Vinod & Saryu Doshi Foundation

Maitreya (Mittu) Doshi is the Chairman and Managing Director of Premier Ltd. and also the Managing Trustee of the Vinod & Saryu Doshi Foundation. Maitreya Doshi ’s family business may have been automotive, but his education was economics and cinema.

“My parents always said, ‘the mind is enriched through education and the spirit through art and culture'" says Maitreya (Mittu). “I grew up in a home where the dinner table was filled with conversations about India’s freedom movement, painting, music and experimental theatre.”

Maitreya carries on his family’s commitment to art, culture and philanthropy through his incredibly inclusive Vinod & Saryu Doshi Foundation – a non-profit charity trust named after his parents of which he is the Managing Trustee. It seeks to embody their lifelong passions and values by supporting initiatives in the fields of Art & Culture, Education and Community.

The Foundation provides scholarships to very bright yet financially challenged young Indians, enabling them to catapult themselves to a higher economic and social orbit. Till date, the Vinod & Saryu Doshi Foundation has provided over 50 fully paid, 4-year scholarships to undergraduate students at the College of Engineering, Pune, on whose Board Maitreya Doshi also serves. The Foundation funded the $600,000 modernization of the college's 140-year-old Production Engineering Laboratory, equipping the workshop with technologically advanced CNC Machines, some of which were provided by Maitreya Doshi managed Premier Ltd. Recently the Vinod & Saryu Doshi Foundation has launched the Saryu Doshi Post Graduate Fellowship in Liberal Arts and Sciences. These fellowships are awarded to 5 Indian nationals to pursue higher education overseas.

The Vinod & Saryu Doshi Foundation also fosters emerging talent in the visual and performing arts through fellowships, performances, exhibitions and festivals. One such initiative, the Vinod Doshi Theatre Festival, has helped promote experimental theatre in India with more than 25,000 theatre enthusiasts enjoying multi-lingual performances annually for the past 8 years.

The Vinod & Saryu Doshi Foundation is committed to improving the community by funding initiatives in environmental protection and social upliftment. From rehabilitating children of brothel-based women to spreading awareness amongst young men about the devastation of succumbing to the violence of abuse and rape, the Vinod & Saryu Doshi Foundation has partnered with some of India's prominent Non Government Organizations (NGOs) such as the National Centre For Performing Arts, Children in Progress, and American Alumni Association to name a few.

Maitreya Doshi is happy to talk cars and technology but art, culture, community and education are subjects that truly inspire. “Business and industry are about making money but also about building your nation, facilitating education and enabling people to do better,” says Maitreya Doshi. “I’m chasing the return on my investment as much as the next person, but I think there is a side that says we can always do something more.”

Get involved with the Vinod & Saryu Doshi Foundation.

Originally Published on VSDF.org