15 Years

Well. It is actually 'more than' 15 years of my involvement in social service(s). The interview that was published in T2 said I have been exploring education, arts and music as avenues of social impact among the underprivileged for the last 15 years now. And some of you wanted to know what exactly have I been doing? This blog post is an attempt to share my long story.

Am born in a lower middle class family in a small town of the largest district in West Bengal. All of my fore-fathers from Dad's side are farmers, owned farms, and mostly lived in villages. My Dad and his siblings were the 1st ones to get into town schools. Dad's dad couldn't afford my Dad's science education in +2. Dad pursued Arts, did his M.A. in Political Science, cracked U.P.S.C. written exam, while doing small teaching jobs and supporting the family throughout. He helped (read: with all the money, moral support, and inspiration to Dream big, stretch limits of one's potential and not to stay complacent with the clerical job after B.Com) my Chaacha pursue C.A. and set-up his own Firm, and did everything to get my Bua finish her education and get married as per her wish. All this, before my Dad got married. So, eversince I was born, I have seen many of our relatives from villages often visiting our place in Kharagpur, discuss various matters (Agricultural, Education, Music, Property, family marriages etc.) with my Dad. I've grown up in a joint-family set-up, where my Dad had taken complete responsibility of one 'distant cousin after another' to get them enrolled in school, teach them music, and provide them with expenses of medical care for diseases for which medical-care facilities were not available in the villages. These uncles, and aunts grew up at our place, my Dad got them married as well, and we all rejoiced every family gathering with humble celebrations and lot of music ! :-)

So, what was I doing in all of this ? You see, Dad did the most part. Mom supported him thoroughly, by taking care of those uncles & aunts [who were not too older than me and my sis] equally as she reared us (me and my sis) up: feeding us all, in time, providing timely food to Chaacha as he was preparing for his C.A. exams (for 5 years), etc. etc. I and my sister used to teach (how to spell words, how to write names and sentences, how to pronounce them well) whenever we had time. And over the years, I saw spectacular improvement in their behaviour, social manners, way to talk to shop-keepers etc. : the kind of human development that wouldn't be possible if they remained in the remote villages they came from. Seeds of "serving the underprivileged" were sown in my heart and soul, as a natural process of my upbringing.

My parents never forced me into doing any of this. Infact, mom would have been happier if I spent more time in doing my riyaz (i.e. practising Music) :-) But I loved to read, write, paint our bedroom walls with Mickey Mouses & Donald Ducks, play with my friends in neighbours, and spend quality time teaching those uncles and aunts :-) I "really enjoyed" doing all this. So, yes, by getting an open opportunity to be at myself and do what all I loved to do, I developed a deep love for these family members. They all love my Dad and mom a lot, and visit our home till now whenever they find time :-) "Charity begins at Home" is the philosophy that I have "lived for real".

I will not get into the scientific analysis of the impact of education, arts, and music. Am sure there are many analytical and research forums doing the needful. What is unique to me is the real-life experience I have had. When 1 kid from an under-privileged community is supported financially and morally, an entire community gets uplifted. And as a privileged child, I strongly feel it is my duty to serve that sector of humanity. 

Last week, one of my friends from IIT Bombay said he wants to learn 'how to sing' even though he can humm Bollywood numbers. He said "I want to sing to my friends out there, and not just to myself inside closed doors. But to 'present' a song, I need to sing it "properly", and that will come with training. I also think that....singing will help me communicate better". And I said a loud YES to that ! :-) We joked that, since he is also going to be married in the next 2-3 years, a wifey will love more a hubby who can sing :D

So, you see? Education helps us build confidence. Music helps us become better 'communicators'. Arts nurture our creative side (and there is no denying the fact that Every individual has a creative side), which in turn, helps us become better human beings who can empower other human beings.

My point is: While the facilities of education, music and arts are easily available to urban children, the rural children are completely deprived of that opportunity. And I take it as my personal responsibility to provide those children an access to these avenues. The GREEN Corner is my NGO that is dedicated towards doing exactly the same. And the 'business plan' that is mentioned in the interview is a forward-looking idea to empower the rural women. Empowering a rural woman has a cumulative effect that we all know. However, since it is a big project and requires a lot of ground-work and investments, the implementation is on hold. God willing, if I do receive enough funds and interested volunteers for the necessary ground-work, I would love to kick-start the implementation at the earliest.

So, that's my story of 15 years. Feel free to drop in your comments and questions. I'd love to interact and learn from our discussions. Thank you :-)

Happy to serve.

Mishti :-)