A wonderful gesture by kids

  
Just felt like sharing this mail with all of you. These little kids from an affluent background school worked hard and earned money to celebrate Navratri with fafda jalebi, etc. Eventually, one parent sponsored the celebrations and the “cultural committee” of grade 3 students collectively decided to therefore donate their earnings to sponsor 4 children’s education…

First- let me confirm that I have got your demand draft and the letter safely. My colleagues at GiveIndia will deposit the demand draft in the bank today and send you a receipt soon. They will then send the money on November 10 to ASSCOD, the organisation in Kancheepuram in Tamil Nadu that will educate 4 children for a year with the help of this money. The teachers, Principal and staff at ASSCOD will identify the 4 children. After some months, they will send you photographs of the children and a little information about them- their family, and how they live.

Second- I will also send your letter to Mr Loganathan, the Director of ASSCOD (like Kiran ma’am is the director of Riverside), and request him to see if the children from there can write you a letter.

Third- I want to really thank you all for this wonderful gesture. It makes me feel so happy. You worked hard to earn some money, and instead of buying yourselves some chocolates or ice-creams, you decided to help some other children. 4 children will get to go to school for 1 year because of what you have done. I am sure that your teachers and parents will be really proud of you :-).

You know, when I was in grade 3 myself, I used to study in a school called Saraswati Vidyalaya in a place called Thane near Mumbai. I remember many things about grade 3- I learnt how to make tea that year (though I always spilt it after making it!!). I also read “The Ramayana” by Rajagopalachari at least 20 times in that year (it was a 300 page book!). I lost my grandmother that year as well.

But above all, I remember that I had 2 very good friends, Vineet, who came from a family like yours and mine, they had a car and a telephone at home, a fridge, TV, everything… and Manohar, who had nothing- he lived in a small chawl, and when I went to his house to play, his mother used to buy sugar for 10 paise to make tea for us. That year, Vineet and I passed and moved to class 4 (I stood first in the class, Vineet was 3rd), but Manohar failed. Not because he wasn’t bright, but perhaps because he couldn’t afford all those story books and materials that helped Vineet and me learn. Perhaps because Manohar’s father and mother couldn’t teach him because they were busy working to stay alive.

I remember asking myself, then- “WHY does Vineet have everything and Manohar doesn’t?”I asked everyone around me, and I got different answers. Some people told me that this is what God wanted, but I could never understand how God could want a small child like Manohar to not be happy. And I had read the Ramayana more times than most adults so I knew that God couldn’t be that bad.

I was a very bright kid in grade 3- I could do 4 digit by 4 digit multiplications in 1 line. I could do 2 digit by 2 digit multiplications orally. I wrote a 24-line poem called The Lion and The Hare where ALL 24 words ended rhyming with hare (hair, mare, stare, fair, care, etc…). I could read Nancy Drew mysteries that my sister won as prizes in class 7. But you know what? I could never answer this question- “Why does Vineet have everything and Manohar doesn’t?”

Today, I am 36 years old- 28 years after I first asked myself that question. People think I am a smart, successful, IIM MBA. But honestly, I still don’t have an answer to that simple question. I still feel like crying everytime I see a little boy like Manohar asking his mother for an ice cream or a toy and when she says, “sorry, we can’t afford it”. And so, I try my best to help in whatever way I can.

The good news is, there are wonderful kids like you around who care. And your money will help 4 children study for a year. I hope and pray that they study hard and they learn a lot and pass. And I hope and pray that they are able to grow up and do well for themselves in life :-), so that their children don’t have to also be Manohars.

So thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you from each of those 4 kids, for bringing a sparkle into their lives this Diwali!!

with lots of love,
Venkat

PS: You may want to do a project on Kancheepuram (it is famous for silk sarees!)

PPS: Do read the story of Krishna and Sudama. It is an amazing story of friendship that I also read in grade 3.

PPPS: Figure out what PS, PPS, etc. mean :-))!

PPPPS: children- if ANY of you think you have an answer to my question, please do share it with me- feel free to write me emails yourself if you like. I am still searching….