Finding Time to spread smiles — My Journey of Volunteering.

I am often asked these questions

How do you make time to volunteer ?Why do you volunteer?Do you really think that you are making change?

A lot of friends and colleagues praise my small efforts towards volunteering. The most common appreciation being “ you are doing this at such a young age”, “ You are doing far more than what we are doing even now”

Let me tell you of why volunteering means so much to me…

I was in seventh standard when my father expired. We were from a decent middle class background. On an average we could survive, but still needed some financial help from people around us. Most of them who helped me had no idea who I was. They looked at our situation and pitched in with aid that helped us. Every penny saved; mattered!

People who had never seen me before volunteered to help. They would call me home, give me a cheque or mail a cheque and that was it. I breezed through my education system with such people paving way for my up-bringing.

Volunteering in schools was the only way, I could carry the baton forward. This became the way I could help someone in need, provide them that breathing space and relieve their burden.

The first visit I made to a slum near M.G Road opened my eyes with such a jolt that I stood up and realized that the road ahead was full of challenges that I alone could not make right.

It was a govt school. We had to go there and read to them. Stories in English and Kannada. During the course of the class, we asked the kids to introduce themselves- with their name, age, interests and what they do at home. I can still feel the goosebumps as I recount that day. One girl got up, stood silently for a few seconds and then started to cry. I did not know what was wrong. I told her it is okay, be bold — tell us your name. She cried even more. The person next to her stood up for her and said -Her name is Zaira. She cannot speak.

I stood there in shock… I asked her to take a paper, write her name and what she does at home. She wrote it down on a sheet of paper; a girl washing clothes and utensils near a small home. The smile on her face when I told her that her drawing was beautiful was so innocent that it made me cringe at the stark reality of life that we often take for granted.

One small help can sometimes change the world, the best example is my own life. I have been a part of 22 visits spread across 3 schools and 5 plantation drives after that and led a total of over 300 volunteers combined to these visits that has touched over 1200 benefactors. One of my favourite initiatives was teaching “Spoken Kannada” to over 45 security personnel ; which would aid them in their daily life.

It is my way of giving back to the society. Now people call me to check where to donate clothes, to check if an NGO they have heard of is the right place for people to donate, how to start working with a school and much more…

This post is not to make you look at me like a hero. It is to look at me as a normal person with normal life, doing small things to make the world a better place.

Does my small 2 hour trip to a school change their world forever?

One school visit certainly changed my life. And we never know: what we say, what we do may end up changing someones’s life at a crucial juncture. Most importantly, for kids to realise that there are people out there who they can look up for advice/ suggestions/ encouragement is a boost to their self confidence. It can change their world completely.

One life impacted over the course of these hours of volunteering is enough for me. The satisfaction of actually bringing a smile to those faces is just out of the world. Listening to them say “ Sunil sir is here” and wave those small hands of theirs with shining excited eyes is an experience that nothing else can stand in comparison with.

I hope these anecdotes have cleared your questions.

And to add to it, a huge thank you to all those who have made this journey possible. Right from the ones who supported me during school visits, Late. K.S.R.P. sir, colleagues and friends at office who have been generous with donations towards the development of infrastructure at schools we have visited. The hugely amazing team of volunteers who have made it possible for us to collective be a force to be reckoned with. People who have given us encouragement and recognition that made us want to give more to this.

In addition, the people who tell me- “ I am doing amazing things” — Thank you. There is still a lot more to be done. A lot more schools and people to be touched. I will accept your compliments and best wishes only after some more work has been done by me.

In fact I am doing very little work when I volunteer. I just make arrangements for others to volunteer, to find the need and plug it with the help of funds from people. Effectively I am just a channel, a road for you to make change. I am actually doing little.

With this, I would like to leave you with one thought.

Plant a seed today, let it grow, nurture it and look after it when it is young. It can provide an impact for generations to come. Seeds that can grow into other trees too. I am planting a seed in your thoughts now. You can be the change in someone’s life with doing as little as volunteering for an hour, spending time with them.