AN OLD TV AND SOME OLD FOOTWEAR
“The only barrier that's blocking us from living an abundant
life is
our unwillingness to share what we have”
― Dragos Bratasanu
― Dragos Bratasanu
When I was closing my
office around 7:30 last evening, my friend Vivek, who lives in the same building
where my office and classes are situated, called me up... “Sir, I will be going
to your side (towards my residence)… Please wait for a minute… I will drop you.”
In a few minutes,
Vivek was ready to pick me up. He was accompanied by his 14-year-old son,
Vyomesh… They both were tucking inside their small Maruti car (on the back
seat) their TV. It was an old box-type TV.
“Are you taking it
for repairs?” I asked Vivek
“No sir, it is
15-year-old, but in a fantastic condition… We all love this TV,” Vivek said.
“Then, where are
you taking this?” I asked.
Vivek looked at his
son and smiled…
“Sir, we are taking
it to our maids’ house,” explained Vyomesh, “We just bought our new TV, today.”
“How nice!” I
exclaimed.
The new 32-inches
flat-TV deserved my compliment, though… I was saying “How nice” for the ‘spirit
of giving’, which my friend, Vivek, was inculcating in his young son… Not just
giving it away to their maid, but personally delivering it to her place, somewhere
in one of the slum pockets!
Vivek had asked the
maid to wait outside my colony gate. When she spotted the car, and as I got off
the car, I could see the joy in her face!
“It means a lot to
me,” I use this expression too often. But, last night, I could sense the power
of that expression from a very, very close
distance!
Giving our old
unwanted stuff may seem ‘no big deal’ to most of us. But, then, we don’t give
our old stuff easily and gladly the way Vivek and his 14-year-old were doing,
last night…
The Wise say, what
is lying in our houses, unused for over a year or two, should not be there in
our houses. Well, at least most of the unused stuff should be given away to the
needy… and it should be given away gladly!
When I watched the
latest two films in the cinema halls, I have come across this public interest
ad… I did not know, that the simple-and-lean-looking young man in that ad was
Shiyansh Bhandari. I happened to check more about his organization – ‘GreenSole’…
Look, how a simple idea can catch fire when propelled by good intent, compassion and determination! Shriyansh, who graduated from Mumbai’s Jai Hind College, and his friend, Ramesh, one day, woke up to the reality of millions of unfortunate fellowmen of our country who walked barefoot, everyday and suffered from innumerable problems… The duo decided to collect the old footwear, get them refurbished… and pass them on to the unfortunate fellow humans!
Look, how a simple idea can catch fire when propelled by good intent, compassion and determination! Shriyansh, who graduated from Mumbai’s Jai Hind College, and his friend, Ramesh, one day, woke up to the reality of millions of unfortunate fellowmen of our country who walked barefoot, everyday and suffered from innumerable problems… The duo decided to collect the old footwear, get them refurbished… and pass them on to the unfortunate fellow humans!
I was so moved by
this story… that, I am yet to get over the guilt of keeping my (my wife’s and
sons too) old footwear and other stuff at home for years on!
I know I am not
alone in this!
Often, I console
myself saying “We all help others in our own way.” Yes, we do… Acts such as
Vivek’s and GreenSole’s are being done by us in our own way, too… I agree…
Still… Still…
Still.
GERALD D’CUNHA
Pic.: Anil Bedi
Videos: YouTube
Videos: YouTube
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