We briefly interrupt Catty-shack -- Tiger vs. Stevie vs. our sanity -- to bring you a retired athlete?s attempts to bring relief to the world?s second-most populated country, and one of its most impoverished.
This weekend in southern California, Vijay Armitraj, a name instantly recognizable to tennis fans in the 1970s and '80s, thanks to his success at Wimbledon and in Davis Cup play, is putting on a fundraiser for his charitable foundation. The event at Braemar Country Club in Tarzana will include celebrity matches with Mark Philippoussis and, possibly, Jimmy Connors, as well as a concert featuring Kool & The Gang.
The proceeds go to the foundation bearing Armitraj?s name, which benefits ? well, name a cause in great need in his home nation of India, and Armitraj gets involved. The foundation?s website lists 13 official funded charities: pediatric HIV and AIDS, child prostitution rescue, children living in slums, the blind, the elderly, the mentally ill, those living in rural areas too far from services, and more.
Unofficially, he gets his arms around many more. He doesn?t write checks and doesn?t send care packages home ? he goes home, at least once a month, including next week, just after India?s August 15th Independence Day.
?Obviously,?? the 57-year-old Armitraj said from his Los Angeles office last week, ?with a billion people, and 400 million living below the poverty line ? it?s upsetting to see that much suffering, and difficult to imagine being able to help. But to say, ?Oh, no, it?s too large, I don?t want to touch that ? I consider that something of a cop-out.
?If you affect 10, or 100 or 1,000 families, you?ve made a tremendous difference. It can change everything. That?s what we try to do.??
It?s what Armitraj has done with the foundation since he founded it in 2006, and put on its first fundraiser, a golf tournament. But even that was only a continuation of his humanitarian efforts dating back to his playing days. In 1983, while still active, he was awarded the nation?s fourth-highest civilian honor, the Padma Shri, for distinguished contributions in non-governmental or military fields. He was a United Nations ?messenger of peace? from 2001 to ?06, was a torch bearer for the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul and has a lengthy list of honors for the prestige he has brought to sports and to his home country
As a player, he put India on the world tennis map with trips to the Wimbledon and U.S. Open quarterfinals twice each, and with advances to the David Cup final twice. In 1981 he was up on Connors two sets to none before losing a memorable five-set match. He and Connors remained close friends ever since, and Connors has been a big supporter of Armitraj?s work; he was the guest of honor at last year?s fundraiser.
Armitraj finished his 24-year pro career in 1993 with 16 singles titles and some $1.3 million in earnings, a fortune at the time. ?I was privileged to play during the best era in tennis history, after tennis became open in 1968 and people were able to make money from it,?? he said, ?and it was a great time to be able to take advantage of it.??
His goal was to put his winnings to work in his homeland, giving native Indians the chance he got from his parents, who encouraged him to keep indulging in his love of sports even though he suffered from cystic fibrosis (?I wasn?t healthy, and I wasn?t really even allowed to play?).
"If you affect 10, or 100 or 1,000 families, you?ve made a tremendous difference. It can change everything. That?s what we try to do."
As a child, he said, ?I?d hoped that if I had the opportunity to be successful, I would be able to give back and support others the way my parents supported me,?? he said. ?I?ve always said that the greatest gift of all is the ability to give. And honestly, it isn?t the money. It?s being able to put people in position to do good ? It?s really helping people put their shoulders to the wheel.??
Every shoulder than can help in India is necessary. Its actual population is just over 1.2 billion, and is projected to pass China as the planet?s largest by 2050, growing to an estimated 1.7 billion. The economy and infrastructure can?t keep up ? the figure Armitraj mentioned of Indians living in poverty represents more than a third of the population.
?Every dollar really makes a difference,?? he said, adding that the monthly visits home help him ?to see exactly how the money has been spent, how it?s made a difference.??
Wish Armitraj well on his trip next week ? by which time the he-said, he-said between Tiger and Stevie, and other such vital issues, might be resolved.
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