India, March 26 -- Philanthropy motivated by a sincere desire for social reform can have an impact and make a lasting mark on the world. Prakash Hinduja (79), Managing Trustee of the Hinduja Foundation, whose unconditional support is complemented by his wife Kamal Hinduja's unrelenting response, has mobilized causes tirelessly. Many of these serve as a testament to not merely imaginative initiatives but ones that go beyond traditional philanthropy-moving past even the idea of social responsibility towards the functional development of a community.

They focus on central issues, such as the empowerment of women, cultural revival, and disaster relief, with all of them founded on the assumption that change should be democratized and structur...