By Elaine Fernandes (Mrs.)

The great  Red Letter day in the life of Austin D’Souza Prabhu of Chicago has finally dawned when he will be the first ever Indian born to don the mantle of the respected and coveted position of the Governor of one of the largest Social Organisations in the world – The Lions Club. It is a day of great honour and pride not only to Austin and his family but to all his loved ones the world over.
Austin has been actively involved with the Lions club activities and during the last year when he was the Vice Governor of Lions Club International, he was leading about ninety Lions clubs in the Chicago and Illinois (USA) region. 

Austin was born in Nanthur Mangalore on the 8th of August 1950 to Late Gaulbert & Rose D'Souza. The name Gaulbert is a name that Mangaloreans would not forget even in the years to come due to his impeccable workmanship in tailoring which earned him the repute and fame as one of the famous ladies tailors of town. Austin the third born of the 9 siblings fondly remembers every moment of his childhood with his brothers and sisters who have always been a close knit family  - Leonilla ( married to Ligoury),  Norbert, Dorothy ( married to Godwin), Melville (married to Merlyn), Stany (married to Vissia), Felix (married to Lorraine) and Queenie (married to Jossie). Austin is happily married to Terry and has four lovely children Anita, Anil, Atina, and Angel who are his love and his life. He is a devoted husband and is adored by all his four children who hold him in high esteem.
 
After his schooling and college education in his hometown Mangalore he was prviliged to earn his Ph.D. in Business Management  and is currently working as a Manager at the very reputed Deltrol Corporation. To Austin climbing the corporate ladder was not forth most in his mind. His heart and soul was always reaching out to do social service to help the unfortunate ones in life. Having come from a background where he knew the value of not only money, he had grown up with the love of “feeling” for the less fortunate. A quality of head and heart which not really many are blessed with.The climb upto to the position he currently holds was not an easy one. With his die hard spirit and his determination to “Do and Dare” Austin was considered a rebel of his times. To him nonsense and mockery would not be tolerated and he believed in fighting for what is right. Till today, he still stands for justice and it with this courage and fortitude he has always being frank and fortright in standing up to his convictions.

File Photo: Austin with Mother Teresa

Says Austin “My logic was, just a job is enough to live a happy life and rest of the time I spent on my community activities.  I stayed away from corporate ladder so that I will find enough time to spend on my activities” How many of us in this modern world would give up our professional growth to work for others – very few – but Austin is a person – who lives in the service of others. His heart rules his mind many a times and he gives – gives so generously and silently that even his left hand is not aware of what his right hand gives.
Lao Tzu the famous philosopher has rightly said that : “He who gains victory over other men is strong; but he who gains victory over himself is all powerful” Austin is a true epitome of this saying – he has literally grown from scratch and today he has made his life with his own effort and the great support of his family.

Austin is a  man of few words but of great action. It is amazing that inspite of his professional and social work, he still has varied interests ranging from Community Service, cooking, gardening, Christmas decoration, writing, singing, speaking and training others to be good leaders in their communities.

“ I never set a goal in my life! says Austin “ Things just came to me and I grabbed all opportunities with determination, dedication and discipline.