and ‘Cricket Association for the blind in Indian (CABI)’ to raise funds for Samarthanam. The match was conducted between visually impaired members of the ‘National Blind Cricket Team’ and members of the BNI Gurgaon and Faridabad regions.
Samarthanam Trust for the Disabled, is a National Award-winning NGO, which works towards empowering visually impaired, disabled, and underprivileged people in India. The Cricket Association for the Blind in India (CABI) is the Sports pillar and the cricketing arm of Samarthanam. CABI is the apex body organizing cricket for the blind and is affiliated with World Blind Cricket Ltd (WBC).
BNI Gurgaon and Faridabad together represent over 1200 entrepreneurs, professionals, and businesspersons who have come together on the simple philosophy of Givers Gain, to change the way the world does business. It is a part of BNI International which has over 280,000 members worldwide, and over 40,000 members in India alone.
In spite of being a cricket-loving nation, there is a lack of recognition and sponsorship for blind cricket and the players. Arranging Funds for CABI remains the biggest challenge, as both central governments, as well as state governments, do not recognize blind cricket. Events like Cricket for the blind were an opportunity to showcase challenges faced by blind cricketers and to get a chance to raise some funds for the cause.
The main motivation behind organizing ‘Cricket for the Blind’ was to showcase the inspirational story of the blind cricketers who have overcome all odds and displayed great grit. The story of entrepreneurship is similar especially during the great pause of the last 18 months. The spirit of entrepreneurs and businesspersons was challenged like never before but great resilience was shown by them to overcome all challenges. BNI Gurgaon and Faridabad salute this spirit and were inspired to conduct this match to showcase that where there is a will, there is a way.
“Cricket for Blind” has been proved as a wonderful and successful event fulfilling this cause. The National Blind Cricket team scored 174 runs and won this match with their all-around performance and won the hearts of all the players and spectators. The successful completion of this event by BNI Gurgaon and Faridabad has set an example to organise more valuable CSR events.
“Life will keep throwing stones, but one should keep finding the diamonds. I feel honoured to be a part of this astounding remarkable event and to witness this miraculous event. These outstanding cricketers are an inspiration for us. We should learn from them that, There will be obstacles. There will be doubters. There will be mistakes. But with hard work, there are no limits. I am thankful to God for giving me this opportunity to contribute my small efforts for their future big success. Also, I would like to request our society to give equal importance and respect to the talent of our disabled friends.” – said Rakesh Kochhar, Executive Director BNI Gurgaon, and Faridabad.