It has been many days thought to write up on this blog as to what I feel when it comes to society. This is not a something for I want to inspire somebody or so! Neither I'm writing this to boost about myself or something like that! I just want to share it to myself so that i can get insight of what i want to do in life ahead!! What Aastha means to me is something which I cant explain with words - It is my dream which has come true! Thats all I can say!! This blog is all about my experiences with Aastha! (For those who are reading this blog and unaware - Aastha is a group of Volunteers which is dedicated for the betterment of life of less privileged and bring smiles)
If I'm right, It was in 10th standard or so, I discussed with my friend - Sriranga that we'll put up sign boards in BusStand of hassan like No Smoking, No spitting and all. He started laughing ! Then based on my reactions(Of course, weird ;-))... Sriranga told, what options do we have to execute it - We'll goto DC and speak and ask him to release funds for the this and all... (Little we were aware that Govt offices sucks!). Both of us were from lower middle class family and both of us could not afford to ask our parents to fund this. So, we thought we'll take such kind of initiatives once we start earning! Even during my engineering, Kaushik and myself had discussed about such things many time...But nothing was executed!
This is where 'my dream of giving back to society' started.
I was just thinking how did all start - Neither did I get inspired by looking at somebody. I hate people who smoke and drink! That is the ultimate gift I've got from my parents! Aversion towards whats bad in society and this prompted me to think!! Some people might think that this is conservative way of bringing up. But, this conservativeness has prompted me to do something good :) This is where today's parents lack!
So, coming back to 'Giving back to Society'. First question is Do I really need to do it?
Well, If we, we'll feel good! Thats all I can say! Trust my words - Definitely, you'll feel lot happier when somebody is happy or when somebody's life is impacted by our work. There is no better feeling than knowing we've made a positive impact on another person's life. If you dont have such a kind of attitude, simply, you need not do anything!!! I feel, we need to be practical and make a perfect balance of our enjoyment and Giving back! This is where I initially failed! I was giving more importance to giving back at the cost of my enjoyment which I later realized! This is when I learned to balance! As a simple example, If I was spending each and every weekend going to Orphanage, then i would have been doing that at the cost of my family! Made my mind, I need to spend proper time with my family and now have that balance! Feeling good :)
Then, comes a question - What do I need to do?
Is it something like, I'll donate to some charity who's doing something. Nope, I wasnt satisfied with this. I wanted to make a impact by personally getting involved! When I was in Gurgoan, I was feeling bored of work and I went to park. There I saw a mother (Who was quite well of!) with her kid making her play slide and bring a smile in her face. On the other end, I saw a child(around 4-5 yrs) who was around there begging for her food. Then made up my mind that What If I'm involved in bridging this gap! I shared the same with Arvind and he suddenly exclaimed - Lets form a group and work towards this! Whole night, I didnt get sleep... thinking of my dream - 'Srishti' - This is the name we coined for the new group since we wanted to create(in Sanskrit - Srishti) a new world where this gap is bridged! Thanks a ton to Arvind for keeping my dreams alive! Entire credit goes to him :) We started evaluating as to how can we move forward and tried contacting few NGOs in Delhi and found Deepalaya. They were very positive and by then, we were around 5 or 6 ppl and decided, we'll goto Delhi and all. I discussed the same with Madhu - my super brother and he was very happy with my motto and he was supportive (As usual! I would say, Entire credit of whatever I'm today goes to Madhu and my parents :) ) In the same week, for my surprise, I was transferred to Hyderabad :( and I thought, my dreams blown away!
After two months or so in Hyderabad, my dream again started budding! I got an email asking for help for a child's heart surgery or so, where I saw Aastha email id. Curious enough, I dropped email asking what is this group all about to Girish who had co-founded Aastha. Response from him was amazing. This is when I shared my thoughts with him that I want to start such a kind of group and he told he'll provide necessary support for the same and I discussed the same with senior management to send out an email to Hyderabad Keane associates. 3 Cheers to Girish for his support he had provided!!! They readily agreed and I felt so happy that something which I was dreaming about is coming true :) By then, I had my sister also in Hyderabad who was literally my backbone in forming Aastha team in Hyderabad! She was supportive in each and every step! Of course, sisters are meant for that right :) . Truly, It was very tough at the initial stages to get the people on their toes! Even though many had shared their initial interest to be a part of Aastha, very few of them really committed! Hats off to Narendra, Ajay, Sridhar, Kamalesh, Jagan, Anu, Srinivas and moral support of Sudha! It was really great! Next task for all of us ws to find out a place to make it better. As my usual attitude, I wanted to keep 'MONEY' apart and want to make direct impacts!
And Luckily, all of them I've mentioned here and If I've missed anybody(I'm sorry), were of same nature... But, we used to pool money to take choc or fruits while going to Abinandana(Orphanage) or any place... This is where, Ajay, Narendra and Srini had taught computers and Jagan inspired children to study! I was feeling so happy! Yes, collectively as a team, we are making an impact! we are making a change for something better :) and I started speaking butler telugu ;). I'm feeling like laughing now also, I dont know how Narendra and ajay tolerated my butler telugu! Ofcourse, they helped me a lot to learn it :).
But, when we started supporting Autism school for medicines, we started feeling the necessity of funds for continuous support. Then approached Girish as Aastha in Bangalore had a separate account and where funds were pooled on a regular basis and as expected, we got the complete support and Aastha-Hyderbad's operation expanded :). With the support of Dr. Dhananjaya who is a doctor in alternative system of medicine (Acupressure, acupuncture...), we certainly made the health of many autistic children better. Senior management @ Keane Hyderabad were impressed by the growth of Aastha and then on, they had extended complete support and communicated that any CSR activity of Keane would be routed through Aastha and Aastha saw a huge growth across Keane! By then, Aastha had completely embedded within me.
Even after coming to Bangalore, I feel very happy to be associated with Aastha:) Felt so good after seeing smiles on faces when I was a part of relief camp @ north karnataka. Thanks to Aastha for providing me an opportunity to make others feel good and inturn making feel better myself :) (This is when interest to do better grows!)
I want to continue my career with Social sector. But, I'm not sure, whether I can be successful since I could not get into TISS (www.tiss.edu) to pursue my higher studies :(.
My dreams are still alive! 'll work hard and try to make it!!
The Joy of spreading happiness cannot be expressed! It can only be felt!!Labels: Aastha, Aastha trust, Giving back to Society