Art of Giving!!

clipped from epaper.timesofindia.com tracks the commendable trend towards asking guests to donate to the new couple’s favourite charity in lieu of a wedding gift Rediscovering the art of gifting Join the Two Per Cent Club by giving 2% of your annual income to your favourite charity. Privileges? Put your head on your pillow every night with the feeling that you have done something to help someone apart from yourself. TIME TO GIVE BACK: Children as young as eight and nine years are asking their parents to send their birthday money to less-privileged children and newly marrieds are instructing guests to donate the gift money to charities “I would say Indians are getting more inclined towards charity as disposable incomes grow,” says Venkat Krishnan, the IIMA alumnus who runs GiveIndia. “We’re still far LESS inclined to give than elsewhere. For instance, in the US, giving rates are at 1.8% of GDP compared to India's 0.2%, but the trend is changing.”

This was an interesting article I read on the TOI today. Personally I simply love the feeling you get when you help people,especially the under privileged. This article just brought back memories of my time spent at the Blind People's Association. I worked at the BPA as a voluntary reader for the students there for almost a year. The feeling you have once you leave the place after a good session with the students is just too good to describe.

It was my first day at the BPA , I was a little nervous as I had never been to this place before and also because I had never taught students earlier. I was there because one of my friends had really urged me to go and help out. I overcame the initial nervousness and managed to reach the class I was assigned. When I entered the class I was in for a surprise. The students even though they could not see could figure out that I had entered and as soon as I spoke my first words they knew I wasn't one of them and I was there to teach. They were v.courteous and frank. They started telling me all their stories and I had a lot of fun just being part of this wonderful group of people who according to me were "differently-abled". They could read(Braille), play chess(I was beaten easily by them) and they could even play music and sing really well(I can't play music and I am a bathroom singer :-) at my best) I was amazed by their talents. But then came the stories that really frightened me -most of these students don't get any employment even after they do a graduation because for the "world" they are blind. They don't expect to become millionaires, what they expect is just enough money so that they can be self sufficient and live a respectable life but WE- the people blessed with the perfect bodies in our struggle for survival can't make a place for this bunch of unfortunate ones. I was simply left in awe when in my last meeting with my friends, before I left for the US, the only thing they asked me was when you become a successful man please if possible make some jobs for people like us so that we can live a normal life. A lot of time has passed since then and I haven't met my friends and have even lost contact with them as they have already graduated from BPA. But the time spent with them has taught me a lesson. A lesson to respect people and make space for them as there is nothing as disabled, its just "differently-abled". The article below just brought back memories how I had learnt once the art of giving..and my wonderful time at the BPA..

Lets make room for our friends and make this world a better place to live in !!