Thirty years ago, Nishant left Mumbai for school in the United States. His father had come here in 1973, begun his MBA at the University of Scranton, completed it at Temple University, and returned to India wanting both sons to go into the world and find their own way. After Nishant's brother went to France through Rotary Youth Exchange, Nishant expected to follow the program to Japan. A scholarship to Asheville School changed the path. His mother feared he would never return from America; after he pleaded with her, she relented.
Neeti made her own journey eleven years later. After earning her MA in English Literature at the University of Mumbai, she arrived in Philadelphia on June 6, 2007 to pursue graduate study in Interior Architecture & Design at Drexel University. Her parents, who had not had the opportunity for higher education themselves, made that path possible for each of their three children.
We married in 2011, fifteen years after Nishant left. Fifteen years later, we are choosing Neti Neti together.
Our histories were shaped by migration, education, family sacrifice, and work with schools and children. Neti Neti asks what we can build from those histories together.
The phrase neti neti is often translated as “not this, not that.” In its philosophical context, it is a method of setting aside limiting identities and assumptions in search of what is more essential. For us, it is also a discipline. Giving is not rescuing. It is not control. It is not self-image. It is not proof that the person with money knows the answer.
We are beginning with children and childhood, through education and health, in India and the United States. We will look for people already close to the work. We will listen before prescribing. We will treat money as one resource among many, alongside time, access, introductions, advocacy, trust, patience, and long-term commitment.
We do not have children of our own. This is one way we are choosing to give to many. Nishant's professional life in schools taught him to defend children's right to childhood. Together, we want to support the people and conditions that let children be safe, healthy, curious, and fully themselves.
We will give to nonprofits and invest in mission-aligned companies. The form of the capital matters less to us than the people using it, the outcomes they pursue, and the impact they can demonstrate.
Our first public commitment is US$50,000 to Gift of Life through the Rotary Club of Bombay Airport. The project supports pediatric heart surgeries for children. It is work Nishant's father, Past President Nitin Mehta, has led for six years, and it begins in the year Nishant's mother, President Harsha Mehta, leads the Rotary Club of Bombay Airport, District 3141.
This is not our first gift. Two years of sustained giving through The Impact Fund followed earlier gifts to The Children's School, Asheville School, and Gift of Life. Neti Neti is where we are bringing those choices together and making the practice more deliberate.
We are not building a monument. We are choosing people. We do not know exactly what our legacy will be, but we know that enough is not an endpoint. It is a responsibility.
We do not want to wait until the twilight of our lives to decide what our resources can do. We want to give while we can still see, learn from, and be changed by what follows. We teach children to save for the future. We should also model how to give toward one.