I had the opportunity to recently visit 3 NGOs in one single day and I feel like I have to pen down these eye opening worthwhile experiences. Without getting into the details I ll go on to describe what I felt .
9:40 a.m .APD-Association for people with disability. Our welcome tour of the whole NGO that is associated with people with disabilities was handled by a person named Mr Nagaraj , who has been with this NGO from the last 5 years. With great enthusiasm and grit , Nagaraj showed around the place and took us through an interactive orientation session about the whole NGO. By the end of the tour, there was only one profound reality that I d like to share . Nagaraj is on a wheel chair and hails from a remote Chintamani Village. With Polio taking away his legs during his childhood , Nagaraj had nothing to support himself except for his willpower. Over the last 5 Years after he came to APD, I found out that he has re-written his life story. Coming from a background where he was not even educated properly , Nagaraj learnt English and got trained in various skills .As he fluently spoke his English, he virtually shook me with his success story.. He is currently a full time independent free lancing web designer and a film documentary maker ,who also manages his small team for projects.And all this, he has achieved just in the last 5 years. Nothing more needs to be told about this inspiring lad who is in his 20′s .
When I started my engineering career 5 years ago after an undergraduation in Electronics, Nagaraj had just begun his studies. And here I am facing a mid life crisis already in my career while there are differently abled Lads who are managing businesses even without a so called MBA!! An ironic Jolt..
12:00 p.m Unnati Centre -NGEF.
Unnati- set up by a conglomerate of IT companies provides vocational training for various jobs and I happened to enter into a Life skill class that was being conducted for Rural youth. There I heard a boy in his 20′s who confidently spoke about his bitter struggle. He had come to Unnati to make himself employable but not before facing major obstacles in his life. Hailing from a remote village of north karnataka ,this boy worked as brick coolie on one hand to feed his family and studied privately for his SSLC 10th exams. Even without going to the school and abrading his hands in the brick factory , he managed to pass his SSLC exam. With Unnati providing him vocational training, he is already looking forward for his next decent job.
While I stood listening to him , I felt a rare stir within my soul . .The boy had the courage to stand up for what he believed in and he met his summit even with numerous obstacles. Where were all my reserves of courage and will power when I failed to give another try even with a small setback?. I better re -evaluate my life skills.
MitraJyoti- 2:45 p.m .I had heard of this reputed NGO which was into helping and rehabilitating visually impaired persons. When I entered the NGO, It seemed an eye catching, well organised , and well maintained institution that was diligently serving, and making the visually impaired independent in their lives. With an ex Indian Army Major as the CEO of the organisation, the institution seemed well settled. But then the reality can only be felt through the mind.
I learnt that the person behind Mitra Jyothi was Ms Madhu Singhal . 20 years ago, she had managed to set up this organization single handedly and has helped blind people visualize and see their destiny. When the moment of meeting her came, I was speechless BECAUSE …
Ms Madhu herself is 100% visually impaired.
How could a completely Blind lady set up an NGO, travel around the world , raise capital from international investors and manage a whole organization?
I felt that rare chill down my spine when I interacted with Ms Madhu, an epitome of pure inspiration.
A short Blind lady had managed to build her own institution and has been the guiding light to so many people,while I still am contemplating on my next plan of action : To plunge or not to Plunge into my passions and my true callings..
At the end of the day, I really felt small when I stood before these Giants.I was finally able to find some real life Heroes in this bustling world .
I have my worthy salute to these people.
InQuilab