Monday, July 6, 2009

A day to remember

They say the world is made of good and the bad. But there is also the indefinable.

They say that you reap what you sow. But there are those who can only receive what they never asked for, nor expected.

Imagine that you are a child born to an HIV- infected parent (or parents). Imagine that you have been unfortunate enough to become HIV positive.

Now imagine your life.

When my office (VMware) decided to do a collection drive (mainly clothes, medicines) for HIV+ children, I dutifully obliged by contributing my share of medicines and clothes. I thought that someone would deliver the huge boxes in the Home of DESIRE Society.



I never imagined that shortly thereafter, I would be accompanying my colleagues Urvashi, Geetha, Mruthyunjay and Aditya to visit the children in their Home.

After some meandering along the roads of JPNagar, we finally found the place. A nice house set amidst greenery. Subhash, the Vice President of the Home introduced us to a bunch of lively, enthusiastic and cheerful children. Who can ever imagine...

Urvashi, Subhash (the angel who takes care of the children), me, Aditya and Mruthyunjay with the children. Geetha was quietly weeping in the van by then.

Their eyes reflected such joy and such liveliness that it was ironical for us to even imagine what their tiny bodies are going through. And then Geetha, who has two tiny tots of her own, simply broke down, unable to bear the pain of seeing sick children who were abandoned or orphaned at such a young age.

My spiritual quest took a positive turn that day by merely peering into these children's eyes which showed such love and gratitude. Their bodies spoke a language of pain and anquish. But no disease could ever reach their spirit which shone through their eyes.

We were told that a couple of children were in the hospital in a serious condition. We decided to get more involved with this Home and render whatever help that we can give them. In fact, I plan to do a Nav Chetan Shibir for the children, as soon as possible.

If you would like to help these children here is the address:

DESIRE Society (caring for HIV+ children)
8th Phase, JPNagar
Bangalore 500076, India
Phone: 080 3241 4683
Email: desire_subhash@yahoo.com
www.desiresociety.com