Tattva

The British billionaire, J.K Rowling’s claim to fame is the seven part Harry Potter series, which first released in the United States in October 1998. Rowling is revered for her spectacularly genius production of the magical wizard world, but many fail to see the philanthropist in her.

While growing up she was surrounded by friends who inspired many of the Harry Potter characters. Initially, her manuscripts were rejected by twelve publications until finally Barry Cunningham accepted her work. Five months after the release of Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone, the book received the Nestle Smarties Book Prize, followed by the esteemed British Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year. Her next two books also won the British Book Award for Children’s Book of the Year making her the first author to win the award three years in a row. The fourth year, when the Goblet of Fire had just been released, she withdrew herself from the contest to allow other books a fair chance.

Her books continually broke records and are said to have single handedly sparked interest among children who were slowly abandoning the literary world for the virtual.

In interviews, she says her gradual success made her appreciate all that she was being given and realize how fortunate she was. After being a single parent for eight years and living in a sordid flat without heating, she was able to fully appreciate her rags to riches story. When she returned to her flat in 2007, she suddenly realized, that is where she had turned her life around. Memories of her past motivated her to do more for people who are much less fortunate than her.

Even before her Harry Potter success, Rowling was an aspiring philanthropist and did all she could to help in human rights. After getting her Bachelors Degree in French and Classics from the University of Exeter, and studying in Paris for a year, Rowling moved back to London and became a researcher and bilingual secretary for Amnesty International. Amnesty International founded in 1961 aims to “conduct research and generate action to prevent and end grave abuses of human rights and to demand justice for those whose rights have been violated”.

In 2000, she founded the Volant Charitable Trust, which uses about 10 million dollars annually to fight poverty and social inequality. In the same year, she became the Ambassador of the charity One Parent Families and wrote children books for funding. The following year she worked with three bestselling British authors and wrote booklets regarding her work (Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, and Quidditch Through the Ages) and helped raise over 50 million dollars. A portion of these funds have gone to creating the International Fund for Children and Young people in Crisis foundation. In 2006 Rowling went to Bucharest, Romania to “highlight the use of caged beds in children’s mental institutions”. Firm in her believes, Rowling continues to donate to charities; although her social and financial situation has changed, her morals and beliefs are where they were when she was living in her one bedroom flat.

Rowling’s remarkable journey teaches us two valuable lessons - If you have an idea, make it a reality, and in the words of Rowling, “you have a moral responsibility when you’ve been given far more than you need, to do wise things with it and give intelligently”.

Sarika Patel is a junior at Monta Vista High School in Cupertino, CA. She is the President of her high school’s Hindu Awareness Club.

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