PUNE: Father’s Day is also a time to honor those amazing fathers, who nurture, protect, and uplift the lost destitutes with unconditional love. “Today on Father’s Day I salute Pastor KM Philip, founder of SEAL Ashram, who is not only a father to his own children, but a real father to nearly 450 destitute individuals who call him father and the Ashram their home,” said Dr Abraham Mathai, founder-chairman of the Mumbai-based Harmony Foundation and former vice-chairman of Maharashtra State Minorities Commission. He said a few embody this selfless spirit more profoundly than Pastor Philip, a selfless man, dedicating his life to care for the least, lost and neglected street people without a home. Dr Mathai stated that in the forgotten corners of Mumbai and its suburbs it was Pastor Philip, who saw what most people generally overlooked, like a toddler scavenging for scraps, an elder man or a woman with no one left to claim them, the sick and the abandoned clinging to the last thread of hope. “Inspired by love and grounded in the principles of compassion, Pastor Philip founded SEAL Ashram at Panvel, near Mumbai in 1999 and through his immeasurable efforts it has grown into an exceptional haven and an abode only a father’s heart could dream of,” Dr Mathai noted. He said this Ashram is a place where the abandoned find family, dignity, and a renewed sense of life. Dr Mathai said that today, SEAL Ashram provides refuge to hundreds from children to the elderly and in a deeply symbolic gesture, each one carries Pastor Philip’s name as their guardian on their Aadhaar card. This act, Dr Mathai said, is more than a formality—it is a powerful declaration: that in a world that casts the destitute aside, Pastor Philip claims them as his own. “He gives them not just shelter, but an identity, belonging, and love. He is a father not bound by blood but by the grace of his heart,” Dr Mathai noted. Dr. Mathai also said that Pastor Philip, along with his dedicated team, has built more than a shelter home that stands as a symbol of hope and love for its residents. He said whether reuniting over 600 lost individuals with their families or providing a loving home to those with no one, Pastor Philip’s vision embodies the true essence of fatherly compassion. “The Harmony Foundation dedicates this truly special day to Pastor Philip, whose boundless compassion has transformed and continues to transform the lives of hundreds of destitute and counting. Pastor Philip stands as an epitome of love, spreading that signal that a rare father’s embrace can hold the whole world,” Dr Mathai said.
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