After discovering the Akshaya Patra Foundation through its website, I was amazed by all the organisation had accomplished and had to experience it for myself. My experience has been ethereal. I made a month-long trip to India to immerse myself in the driving force of the good that is Akshaya Patra. As I visited relatives and family friends throughout my stay, almost everyone I spoke to was familiar with the cause and recognised it as a national initiative. The family driver was especially enthusiastic about the organisation. Akshaya Patra has made a distinct impression on the students of his village allowing them to receive a quality education and healthy nourishment. As he told me the wide-reaching effects of the organisation, he manoeuvered through the circus of traffic that included cows, motorcycles oxen carts, and several tractors on our way to the Vaikuntha Hill kitchen.
Finally, we reached the scintillating gates of the foundation with its characteristic blue signs. I chatted awhile with my good friend Mr. Arun Kumar, the manager of the Vakuntha Hill kitchen, who gestured at the ardent and passionate work of the kitchen to feed the children of over 600 schools in and around Bangalore area. A fleet of Akshaya Patra vans filled with sambar, rice, and curd whizzed past us as three other Akshaya Patra volunteers offered to accompany me on my journey to some of the Government Schools. We swerved through several back roads and highways until our car lay before a massive hill with a road that rose with its slope. We followed this slope as we admired the countryside. The trees were bright and alive with the reclusion of monsoons and the sky was as blue as ever. From a distance, I could distinguish a small brightly-painted school. Before I could fully behold its reality, I could hear the laughter ringing from the top of the hill.
I heard the excitement of children and urgent, excited voices that reflected the absolute purity of youth. When we finally arrived, the headmaster greeted us and thanked us for the work Akshaya Patra Foundation had accomplished in feeding this school. From the corner of my eye, I saw the familiar stainless steel canteens of rice and sambar that feed countless children throughout India. Before I was fully aware of it, I was ushered into a classroom where healthy and enthusiastic 1st and 2nd graders strained their voices in yelling, “Good morning, sir!” As I greeted them, smiling, I could not help but reflect that this energy would not be possible without the tireless labor of the employees and staff of the Akshaya Patra Foundation. With bright eyes, they barraged me with a slew of questions: “What is your father’s name?”, “What is your mother’s name?”, “Do you know President Obama?”, “How far do you live from the White House?”, “Are you a good cricket player?”, “Do you like India?”, etc. The friendly teacher gestured urgently to a seat at the front of the class. At first, I refused out of deference, but then reluctantly accepted the kind gesture. The children told me their stories, each one more inspiring than the last. They told me the tragedies of being orphaned and the adversity of achieving dreams dreamt by those who fall under the poverty line. Many of these students told me they wanted to be doctors, engineers, and police inspectors. Many of them shared in the same fire of spirit that I pride myself in. Born with a congenital genetic disability that resulted in cosmetic flaw and profound hearing loss, I was no stranger to absolute dedication and determination to goals. I recognised this same determination and dogged tenacity in the enthusiasm of these students who were unnecessarily and prematurely burdened with the weight of life’s struggles and challenges.
I find comfort that they no longer have to carry this burden alone, and that the conglomeration of public and private efforts through Akshaya Patra Foundation ensures for them a brighter future. My perspective towards these students was not “me” and “them,” but rather “us”. I realized that we are all children and inheritors of the same world, and that every person faces their individual struggles. There is no limit to their abilities, especially because of the food that Akshaya Patra provides daily. Just as I had mastered the piano despite my hearing disability, they will master their education despite their setbacks. They will rise past the challenges they face and become the new driving force for change, as I expect that they will have the heart to contribute to the organization that has allowed them to attain their goals. My favorite part of that eye-opening volunteer experience was the games we played. Few things allow me to forget time, but the carefree spirit and happiness of the students I played with allowed me to forget all else. I became entranced by the childlike sense of wonder and amazement that had manifested itself in this school. They grabbed at my legs, grinning ear to ear and unwilling to let go. Some of the younger and more vulnerable kids outstretched their arms for me to hoist them up on my shoulders high above the world. The human race is equal, despite the differences that society, language and status insist on enforcing. The Akshaya Patra Foundation has overcome these imposed social barriers by feeding all schoolchildren in need, regardless of social status or background.
I was then led into a less dense part of the considerably cramped school grounds. It was there that my heart broke and for the first time that I cried for someone rather than myself or my own loss. It was there that seven of the world’s most helpless toddlers sat without any connection to their parents. They smiled at me, begged for my attention, tossing a ball towards my direction. I instinctively tossed it back, smiling at them. They erupted in hysterical and excited laughter and I saw happiness in their eyes. But I knew that deep inside that they were sad from within. All children deprived of love struggle to survive emotionally. Their emotions turn from neediness to sadness. But I have the power to stop this cycle of abject loneliness. A simple donation from a life of comparative comfort and ease can forever change the face of these children’s future. And then it was time for me to leave, as a fellow Akshaya Patra volunteer called out for me. I constantly think about those children and all they will have to overcome. But I know they will always be well fed and given the opportunity of education, because The Akshaya Patra Foundation will persevere, carrying unforgotten compassion to eventually ensure an end to child hunger in all of India.
To know more about Varun Singh’s experience at the kitchen, click here
