A Generous Contribution

Happiness and a life of deep fulfillment come when you commit yourself, from the core of your soul to spending your greatest human talents on a purpose that makes a difference in others’ lives- Robin Sharma

The festive shrieks of the kids made me peep into the open door. I saw a man in pale blue shirt holding a huge blue bag accompanied by a few more people as they called out names. A young girl was given a gift. They asked her to open the gift and show it to the others. The girl could hardly wait to see it. It was a beautiful doll set. I felt it must have been a prize won in a competition conducted. They resumed giving wrapped gifts to each of the children who were present in the gathering. As they got their gifts there were small and loud yells displaying their joyfulness.

 I went back and sat in the office. The office at Nachiketa Balgram is a small one with a thatched roof of asbestos in a small clearing paved with shahbad stones. It has a table and a few chairs and a  steel cupboard to store documents.  Today there were a lot of bananas in plastic bags and a huge steel bucket filled with milk. Perhaps it was tea time for the kids or it must have been a gift by a philanthropist. There were two rooms opposite to the office. One was used as a kitchen and the adjoining room was filled with these kids who were receiving gifts. There was a young girl in salwar kameez with a white dupatta overflowing. She had something in her hand. I asked her what she had received. she brought out a tiny glass box which had a shining wrist watch. Even before I could talk to her, she left the shining watch on the table and went to attend to a chore. She spoke lovingly to a very old lady sitting on the chair in front of the office. I kept looking at the young girl who held all the promises of a beautiful tomorrow with no attachments to material things.

A little later the kids poured out of the room each one having a gift in their hand. There were remote control cars, Barbie sets, books and many different kinds of toys. An elderly gentleman came to enquire about our visit. We quickly told him the reason as he completed the formalities of our visit. Each time we visit Nachiketa Balgram, we have experienced a pure joy in the surroundings. It is not an orphanage which aggravates pity, but is a place which inspires people with the kind of ecstatic bliss. One experiences a deep bonding with the young orphans and the abandoned old orphans. The last time we visited, the whole family at Nachiketa were busy in putting up a programme for the old at the nearby old age home. The loss of parents has given these children a special ability to be compassionate to the young and old.

The students stood in a group and got themselves photographed with the children of a couple who had given them the gifts. Since we were leaving the place together we began conversing. The man introduced himself as Rajneesh, an Indian settled in New Jersey. He initiated a conversation with his  wife Monica, his teenage son, daughter and his mother. He said that he wanted his growing kids to know that there were underprivileged kids and that his children needed to know the bliss of sharing a small share of joys with them. Nachiketa Balgram was an endeavour initiated twelve years back with four kids. One of those boys had helped them get a wish list from the children. The man told us that people donate money for the food and clothes, but they never think about the desires and longing these kids have. He said that, they may many a times crave for a new watch or a toy just as any other kid does. He said India would never have been poor, if only the rich could  have shared a part of their wealth and their precious time with the needy. I admired the man who gave the little kids memories to cherish through a wonderful evening of conferring joys. Perhaps the poverty in India is actually an attribute of being poor in deeds.

 “There is no exercise better for the heart than reaching down and lifting people up” ― John Holmes