All my life, I lived a life that was well provided for. I got what I needed and most of what I wanted, materially. I don't think I was ever a brand conscious or materialistic individual anyway, but yes, I always had an eye for "good" things my whole life.
This was especially surprising considering that I came from South Mumbai, one of India's most poshest places.
However, I was lucky enough to have friends much like me who didn't much care for labels, riches or wealth. For us, a simple, well lived life mattered more.
On almost all my birthday's post attaining adult-hood, I chose to devote something on my special day. Something, small, maybe not extremely significant, yet something, anything.
As a child, a teenager and young adult, most birthdays revolved around buying treats, treating friends, shopping and partying. After a point in time that whole endeavor seemed pointless. Probably because, every party was the same. Everything seemed the same. And there was always this nagging feeling, a certain kind of guilt that made me want to do something else. This feeling never went away, no matter how much I tried.
I wanted to give. I wanted to absorb the spirit of simplicity and be thankful for what I had. Everyone wants more. There are days when I craze luxurious cars and extravagant leisure's of life. And then there are days when it really doesn't matter at all. I mean, when it's my time to go from this world and bid goodbye to this life, what will be of most importance after all?
So it started. A small, baby step through which I dedicated something or the other to either the needy around me, orphans in a shelter at a close distance from me, or simply the man on the street on every birthday.
I can't remember what I did every year on my birthday since I turned 18 but I can vividly recall distributing chocolate biscuits to the underprivileged kids in a Mumbai educational center on my 22nd or 21st birthday. Thereafter, the next year I think I specifically asked a caretaker cum volunteer at another center close to my home in Bombay what the underprivileged really "needed". She told me there was a dire need of good quality school bags for the center So, I went and bought about 15 - 20 wholesale bags and distributed it among the children that year.
After that, due to constantly shifting base for the next 2 years, I missed doing anything for anyone else on my birthday until yesterday.
Although I now live in a new city and new state, it seemed only fair that I do not miss the chance to put a smile on someone else's face on the day I was born. So, I had someone look for an orphanage, any orphanage and decided to donate a couple of (about 40) geometry box sets, colour pencils and chocolates to (not all) the children there.
I chose a Muslim Orphanage for the purpose. Kanpur has a large muslim population. Nothing wrong in it. But when I expressed an interest to distribute sweets and pencil box sets there, the initial reaction of my army helpers surprised me. They, who defend the country's borders were more keen on my going to a hindu orphanage and not muslim one.
It's going to take a long time for a secular country like ours to accept a simple fact - when it comes to children at least, religion doesn't matter. And when it does, the problems will begin.
Distributing my gifts to the children at the orphanage felt nice, although I do wish I could have done more for them. They deserve everything a child born into a well to do family gets. Circumstances can really be your best friend or best foe in life.
Every child at the orphanage came up to me to shake my hand and take their sweets. The caretakers there were also extremely happy that someone from the "outside" world thought of the center's children on so random a day.
There is really nothing better than the gift of giving. And when you ever feel like donating something, be it a pair of shorts or even something as small as a key chain, remember that:
--Donating "things you do not use" no matter how old, worn or useless for you WILL be of some help to someone out there
--Donating food articles and sweets do not help as much as "utility things", sweets and foods get consumed and do not have a long lasting effect. But non perishable things do.
--Always ask the center what the inmates there really "need" before giving them something
--Try not to only donate money. Donate things that can actually be used immediately. Buy and give things if you must.
My only regret was that I couldn't give the center's children what they really needed yesterday. When I asked the main caretaker there what they would like to have as gift, he specifically said that all the 70 children in the center felt extremely cold during the winter months, but not everyone had a sheet to keep them warm. He would have preferred a gift bag full of old sheets and blankets, but alas, I couldn't afford to buy that many and sadly enough didn't have any old ones to give away.
In turn, he said pencils, geometry sets and crayons were also always required and so I chose to go in for the latter.
Well, there's always a next time!
