Sitting comfortably in my A/C office’s cubicle, in an ergonomically conducive setup, with every piece of information at my finger-tips, any near-dear one a “hello” or an e-mail away, a vending machine a few steps away and many such facilities, I still crave for better working conditions…oblivious of the harsh working conditions in some of the other industries in both the organized and non-organized sectors.
It is not just the working conditions, but be it anything, we humans always crave for more…better!
In the super fast-paced oh-so-busy lives, how often do we sit back and think about ourselves (not our need and greed!)? How about thinking of others?
I do not blame anybody, because as a matter of fact we get so much engrossed in our routine drudgery, that it takes some dedication to let the mind traverse beyond the confines of cubicles.
In one such successful attempt, our group joined hands to fight the “nothing-ness” in our lives and follow the inner voices.
We all realized that there was a “philanthropic being” deep inside each one of us.
The discussions kindled us to bring the thoughts of “doing some good to people, society” at the back of our minds, right there in the forum!
After some ground work and lots of discussions we decided to visit an NGO called Santulan. (It primarily works for the children of the stone quarry workers).
We visited Santulan last Saturday. It was an eye-opener.
How could I not think about the people living in the outskirts…far away from the shimmer and comforts of the city, struggling for survival?
How do they live amidst the clouds of dust, the noise of crushers (I thought of how suffocated I feel even while passing by the dusty construction sites on my way to office!), break those huge stones, day and night, in such hazardous conditions for a nibble?
(I thought of how we crib about the quality and variety of food in the cafeteria!)
About their families? Both the parents work and there is no one left at home to look after the children.
Their children should be provided with the basic necessities of life. They should not be deprived of the education and health care. They deserve love and affection.
The innocence of these little ones should not be crushed under the boulders.
They should be encouraged to dream big and live better lives.
Then I realized how fortunate I was to enjoy the myriads of luxuries (taken for granted!) back home.
It was Jani’s (one of my friends who had accompanied us) birthday. We had carried some packets of chocolates. The kids sang “Happy Birthday” for him. He distributed chocolates amongst them (Remember, how we did this on our birthdays in school?). Then some of them presented a “Priya-geet” for us. The birthday boy was touched by this gesture (Actually, we all were. Who will not be?) We have had many birthday celebrations in the office- the cake-cutting and smearing ritual, loads of gifts, birthday bumps, the grand parties thereafter….but this birthday celebration was indeed unique.
The visit has reinforced the feelings of doing our bit for the society.
Hopefully, this is not just the temporary “feel-good” phase, but an actual “do-good” factor that would have a long-lasting impact.
We are happy that we took the first step….miles to go though.
This is just the beginning and we vow to make the most of it!
Note: Much more to write on this in the days to come.
You might also get an idea of how moving the experience was by visiting this blog-
