Ganesh’s Story – Greetings! My name is Ganesh Navaratnarajah. Above is a picture of my late father and I. I wanted to introduce myself and tell you my story. First of all, I was born in Colombo, Sri Lanka and after a stint in the Middle East for a few years; my family moved to Montreal, Canada. In 1986, we moved to Scarborough, Ontario to begin a new life.
I grew up just like any other average kid, and attended G.B Little Jr. Public school. I actually won the French award in 1987 upon graduating grade 6. Looking back, I can’t stress how blessed and lucky I was growing up. I was always privy to a wealth of mentors and leaders in my life.
Starting from both my parents, and my older sisters, I was always told, to give it my best at anything and everything. My life completely changed one day when my father (after intense negotiations) convinced my mother in purchasing a computer for me. It was a 486Dx33 with 4MB or RAM. Back in that day, 4MB of ram was colossal! This system was at the apex in PC technology! At first I toiled with the PC but after a few days/weeks, I was a master. In time, I began to dis-assemble the PC and re-assemble/upgrade it with various parts like a new Video Card, more RAM, CD ROM drive etc. The PC evolved with the times, as did my knowledge.
Upon graduating Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU) as an Aerospace Engineer, I had the choice of working as Jr. Design airfoil engineer or fall into this nouveau brand of technology known as Information Technology or ‘IT’. I chose the latter. Little did I know that most of the knowledge attained would be all self taught. All from that first PC: that trusty 486DX33.
Today, I am thankful to state that my trust old PC has opened up several doors for me. I’ve been privy to traveling the world on various IT consulting initiatives to running a successful consulting business.
My father’s Name is ‘Nava’ and thus I have decided to name my annual golf tournament in my hero’s name: The Nava Cup. All proceeds from this tournament will go into purchasing laptop computers or fund programs that combine digital literacy and youth. We proudly partner with the boys and girls clubs of East Scarborough (ESBGC) and the IMANI program from UofT Scarborough.
My father always instilled in me the importance of ‘trying’ or ‘to try’ regardless of the odds against you. We have chosen to make a difference in the lives of the kids in the community I grew up in.
I thank you for coming out to support our Golf Tournament. Let’s not make NavaCup just a fundraiser – but a movement!