3.7.2011 - Bal Anand & Plantation @ Home for Mentally Deficient Children

Ohhh ......... Another Beautiful Experience. Visiting an orphanage home. How was this activity different ? I'd say, although we have been to an orphanage home earlier, yet this one was different in terms of the quality of the visit. So on 3.7.2011 we visited an orphanage home called "BAL ANAND" This place is home to over 70 kids with ages group from new born to 18 years. It is divided into seperate floors for mentally ill children, for toddlers, for new borns & for kids of age 6 and above.


We went there with a sunday morning breakfast. We served the kids with idlis, cake & milk. They were indeed happy to see visitors taking care of them, playing with them .... we could tell. They responded so well, making us happy & joyful & enthusiastic.

For this visit, we re-learned our school time craft & tried to successfully incorporate it in the activity, making it a worthwhile learning session for the children alongwith fun ofcourse. After the breakfast got over, we divided the kids into 3 groups.

Youngest ones (Jr. & Sr. Kg) to do drawing & origami.







Mid age kids (1st to 3rd Std.) to make paper bags







                                                                               


AND the eldest ones (3rd Std. & above) to make pen stands. You will see how much the kids enjoyed doing this in all the pictures.

Finally we clicked lot of pictures with the kids, spoiled them a lil bit by giving them chocolates in the end ...... To now head to our next activity. PLANTATION.

This activity again brought us back to the place we had been to earlier, HOME FOR MENTALLY DEFICIENT KIDS, only this time to plant healthy trees. From our last visit here, we realised that these children need:

1. Lot of greenery around them to keep them in a pleasant mood,
2. Tulsi, Neem & Aleovera plants .. for health reasons.
3. Flowering plants to keep them smiling, happy & hopeful
4. Fruit bearing plants which will help the organisation.

So we gathered all these & planted them around the complex of this home. We hope our seeds will bear good results & a healthy living atmosphere for these people.

27.3.2011 - Siddhivinayak, Mount Mary Church & St. Anthony's Home for the Aged

Beginning of 2011. So in March, we all set our minds rolling for our activity this time. Again we tried to do an activity which we haven't indulged in, so far. Our idea always is ...... to help people in need, contribute how much ever is in our stride, spread smiles & joy & laughter, and experience something in return which will open our eyes to the actual realities of the world.


We started with going to Siddhivinayak & Mount Mary Church & distributed Puri Chole packed in small leaf containers wrapped well with paper .... to people who sit outside these places. With their eyes waiting all day in the hope, to make some bread butter, to fill their families stomach for the day.

Following that, on 27.3.2011, we visited theSt. Anthony's Home for the Aged. This was a home which provided shelter to 70 odd ladies. Old experienced eyes came gazing at us when we entered the place. The sister warned us not to take any pictures, so we dont have very many images of the place to share. But if I am able to word whatever memory I have of that place, I would say ... the place was filled up with laughter & enthusiasm in no time. We started with playing tambola with them. All the ladies enjoyed the game very very much. This was followed by prizes which they were really excited about. We also played few other games with them, in order to be able to connect with them better.

Treasurer of the Old Age Home - Sneaked out & took a pic wit us.

In the end, we gave all of them a small token of our love. We gifted each one of them with a nightwear and a handkerchief. A nightwear is what they use all day long -  to stay, to sit, to eat, to sleep.

Loss of Interest, A saddened feeling to be away from their home, No hope of expecting anyone to come meet them ..... we could sense this as we spoke to them, as we looked into their eyes. They were so over-whelmed to see us, young kids, chirping around them .... we were like their own children. They said to a few of us, "We see our children in you.", "We loved it when our grand-children back home would play around us all day", "We loved to take care of our children, cook them delicious food, wait all day long to see them back home with us in the evening"

As we left the place, they said, "WE WOULD LOVE TO HAVE YOU'LL OVER WITH US AGAIN" They wanted us to come repeatedly and meet them. Cause we could give them a smile, and they could give us blessings in return. After their own children & now the sisters who are incharge of this home, incharge of taking care of them ..... May GOD always watch over them.

20.11.2010 - Home for Mentally Deficient Children & IDA (In Defense of Animals)

Nov 2010, saw us do something different, something we hadn't done so far. Till date, we had been to places where people or children could talk to us, share their problems with us, play with us, enjoy with us. But this time, we chose to feel the pain of those who want to talk, play, study .... but can't. This time, our place of visit was the Home for Mentally Deficient Children.

Going to this place changed our lives, in ways more than one. We re-gained our sensitivity towards the world outside of normal human beings. We met these children & adults who wanted something ... the only thing ..... and realise its importance more than us, more than the normal humans ... LOVE. They did not care about fancy dresses, about tasty food, about chocolates. They cared for the love they got.

Here there were people of different age groups. This institution, besides having rooms for them to stay, had a common area for their lunch & dinner time .. where everyone got together & ate together. They also had schools where they teach them various crafts, stitching, dramatics, sports etc.

Mr. Geete, Incharge for this place ran the place inhabited with 280 + kids & adults, with utmost care & comforted each kid in times of need. It was an eye-opener, this place ..... which was their heaven.

Then from here, we went to a place called IDA = In Defense of Animals. It was an animal shelter for dogs & cats. They treat these street side animals for diseases, serve them daily meals & provide them a shelter to live.

We went there with a stock of food grains which will help to serve the dogs & loads of milk to feed the cats. Although we weren't allowed to go very close to these animals owing to their disease & open wounds, yet it was a empathetic site to watch these people take care of speechless animals who are in pain.

As we got back from these places today, we were left with a thought - How can we ever thank these wonderful people who help make this city, this world, this universe a better place to live. For normal humans, for mentally challenged humans as well as for speechless animals. A thought to ponder on !!!!!!!!!

19.9.10 - Apple Distribution in J.J.Hospital

So, here we are, after another 3 months from our previous activity .... on the 19th of September 2010, visiting the J.J.Hospital for distributing apples to all patients. We too permission pre-hand from the dean of the hospital, to be able to help the patients in a very small way that we can.

Assembled outside the hospital on the permitted date, showed the permission letter & started our drive. We divided ourselves into different groups, took the apples in cartons, loaded them onto the hospital trolley & ran around from ward to ward groupwise, handing over couple of apples to all patients.

 It was a painful site to see all those patients, each one suffering from a different ailment, struggling hard with life .....  struggling for survival. SURELY .... Having to pay length & heavy hospital bills, trouble for the relatives to keep visiting their dear ones in the hospital each day, the travel involved for the visitor, the anxiety of recovery for the patient himself, unrest & the whole hospital environment is not too cordial for one to feel at ease in.

Yet our small gesture did help to bring a smile on many faces. So somewhere, even though we weren't qualified doctors to cure their ailment, yet our small gesture & the healthy fruit did qualify us to be small scale MUNNA BHAI MBBS in some way :) Hope everyone stays healthy & strong always. And may the ones who were admitted GET WELL SOON !

27.6.2010 - School Distribution & Orphanage Home Visit

27th June 2010, marked our 6th activity, where we went to the western ends of Mumbai, near Borivali to visit a school and distribute a kit which would be helpful to the students in school. We helped them with the basic necessities like pencil, eraser, sharpners, rulers. Also we gave them drawing books, crayons. We then served them with some eatables. 

The teachers there helped us in lining up the kids in ques and they sat there patiently whilst we distributed it all to them. Their innocent eyes looked upto us in delight and with a sweet smile on their faces & with their soft subtle voices, some of them said "THANK U Didi and THANK U Bhaiya"

They seemed over-whelmed with small but numerous things given to them, and tried to grab it all in their tiny little hands. By the time we were done, some of them quickly ran to their rooms, kept all their stuff, and returned to play with us and then pose with us for pictures. The kids were joyful, playful & contented with smiling glows reflecting off their faces.

We then headed to an orphanage home which was another 15 minutes drive from the school. This orphanage shelter was home to new borns and toddlers. It was run by nuns who stayed there and gave their undivided attention to these young ones. When we spoke to the sisters, they told us how they found most of these kids in dust-bins OR left alone by the road-side, by parents who couldn't handle children or by young mothers who couldn't abort on time and couldn't give the child an official identity in the society.

The plight of mistakes commited by others, was now theirs. These kids would now grow up as orphans. But this organisation took very good of the children and as they grew, loved them like their own children, gave they timely food, kept them hygienic and as they grew, trained them for skills that could earn them a living.

While the sister educated us on how these children were brought here, some of us started distributing sweets among the children while some of us went into their playing area and started playing with them. The kids were over-whelmed, playful and enjoyed with us thoroughly. We even shook a leg with the kids over music that the sister played for us and some of them sung out poetries to us.

We enjoyed being with such loving children, but left there with a pitiful thought for those parents who abandoned such gifted blessings on earth.

2009 - GauShala, Vada Pav Distribution & Blanket Distribution

As we got into the flow of activities for spreading smiles ... we lost count of the blessings we were getting. We got into it completely, and entire 2009 saw activities which were done outdoors.

In June 2009, we first planned for a Gau Shala (Shelter for cows) visit. Cows are considered sacred and are worshiped in the Hindu Religion. We went to the Gau Shala and served cows a very healthy fodder comprising of gud (jaggery), daliya and ghee. 

At first we were little scared but gradually, as the cows stuck out their tongues and ate delighfully from out hands, we got comfortable too. It was a pleasant experience. We served the cows food, gave them water to drink, observed their behaviour and saw how protective they were for their younger ones.

In September 2009, we all rolled out in our cars on a Vada-Pav distribution drive. We roamed around remote streets of Mumbai where people sleep in tiny self-made huts, with no water to drink and no food to eat. We distributed packets comprising of vada-pav and biscuits. The small packets distributed brought countless blessings, smiles and cheerful tears our way. People were delightfully pouncing onto our cars, trying to grab those packets from us. Although the experience gave us a satisfaction that we have fed a few hungry stomachs for the day, yet it also left us with a thought for all those who'd struggle for their daily bread.

And then on one of the chilled winters nights of December 2009, the smile spreaders were on their way out of their homes, to provide blankets to the poor who sleep by the road pavements, shivering away in cold. Nothing can be more satisfying than a blessing from someone who's most basic need has just been satisfied. :) :) :)

We ventured out, along road sides, to find old men, women, and some with their families, lying there helplessly without the most basic clothing & shelter on their heads. We found them sleeping on the roads and all we did was spread the blankets on them. Some kept sleeping, now with ease, but some woke up scared at first, but later ... happy to realise that someone just came by, to help them fight for their life.

While we sleep at home, on our cozy comfortable beds ...  least do we realise the plight of these people who struggle through the chills of breezy winter nights. But this experience brought us close to the feeling of these people. We hope to have done our bit, in whatever small way possible, to keep them from the hands of deadly wind chills.

Shree Manav Seva Sangh on 29th March 2009

On the 29th of March 2009, was our second venture out to Shree Manav Seva Sangh, a non-profit organization, which works towards the welfare of young orphan children, less privileged children and senior citizens.

The kind hearted people managing the place were extremely soft-spoken and full of love. Mrs. Lilaben whom we got in touch with, like many other ladies working here, was managing her home as well as contributed whole-heartedly in managing the young kids, school work and their daily chores. This place was like a SECOND HOME to her, she said, as she spoke to us about the organisation.

This vast organization has residential premises, hospitals and schools where they educate and trains the kids and ladies to be groomed with adequate skills, to be able to make their living in the main streams of the society.

We, 10 young friends, entered the place carrying baggage of rice, daal, Oil, Sugar etc. donating the stuff to their kitchens for usage. The kitchen cooked meals for kids each day, morning to night. We booked with the place pre-handed to be able to serve the kids some snacks and sweets, which constituted their  morning breakfast. They all sat in one straight line like absolute disciplined kids, making ti easier for us to serve them.

This serving was an ice-breaker between us and the children. Once done with eating, each one stepped upto us and introduced themselves, shook hands with us, and gradually as the comfort increased, they pulled us out to the playing area and got into some fun games with us.

We played kho-kho, frisbee, sangli etc. with the kids and it was a pleasure seeing those innocent eyes and joyful faces smiling right at us. Every moment we spent with them, increased our satisfaction in double-folds. The kids just didn't; want us to go, but is was now time for them to go upto their dormitories to get going to school.

They kept waving out to us as we left those doors. Those beautiful pleasant innocent smiles left us with wonderful memories that we would cherish all along.

Missionaries of Charity

Our first ever activity on 21st December 2008 ....... This set the launch pad for our initiative to help the society at large.

A feeling of satisfaction struck us the moment we held those babies in our arms at the Mother Teresa founded organisation, Missionaries of Charity, located in Vile Parle (W), Near Narsee Monjee College.

This organisation was home to young children, small little angles who either have certain incurable diseases or were abonded by family and found shed under a well managed home by nuns. There was a sense of happiness, a sense of joy in their eyes which touched our hearts. The sisters at the organisation took care of them like their own kids.

  The kids were playful, enthusiastic and their naughty minds knew no bounds when they saw us, a group of 10 friends who came together from our MBA College times, while we approached them with chocolates, snacks, christmas caps, and some games. We severd them some snacks and cake and then played some games with them like cricket, hide and seek etc.

Over-whelmed with their excitement, we sat down and pulled out drawing books and crayons for the kids and got them into colouring.Ohhhhh, they so enjoyed doing it. Small little hands trying to hold onto crayons and scribble along pictures of fishes, frogs etc.

Because it was Christmas around the corner, we left with giving each kid a Christmas Cap and chocolates which they wished to eat right away. Some of them ran out till the gates to bid us good-bye. Sister Maria was also very kind to get us interacting with the children and we gifted her a money plant as a token of out love for the hand work she was putting in, to take care of the little ones.

A memorable start to our wonderful journey of spreading smiles ..... And ever since there has been no turning back.