Way back in 1991, S. Richard Karunakaran’s son was diagnosed with a tumour in his brain. The doctors in a private hospital gave up hope of saving this martial arts trainer’s son. When all options failed, Richard and his wife prayed to God to save their little boy. What the doctors term as miracle, Richard calls gift from God. His prayers were answered and the tumour in the brain of his one-and-a-half year old boy showed signs of disappearance.

Richard’s son was out of danger; he recovered and lived the life of a normal child. Ever since Richard calls his son a Gift from God – Prasanaraj. This incident motivated Richard to look at life differently. It was then that he made up his mind to do something good for the society.

Life moved on for this martial arts trainer. He is a black belt holder in karate and he has trained more than 5,000 students in martial arts. The thought of doing something good for the society was always at the back of Richard’s mind.

Nearly 24 years have passed since the recovery of his son and with the aim of serving the society Richard plans to set up a home for the mentally ill patients. “I have set up a Trust and I am working out ways and means to fund the trust to be able to set up this home,” Richard says.

In order to raise funds for his Trust, Richard has started classes to train women on self defence techniques against sexual harassment. This is a five-day session we are told and each class lasts no longer than two hours. In the class women will be taught warm up and power exercises, breathing techniques, self defence techniques and they would be given valuable tips and advice on how to deal with sexual harassment.
“I do not have a fixed fee for these classes. Whatever money I earn out of training women, I will use to set up the home for mentally ill people.” Richard says.

Contributions in cash and kind can be sent to Richard. For details on classes on self defence techniques for women, for corporate batches and individuals, contact Richard at 96263-55101.