The Eyes... They don't lie...

Sorry the article is bit lengthy but we don't want to edit the feelings of Abhishek.
By FoC Team

Name: Bhushan Malhari Borhade , Education: Studying in 11th Std.

Family Background: Parents working as farmer; Sister studying in Agriculture College, Dapoli. To support his family, Bhushan started selling cucumber since he was in 5th Std. Now, he works as a librarian in his village library. He has to walk for 4 Km everyday to catch a bus to his college which is 23 Km further away. The bus takes another 1 ½ hour to reach the place.

And lastly, he has scored 80% in SSC.

Annual Income: Rs.21000/- (Rs. Twenty One Thousand)

Remark: "Strongly Recommended"

I have a quick glance at the description and start leafing through the documents he has attached. The checklist for the documents runs: "Income Certificate Ok; College ID Ok; Fee Receipts Ok; Marksheets Ok… Ration Card? Where’s your Ration Card?"

"Sorry Sir, I don’t have the Ration Card Xerox with me. It’s with my uncle in Mumbai…" He replies with an anxious, rabbit – like look in his eyes, fearing if I would reject his documents and deprive him of the amount he is entitled to. I give him a "Now – what – do – I – do – with – you?" look.

I keep going on and on through the description and the family background. The look in his eyes grows even more anxious.

"Oh, don’t worry; I’m not here to reject your scholarship. Go; show this to the Ma’am over there. She will sort it out for you." A lost smile finds a place back on his face and he goes away.

A girl comes next, then a boy follows and they just keep coming and I keep running through their documents and their stories. The names change…the Annual Income hoveres around 15K – 25K… Distances they walk daily to reach their college/ schools vary a little… "Remarks" change from "Strongly Recommended" to "He deserves it" to "She desperately needs the help" to "The family condition is bad"… The plight remains the same but there is something else that was so bright that it blew away all the darkness. It was the spark in all those eyes and that smile on their faces – THAT was exactly the same across all those faces.

Venue: Phase I, B1 – C1, Infosys Campus Date: Sunday 14th January, 2007 Makar Sankranti:

For a 9:30 Bus catcher like me, (Oh, Where have you gone, you good ol’ days?), getting up early on a weekday is like asking for the world. And if it’s a Sunday and if it’s not for a trek, sorry, you are being too demanding – you are asking for the whole universe. But there I was, riding my bike on my way to office at 8:30 AM on the crisp and a little misty Sunday Morning. This wasn’t for a bug that slipped through, a release that broke or a deadline that spilled over. It was for a felicitation function – a felicitation organised by HJW Foundation along with "Friends of Children (FoC)" and "Vidya Poshak" for the meritorious students from economically challenged families.

Volunteers from both HJW Foundation and FoC had visited most remote places in Narayangaon and Junnar area to find out these gems and handpicked them for the felicitation in terms of reimbursement of their college fees and money for buying other things like books, bag, uniform etc.

3 buses full of these 150 odd students along with their professors and FoC Volunteers arrived at Phase I by 10:00 AM. Security couldn’t have been more cooperative as they let groups of students inside the campus without going through their regular process of clicking snaps for all of them and preparing individual ID cards. Trust speaks.

I was at the main door clicking snaps as the future of India walked in. And I must tell you, it was bright and determined. They were all neatly dressed – may be in their only set of dress specially kept aside for events and ceremonies. I could see a little expression of awe in all those eyes as they had a look around the state – of – the art buildings and the glass elevators going up and down.

Moments later, we escorted them for a breakfast of Poha and Tea. Mahipaalji and his team from Facility had made excellent preparation even though it was a Sunday. The students and their professors alike made a queue without any of us hailing "Linemein lag jaao". No jumping the queues, No jostling for the food, none of the things educated fools do. I wondered: How dare they be so disciplined with no cute curty to be seen around!? It appeared that the day had lot many surprises in store for me…

As I ran around looking for staplers and last minute Xerox copies, dragging chairs and tables (it reminded me of my college days and the events we used to organise – a happy feeling), the event had already started with introductions to the various organisations involved. Don’t worry if you don’t know or remember their names. Even I didn’t. But when I listened to all of them speaking right from the bottom of their hearts and the eyes only echoing the noble feeling behind, I realised there’s something Good happening around as I was laying back in my comfort zone. To an extent, I got the answer to the question that pricks me: "Why does the world still exist with all the inhuman things happening around?" There are these little thousands of Atlas who are quietly carrying the load of this world on their tiny shoulders, without a complaint… without a desire of recognition…

Since it was not feasible to invite all the students on the dais for the cheque distribution, 10 students out of the 150 were first given away cheques worth their fees by Pune DC Head and Chief Guest Ms. Priti Rao. In her address to the audience, she started in Marathi at first but then said "Since I just witnessed how fluently these students speak English, I’ll drop my plans to speak in Marathi and stick to English instead." She went on to affirm her belief that the next decade belongs to India and the students sitting in front hold the key.

Then, 7 students who were beneficiary of the assistance from FoC (Friends of Children) were invited on the stage to share their experience about the diverse career paths they chose – from Paint Technology to Engineering to Medical to Arts to Commerce. All of them preferred to talk in a mix of languages: English, Hindi and Marathi, although I’m sure they could have spoken well in any of them. There may not be glossy words, stylish language, the accent might show traces of Marathi but that was all immaterial.

All of them were just so HAPPY – enjoying every bit of the opportunity they got to reach the huge audience! They spoke their hearts out, talking about difficulties they had to face or are still facing, challenges they have to overcome but only ending with "khud pe aur khuda pe bharosa rakho. Sab theek ho jaayega" (Keep faith in yourself and in God and everything will be all right).

This was followed by a Question and Answer session. I could see the student audience relating themselves with someone succeeding from a similar background. So the questions and answers volleyed back and forth about careers ranging from IT to as diverse as Air Hostess and Pilots and IAS. The career counselling that happened later only extended the theme. We were asked to come up with 50 different careers and it wasn’t surprising to see that all the brains present there were not able to count beyond 15!

The people behind the scene also needed a pat on the back. Mementos were given away to all the FoC and HJW Foundation volunteers who worked hard to get to these students and appreciate their will to study. Shantamma – the President of FoC did the honours. But the lady didn’t look like a President, nor did any of the volunteers look like they were "working" for someone. It was as if they were all a part of a family that has stood up in arms for a worthy cause. There’s no President, There’s no Volunteer – just one Family sharing the same values and ideals.

The clock was ticking to 2:30 PM and the lunch time was well overdue. The coordinators were getting restless as the schedule slipped by a good hour and a half, at least. But so was I. Witnessing the event had made me feel the urge to talk. I was unsure if and how I should speak up. Finally, I conjured up some confidence and asked Rahul – the HJW Foundation Infoscion if I could be allowed to speak. He pointed towards Sandeep – Host from FoC. Sandeep gave me a weary look. "J… u… s… t… two minutes!" he said to me handing over the mike.

Ok. I won’t go verbatim about what I said; most of it being "Minglish" – Marathi + English. But it was something on the lines:

1. I wish to thank FoC and HJW Foundation for letting me be a part of this wonderful event. First of its kind for me and the experience has been GREAT!

2. I have been clicking you guys from the moment you entered the gates. And as my eyes watched yours, I must tell you that I can starkly see the spark in your eyes and the big smile on your face. Keep that spark ablaze and the smile in tact… always.

3. It’s the festival of Sankranti today. Sankranti implies Tilgul (A sweet made up of Sesame and Jaggery). It also implies talking sweet. But more than that, Sankranti signifies the Sun’s northbound journey (UttarayaN to DakshiNayan). The Sun that appears pale, dull in the winter starts shining high in the sky from the day of Sankranti. The day marks this transition. I hope, the cheque that FoC has given you today is not merely a chit of paper but a trigger to your transition from a dull, dark past to a bright future. I pray to God to let the Sun of your talent shine high in the Sky.

4. And lastly, I don’t think I’ve done anything great in life to advise someone else. But there’s a Sher close to my heart which I want to share with you. It’s clichéd, you might have heard it. Nevertheless, I’ll recite it again:

Khudi ko kar buland itana,
ke har tehrir se pehle,
khuda bandese poochhe,
"Bol Bande, teri razaa kya hai? "

Before Sandeep would force me out, I thanked the audience and bowed out.


All were then taken to B – 7 Canteen for the lunch. It was a funny site to see the queue going round the washroom and where we dump the plates but yes, it was heartening to see at the same time. I got to speak to Sadaanand – a visually challenged guy pursuing B.A. He wanted to learn Computers and do some courses like MS – CIT. (Latest: He has already taken MSCIT and cleared it – he wants to learn C now). Those eyes that can’t see still looked so excited and happy as he talked about what all he wants to achieve in his life.

Priti Budhia introduced us to Shantamma. The look in her eyes was that of a mix of a person who is deeply satisfied with what he/she is doing and that of a caring mother. She spoke about various activities she is involved at her age of 70. But then what kept reverberating in my mind was what she said: "There’s so much work to be done. I’ll run till my last breath to work as much as possible. But we need more hands. I wonder what young guys like you do on weekends other than sit and sleep at home." Yes, I wondered, too.


And it was when we were distributing the cheques to the remaining 140 odd students that I came across many stories and of course, Bhushan.

"He is interested in becoming an IT Professional" I read from the description.

"Why IT?" – me.

"There’s a lot of scope." – him with a dreamy eyes this time around.

"But…" – a skeptical me was about to grill this more. But I refrained – I couldn’t commit the sin of breaking someone’s dream – at least not for someone like him. Ignorance is bliss, they say. This time, the ignorance was rather too blissful to mess up with.

It’s 23rd January today. "The" day of the month is so close when we all receive the grand sms from ICICI – "Your account has been credited with INR XXXXXX"… - Bliss at last!. The Salary slip will follow and as usual, I’ll crib. Why do I pay so many taxes, why the transport deduction when all they make me do is get up at least 1 ½ early in the morning, why the difference between the Gross and the Take home… I’ll crib; I’ll crib right from the bottom of my heart – just as I do every month.

But I hope, this time around when I’ll have a look at the salary slip, those eyes that were so happy to receive the cheque of Rs.2,000, will stare at me. They’ll remind me that in some remote place out there in Narayangaon, there’s one Bhushan who is happier than I am even with an annual income that is much less than my monthly salary.

Yes, he’s happier – at least, his eyes say it out loud…

And eyes – they don’t lie, do they?Regards,

Abhishek