The Giving Week

Say Cheese!!!!!!!!!

One of the easiest things to do today is to click on a few links and donate money to people or fish out your wallet & give some money to someone needy & carry on browsing or driving and carry on. While one should do that – the joy of spending some time with people who need help is a different experience altogether.

My experience on a school visit during The Giving Week*.

We started off on a hot morning from Hosur & travelled amost for 2 hrs to reach a school which is very different from the NPS & New Horizon & other schools our children go to. The entire school will fit into one corner of a football field. There were no chairs & table in the class. The students sat in the ground but were as happy (maybe more) as any other kids in any school.

The entire class was very excited of our visit – as we were from Bangalore. We almost felt like we were the dignitaries. Most of them spoke Kannada and we spoke in Hindi & English. To solve the problem we spoke in action – one of us taught them Surya Namaskara – surprisingly 2 girls new it, we played Games and gave prizes, we also spoke about Hygiene – luckily few of us could speak the language and communicate clearly.

But the best part was when they are asked to perform – they all danced to the tunes of recent songs & I could see no difference in these kids & kids in Bangalore. We also asked them about World Cup but most of them preferred movies & songs – provided of course light is there.

When we asked them what wanted to become – many of them wanted to be teachers & doctors & come back to the village to serve their people. Mother was the most respected lady in most kids eyes.

Reading these few paras one would feel – what’s the big deal in spending ½ a day with children and doing simple things which one would find silly & maybe serve no purpose in our life / career. 

But “just do it” for once without purpose & you will realize that purpose will find you.

*Joy of Giving Week is a volunteering initiative by the Tata Group.