About us
Colonel K. S. Garcha, born in 1944, was an officer and ultimately the commander of India’s 61st Cavalry. He was a member of the national polo team for 22 years and served as its captain for the 1995 World Cup. Today, he lives in Jaipur where he operates a horse breeding facility. He is also the President of the Jaipur Riding & Polo Club. In order to provide underprivileged children with better opportunities, he supports local schools. For the same reason, he has committed himself to "Aashita". The Colonel is a founding member and chairs the Indian foundation.
Thomas Cron, born in 1963, is an attorney and partner in an internationally active German law firm based in Frankfurt. He advises corporations and banks specialising on debt finance products. During his childhood, he lived many years with his family in India, which explains his great attachment to this country and its people. From the moment he heard about "Aashita", he became committed to the project.
Stephanie Elingshausen, born in 1962, has been working in the German tourism industry for 25 years. In 1992, she founded her own Frankfurt-based company which arranges high-end, tailor-made tours. During her travels, she never closed her eyes to reality. What she saw in India prompted her to found "Aashita". She chairs the German foundation and is involved actively in all decisions taking place in the Indian Chapter of the foundation.
Daniela Favoccia, born in 1964, is an attorney and partner in an internationally active German law firm based in Frankfurt with a specialty in corporate and business law. Following a trip to India in 2005, where she was also able to look behind the scenes, she was certain that she wanted to become active for the weakest of this society. She has supported "Aashita" ever since.
Inderjit Garcha, born in 1947 has done her Honours in Home Science from Chandigarh. A major part of her life she was accompanying her mother, an Army wife, during her working towards the welfare of the soldiers and their families through the Army Wives Welfare Association (AWWA). Also later on she committed herself to similar projects and shared the same vision as her husband to support underprivileged children. When the Aashita project was realised, she became an active trustee of the Indian foundation.
Klaus Marinus Hoenig, born in 1959, is an attorney and partner in an internationally active law firm based in Düsseldorf. He directs their "India Desk" in Germany and has advised numerous Indian corporations on their investments in Germany and elsewhere. An enthusiastic fan of the country and people of the subcontinent, he already supports several charity projects and has been active with "Aashita" since 2006.
Johannes Maier, born in 1963, works in Frankfurt as an economist and asset allocator for the leading German retail bank. On his first trip to India, he was impressed by the culture and development potential of the country, but also by the deep poverty of many of its people. The lack of future prospects for India’s deprived children moved him to co-found "Aashita" and serve on its board.
Meghna Modi, born in 1973, has descended from a widely branched, Indian entrepreneur family. After receiving her MBA from the Harvard Business School, she settled in Delhi and served numerous functions of corporate interest for the family. At the same time, she founded a successful Indian retail chain in the mobile telephone sector. Already during her Harvard studies, she became a charter member of "Gyanna", an Indian charity organization which provides micro-loans for the education of girls. Without question, she enthusiastically supports "Aashita".
Mohan Murti, born in 1957, holds a degree in law and a master’s diploma in industrial relations and personnel management. After many years of working for the Confederation of Indian Industry, CII, and as Indian Delegate to UNIDO, today he is based in Cologne and serves as a managing director of a globally active major Indian corporate group focusing, inter alia, on the group's European interests. His social commitment led him to found the "Law & Justice Foundation of India" and the "Humanitarian Movement for Children Living in Exploitation." Since 2006, he also supports "Aashita" in word and deed.
Durga Ray, born in 1951, lived in Kuwait for the last 21 years and is presently based in Jaipur where she works as a Vice Principal in one of the local schools. Her childhood was spent watching her parents get involved with projects related to welfare of soldiers and their homes and later the villages of Himachal. She made her Honours of Psychology from Baroda. Ever since then she took up teaching children, and has been an academician for the last 34 years. She always wanted to give lesser fortunate children a chance to stand up. Therefore she accepted to become a Trustee of the Indian Foundation.
Jamshyd Sethna, born in 1952, is the owner and managing director of two Indian destination management companies that are local specialists focusing on the organization and management of luxury tours on the subcontinent. Trained as a psychoanalytical psychotherapist in Mumbai and England, he works in India with children and adults. When he heard about the work of "Aashita", he was so convinced that he immediately joined. He supports the project wherever he can, ever since.