Simply following the will of my heart

Life is not always fair. It pairs some of the most contrasting elements together so seamlessly - Despair and happiness are distributed in such abundance but to different people at different times.

What we have now, may cease to exist someday. What then must we do with it? Consume it to fulfill our materialistic needs or share it (atleast some of it) with the less fortunate ones and earn what no monies in the world can buy – pure bliss of giving.

The smiles on faces of children at Prem Sadan can hardly be forgotten. They were happy not for the food that we took there, they would have had lunch regardless; they were happy because we thought about them, we took time out for them from our (so called) busy schedules. They were excited to be with us, share their aspirations with us and also share the nitty-gritty things that excite them.

The innocence that we had during our childhood has somehow disappeared into the mundane life that we live today. We have become a lot more calculative, shrewd and manipulative, leading us where we think we want to go, but not where our hearts desire to go.

The heart knows no boundaries, no affluence and no poverty. It somehow seeks solace in the simplest of things. And our visit to Prem Sadan helped in discovering this universal truth.

But this was not the beginning, my bent towards pursuing such acts of benevolence were triggered by an unfortunate incident.

I was served a piece of chicken in a pure vegetarian dish at a posh restaurant in south Bombay. Anger took the best of me and I demanded compensation. I didn’t need it. I knew it. But I wanted them to pay for their goof-up. So I passed it on to those who I thought would need it. As compensation, I organized a small treat for the inmates of an old age home. We took them to the restaurant for lunch in 6-7 taxis and tried to make sure they had a good time. The 60 something ladies seldom step out of the home and this was no less an adventure and a picnic for them, and I am sure they liked the change.

Retrospectively, I think this was destined to happen to me. It made me discover the other side of me. Later that month I managed to collect enough funds from friends in office to gift the old age home a new TV set. Someone heard about this and gave me 5000 rupees to be used in a similar fashion. This was indeed used accordinlgy at Prem Sadan.

I have many such plans for them and hope to see these bear fruits this year.

My ideology for all these is simple – Even they deserve to have fun, and why not give it them, in any manner possible. I think it is the fond memories of these small outings that will last more than just food, clothes and money.

If you feel moved by my thoughts, please let me know. If you'd like to join me, you are more than welcome. All it takes is the will of your heart.