Dear Mr. Singh,
I hope you are well and in good health.
As you must know, I am one of the Pakistani candidates to have received the Madanjeet Singh scholarship at Beaconhouse National University in 2003, till my graduation in 2007. Later, I enrolled at BNU once more for the Post-Grad Diploma in Art Education, funded by the same trust.
My colleagues and I had the pleasure of meeting you during your visit to Lahore in 2004, and had a brief chat as well. I have, since my graduation, been teaching at various art colleges in Lahore and Karachi along with maintaing a steady studio practice.
I have been wanting to write to you for sometime now - simply because I felt I must express my gratitude to you for being supported not just financially, but also being encouraged when I needed it the most. I was one of those people who would take tiny timid steps, and feel their way through trying situations, often turning back before really getting anywhere. It was a similar situation for me to switch careers paths from being a promising psychology student to an art major at the time I joined BNU. The Madanjeet Singh fund not only took care of my financial constraints of studying at a private institution, but more than that bolstered my confidence in myself and my talent. It was a huge step for me in the journey of self realization.
Looking back now, I can confidently say that 2003 was a special year for me.
Sir, I am honored to be a Madanjeet Singh scholar, and would like to help in future endeavors to support students of the South Asian region in the future. If at any point, I can be of assistance in aiding any SAF program, and give back to others the opportunities I was given, I would gladly do so.
Thank you once again, from me and my fellow SAARC students, for giving us this opportunity and making us a family.
Fondest,
Mehr Javed