Proud of them!

From my childhood I have always felt a strong urge to help others, not necessarily the people in need or the people I know. What I believe is if you know someone can be benefitted with your gesture, you should go ahead and lend a helping hand to them.

Well, that’s not at all the point of what follows ahead. Last Sunday, I visited an Orphanage called, ‘The little Angels Orphanage’ at Madh. One of my friends at Buzzinga Digital was working on a Children’s Day campaign for Berger Paints. They had invited volunteers to come and paint the walls of the orphanage.

Waking up early, on a slightly cold Sunday morning sounds so uncool, but trust me at the end of the day it was all worth, coming back home tired and sleepy only to hop on the bed for the office the next day. People have that sympathetic ‘awwwww’ every time they hear about an orphanage, but those children don’t need the sympathy, they need the love and the respect. They are more self-respecting, aware, enthusiastic & adorable than many of those kids living a comfortable life.  

I offered a little girl, around 5 years old some chakli, she was quick to ask, “kisne diyaa?” She wouldn’t accept it, till I made her believe it wasn’t going to harmful. This is the level of awareness; they won’t just grab it because it is something they don’t get often.

Looking at them, I did not feel any remorse, I felt ashamed. Ashamed of complaining almost all my life of how messed-up everything was, because I cried when someone I love refused to look back, because I cribbed about how dirty and stinky some places were, because I did not respect the very fact that I was living, I had a life, I had someone to look after me, pamper me, shop for me, give me tasty food. These children, in hardly a day, taught me how to love life, how to be happy, how to laugh for the smallest of good things that were happening around.

Every time we walked out of the orphanage for a cup of tea, or a stroll outside, these kids would ask, “aap jaa rahe ho?” and we would reply no we are coming back in a while. As we came back, they would say with a twinkle in their eyes, “aap wapas aaye”. They are so used to people coming and never returning back, that it does not affect them anymore, or it does but they manage to not let it alter their life and happiness. Those little angels were successful in making me believe that life itself in a gift and don’t waste it cribbing and crying.

 

No I don’t feel bad for those, I feel proud of them. I wonder how do people manage adopting one kid out of so many adorable kids.