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.