When in college, any friend’s birthday coming up will be preceded by tonnes of planning in terms of gifts, where to go out, where to hang out later and so on. Budgeting would creep in, testing both the friends’ and the birthday baby’s finance managing skills! I remember in school, it would just be a one-to-one basis; one buying a gift for the one celebrating his/her birthday and there was no concept of pooling in the resources! I am sure kids these days may be following it, but I am talking about say 6-7 years ago!
Eventually the brunt of paying the bill has to be borne by the one celebrating the special day! One’s own money or the dad’s is another matter. After the lovely college days, most of my friends got into jobs and the only time we’d catch up or at least I did so was during their birthdays! So we’d get together and spend loads of time at a coffee shop, meet over lunch and do the usual stuff!
Why talk about the money? It really doesn’t matter when it has to do with sharing lovely moments with the people you want to, but I think it would be great to channelize the financial resources in a meaningful way, at least on a day as this!
One fine day, three of us who shared our birthdays in the same month decided to spend our day, of course, with the rest of them as well, in an orphanage by providing a meal for all the kids. One tends to get emotionally weak while visiting orphanages, old age homes etc and so were we. The happiness on the kids’ faces of being able to eat a piece of cake, munch on yummy chocolates was a delight to watch. It seemed like an extravagant feast for them.
We all go out even otherwise to posh restaurants, on the umpteen movie tickets without thinking twice. On a birthday, the run of the mill going out and chatting sessions can surely be made different by spending time and other resources in other meaningful places.
An eye opener was when a kid threw a question at us. “Akka (sister), you all come just on one day and spend time with us, feed us; then for days you are gone! Why don’t you come more often?” It was not exactly a slap on the face but it definitely was something to think about. Today, where corporate social responsibility is being highly placed in every organization, various ways of helping the socially deprived has arisen. Some people fund children’s education for some years, some feed them on special occasions, buy them stationary and so on. But as the kid mentioned, we are there in a jiffy and gone the very next instant.
Yes, time is a big constraint but there are people who take time out and visit such places; read out the aged, write answers for the blind in exams and so on. We can start on our birthday and surely take time out on not so special occasions too and make a big difference in such people’s lives.
We started on our birthdays and will surely practice, to our capabilities, what I preached till now!
3 comments:
Hmmm.. nice perspectives... The biggest challenge on the CSR side is the "cheque writing" attitude and their involvment with large scale charities who consume 60-70% of their investments in just overheads and administrative costs. On the govt side, the challenge is bureacracy. red tape and lack of resources when needed
There is an issue of involvment from the donor and serious capital burning on the other. What we really need is for the government schemes to tighten. I really like some of the recent schemes like NREGA and Insurance bills.
What we as citizens need to do is to work as volunteers atleast 1 day a month on these programs and teach, donate, play, clean and just work together. That will take us forward....
Corruption pravails everywhere but its terrible when it is involved in a noble cause as this. Worse of it all are the NGOs who make tremendous profits in the name of donations! The govt sure needs to tighten up, but then again who s gonna tighten the govt itself?
It's a different bday party rather a very different one....i have tweeted it....:)
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