One of the older kids, who has been at the home for about 3 years now, was having a conversation with a coworker, let’s call him Aniket sir (pseudo name), from another NGO. As they were talking, he noticed that the backpack which Aniket sir was carrying was torn and a little old. Quickly after the conversation ended, he brought his new backpack from the dormitory, got it cleaned and approached Aniket sir to hand it over to him. Selflessly, he handed over the brand new backpack to sir for him to use, and graciously enough, Aniket sir also accepted the gift holding the dignity and intention of the offering at a high regard.
Later, as I was talking to Aniket sir, he was sharing how within that short period of time, he himself went through multiple thoughts on whether or not to accept this generous gift from a kid who is inside the Juvenile Home. And in that short time, he decided to accept the gift because rejecting it would have hurt the kid more than the sacrifice of the bag itself. For the kid, that brand new backpack must have been really precious and not something easily accessible again. However, he gave it away so simply, yet with so much humility and genuineness, that we all felt touched.
Later, I also got to know that he distributes his new clothes as well to the other children at the Home. It was a real eye-opener for me, to reflect on my own tendencies of grabbing and holding on to belongings, despite having the privilege of materialistic comfort.
These kind of incidents are a good reminder for me, that:
Scarcity & Abundance, both are merely a Mindset!
