Gurgaon, November 22, 2021: An ideal society means a society free from discrimination that focuses on freedom, equality, liberty and balance. Motivated with this definition of 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 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. 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 to World Blind Cricket Ltd (WBC).
BNI Gurgaon and Faridabad together represent over 1200 entrepreneurs, professionals and businesspersons who have come together on 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 lack of recognition and sponsorship for blind cricket and the players. Arranging Funds for CABI remains the biggest challenge, as both central government as well as state government do not recognize blind cricket. Events like Cricket for blind was 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 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
salutes this spirit and was 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-round 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.
