“I hope you don’t mind me asking, but what brought you here? You’re a Brandeis graduate, you could be anywhere in the world,” I asked Geeta.
It was a causal Wednesday and like most Wednesdays, this one was full of its own mid-week nightmares. By the time I met Geeta, I was beginning to think the nightmare would never end. I asked the question almost as an afterthought, but I’m glad I did. Her answer kept me going for the rest of the day. In fact, it will stay with me forever.
“Have you visited the kitchen?” she asked. “It’s an amazing experience.”
She had heard of Akshaya Patra 9 years ago, when some of her friends told her about the organization. Curious to know more, she decided to visit our Bangalore kitchen and learn about what we do. After all, if she was going to donate money, she had to make sure it was going to the people.
“I came at four in the morning, because they said that’s when the kitchen started its preparations.”
“At four?” I asked, unable to process the information. For self-professed lazy people like me, four in the morning is a strange, alien concept.
“Yes four,” she replied with a smile sensing I must be a lazy person. I tried to put on a respectable frown.
In the early hours of the morning, she watched as they meticulously prepared for the coming day. Cutting vegetables, washing rice, cleaning dal.
“It was so wonderful to see it all. I couldn’t believe how much food they cooked in a few hours.”
Nearly 100 000 mails each day. I recalled the statistics. Close to 1.2 million meals across India. I knew all the facts and figures, but not until I heard her say it, did I realize the enormity of the work involved. One hundred thousand meals in just a few hours, I thought to myself. It is amazing. 1.2 million across India.
It’s more than just a figure, I thought to myself. Geeta’s enthusiasm was infectious.
“I saw them pack the food and followed one bus in its route. I saw the children eating the food. They were so happy. I have to tell you, it was an amazing experience! After that, I wanted to do everything I could to help them.”
So she started with raising funds for the organization. She made it her personal goal to help at least one child each day, went to all her friends and spread the word about the plight of children in India today. She told them about the staggering reality of these children’s lives, about her experience and her belief that if we work together we can really make a difference.
I heard her talk and I realized something. There are people in this world who spend each day complaining about the problems we face as a society: we have a population problem, we’re not doing enough as a country, our roads are not good enough, the system needs to change etc etc etc. The list is endless. We point our fingers and tch tch in a melancholy way about corrupt practices.
Then there are people who won’t say a word. They go about their life quietly, taking one step at a time, with a quiet confidence, with faith in the belief that if we simply do our work, things will change for the better.
Now if only I could stop being lazy…
