Start of a journey..

It was two years back when I had first-time thought of blogging, but never felt enough urge to write about something. This is my first ever blog on any website. Life gives you enough omens to guide your stay on earth. I too got my fair share of them and one omen today told me that it's about time I start penning down my feelings and experiences - a task that has been long due. My visit to 'Jamghat' was not just a good omen for my blogging but also a life-impacting one. Why this visit was so special for me ? Well, I'll talk about that too but first about Jamghat and my feelings for it.

Jamghat is an initiative which gives meaning to the lives of the kids who otherwise might get lost in the dark - into a world where everything, even smile, comes with a cost attached, where everyone have got their own set of 'loved ones' and where life is moving so fast that people have everything but time, specially if it's for the strangers. Before I tell more about what Jamghat is, let me tell you what it's not - it's not an NGO and not even like an NGO. Jamghat is what its name is - Jamghat. Jamghat of kids.. who don't have any family to go back to. Jamghat is their family now. Jamghat gives them home not just shelter. There are about 17-18 street kids in Jamghat from 4 to 20 years of age-group. They come from different cultural and religious backgrounds. Just like all human beings each of them has their own story to tell. All of these stories, however different they might be, have one thing in common - they have more tears than smiles. Some of the kids had been abandoned by their families while some others left their homes because of various issues. Few got addicted to drugs, few had to beg and most certainly all of them have never ever experienced a care-free childhood. If you have your parents with you who love you, consider yourself blessed because not everyone in the world is privileged enough. Seeing these children who have been deprived of their share of happiness is so hard and it makes me feel as if I am looking at a crop in a dessert which desperately needs water and the rains are far far away.

These kids have another thing in common, however - Hope - that things will change for better. Hope that rains will eventually come and wash away the drought. Hope that God must have made some plans to make their lives a little less miserable. And hope that someday they'll actually get to live the life instead of just surviving it. Sure, there are a lot of 'whys' popping up in your head waiting to be answered but more important is to answer the question - 'what next ?'. Instead of preaching the lessons on individual's social responsibility, I'd better leave this question open for you to find the answer - What next ? All I'd say is that the need of the hour is to do something, take that first step. Through my blog I'd like to thank my colleagues at RBS who introduced me to Jamghat and gave me a chance to face some of these disturbing questions; answers to which I seek to find myself now.

Doing some noble cause with complete selflessness is a virtue that is not easily attainable. Amit Sinha - he is the person who found the group, Jamghat and along with his friends Vinod, Vinay and Kaivalya has been managing it and doing whatever is takes to give smiles to these kids. It surely takes the greatness of people like Amit to dedicate their youth for such a cause. Amit is in his mid twenties - an age when most people are in a mad rush to achieve "something" in their own lives. He is the thread which binds this whole group together. Kids call him Amit bhaiya. There's so much to write about Jamghat and kids who are in Jamghat but I'd leave rest of the things for my next blogs. If you wish to know more about Jamghat, and what they do, you can visit their blogs : http://jamghat.blogspot.com

Now a bit about why this visit of mine is very special for me. I have been searching for my own purpose on earth like forever. I still might not have found that, but now I think at least I'll be able to give some meaning to my otherwise monotonous and not-so-special life, by doing something which requires me to nurture "selfless" side of mine. Ah ! this selflessness is not so easy; just when I was talking about nuturing my selflessness, I was being selfish. It's a vicious circle I guess. Anyway, in this post I have tried to express the feeling which was my inspiration as well as motivation behind writing this. I hope my feeling reaches out to your heart too. Before ending I'd like to share a poem by Javed Akhtar from his 'तरकश' :

बेघर

शाम होने को है
लाल सूरज समंदर में खोने को है
और उसके परे
कुछ परिंदे
कतारें बनाये
उन्ही जंगलों को चले
जिनके पेडों की शाखों पे हैं घोंसले
ये परिंदे
वहीं लौट कर जायेंगे
और सो जायेंगे
हम ही हैरान हैं
इस मकानों के जंगल में
अपना कोई भी ठिकाना नही
शाम होने को है
हम कहाँ जायेंगे

For your comments, suggestions, feedback on my blog, please drop a mail at umesh.dua@rbs.com