Giving Back to Society

    “Service to mankind is service to god”.  If everyone can make this very simple sentence as the motto of their life then   the world will be a much better place to live in. Being part of various social clubs like Jaago, MFG Reach,     Akanksha, I have got immense opportunity to serve the people in need and it indeed has changed the meaning  of my life. Being part of these clubs, we have taught children, conducted blood donation camps, conducted  health camps and most of all have spent quality time with the children and made them smile. Though I have  come across many special children in between, I will share few instances which changed my complete  perception about these children.

   During college time, we had been to Ultra school, a school for blind, dumb, deaf and mentally retarded  children near Khurda, a small district in Odisha. The school has around 60 children. We tried to interact with  them. There was one boy named Manas (name changed). He was a mentally retarded child and dumb. By  seeing us he was shouting like anything. We could not get anything from his behavior and got scared. Later  from the teacher of that school we came to know that he was very happy that day so he was shouting. So I got  to know one thing that day; they are not mentally challenged, only difference is that the way they express  themselves is different than normal people which we sometimes cannot understand. And we, the so called  normal people call them to be not normal.

Ultra school near Khurda

    In the same school I met another boy called Bapi (name changed). He is a blind since born. The most talented   thing in him is the acting. Though he is not able to see, still he remembers so many things from television or    external world and he can act with a perfect expression and voice which a normal person will fail to do. We  normal people can see the images, expressions and hear the voice. Still we cannot remember the whole  dialogue after just listening once and cannot act with a perfect expression. But he is a special boy and again we,  the so called normal people call them not to be normal.

Spending time with children in the class room

   On that very day, I realized one thing that they are really God’s own child with so much talents which we  normal human being cannot have. Still we ignore them. Even parents of many children have left them  permanently here. These children do not need luxury like we people, but they just need little care and time. If  with so much hidden talents, which we normal people cannot recognize, we call them challenged and mentally  retarded then what we will be called? It’s a thing to ponder over. It’s the time to give back to the society and  make all such people part of our normal life.

“You can have everything in life you want, if you will just help other people get what they want.” ~ Zig Ziglar

Time to say good bye