".... who possessed Beauty without Vanity,
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferosity,
and all the virtues of Man without his Vices."
Lord Byron wrote these lines for his beloved dog, Boatswain. It very eloquently describes the vices we humans possess and find very hard to shed in our lifetime. For me it is a constant journey and I find myself going adrift often, then my little boys, Freo and Ozzie, manage to put me back on track.
Yesterday I was reminded of this poem during a conversation. A lady was telling me how every festival season she donates cotton sarees (white with red border) to orphans. The orphans do not ask for it, but she does that on her own volition. The sarees are cheap, about a dollar and half per saree. I wore them for a fortnight during the mourning period for my mother earlier this year. I found them quite comfortable and soft after the first wash, especially for the Indian summer. But they are definitely not akin to the fashionable sarees that we wear during the festival seasons. I think many affluent people donate like this during the festival seasons or during a disaster, it is usually prescribed by the religion they follow and it also makes them feel good. And in theory, it seems to be a great thing to do. Give your money to the poor and the needy. Big countries do it, they give aid to the 'less fortunate' countries.
So what is the problem? The issue is not with the gift, but with the sensitivity of the giver and the assumptions behind the gift. Ask Anshu Gupta who runs Goonj. On a cold January night Anshu went outside AIIMS, and dropped a lot of used clothes for the people camped outside. Coming from other states to this government run hospital for affordable treatment, these people were not equipped for the Delhi winter and they did not have spare money either to buy woolens. Anshu noticed an elderly lady rummaging through the clothes. She put aside many good pieces. So, Anshu asked her what she was actually looking for? She said that she wanted a black shawl. It was midnight and it was freezing, why the fixation on black? She replied that she had a red saree and the black colored shawl will match well.* That day Anshu realized that even the poorest of the poor have dreams. They have preferences too. They have needs, but their needs do not match the giver's donation all the time. There is a gap, and sometimes this gap is so large that it voids the goodness in the act of giving. Unfortunately this pattern is repeated all the time with donations during disasters or festivals. It happens on the people scale and on the the scale of countries. And it is a reflection of the inherent vices in the human condition that does not always allow us to shed our vanity, insolence, and ferocity and act with beauty, strength, and courage.
All is not lost. People like Anshu exist. We just have to hope that more Anshus are born everyday. Social entrepreneurs are working round the clock around the world and there seems to be the start of a change. Seven decades of 'aid' to Africa did not do much good. Now we see organizations like Water For People working on a empowering the poor at a whole different level. May be not in my lifetime, but I hope that soon thereafter this force of will shine through and it will be a different happier world.
--------------------------------------
* This story is from Rashmi Bansal's book "I have a Dream" where she chronicled 20 inspiring stories of social entrepreneurs.
Strength without Insolence,
Courage without Ferosity,
and all the virtues of Man without his Vices."
Lord Byron wrote these lines for his beloved dog, Boatswain. It very eloquently describes the vices we humans possess and find very hard to shed in our lifetime. For me it is a constant journey and I find myself going adrift often, then my little boys, Freo and Ozzie, manage to put me back on track.
Yesterday I was reminded of this poem during a conversation. A lady was telling me how every festival season she donates cotton sarees (white with red border) to orphans. The orphans do not ask for it, but she does that on her own volition. The sarees are cheap, about a dollar and half per saree. I wore them for a fortnight during the mourning period for my mother earlier this year. I found them quite comfortable and soft after the first wash, especially for the Indian summer. But they are definitely not akin to the fashionable sarees that we wear during the festival seasons. I think many affluent people donate like this during the festival seasons or during a disaster, it is usually prescribed by the religion they follow and it also makes them feel good. And in theory, it seems to be a great thing to do. Give your money to the poor and the needy. Big countries do it, they give aid to the 'less fortunate' countries.
So what is the problem? The issue is not with the gift, but with the sensitivity of the giver and the assumptions behind the gift. Ask Anshu Gupta who runs Goonj. On a cold January night Anshu went outside AIIMS, and dropped a lot of used clothes for the people camped outside. Coming from other states to this government run hospital for affordable treatment, these people were not equipped for the Delhi winter and they did not have spare money either to buy woolens. Anshu noticed an elderly lady rummaging through the clothes. She put aside many good pieces. So, Anshu asked her what she was actually looking for? She said that she wanted a black shawl. It was midnight and it was freezing, why the fixation on black? She replied that she had a red saree and the black colored shawl will match well.* That day Anshu realized that even the poorest of the poor have dreams. They have preferences too. They have needs, but their needs do not match the giver's donation all the time. There is a gap, and sometimes this gap is so large that it voids the goodness in the act of giving. Unfortunately this pattern is repeated all the time with donations during disasters or festivals. It happens on the people scale and on the the scale of countries. And it is a reflection of the inherent vices in the human condition that does not always allow us to shed our vanity, insolence, and ferocity and act with beauty, strength, and courage.
All is not lost. People like Anshu exist. We just have to hope that more Anshus are born everyday. Social entrepreneurs are working round the clock around the world and there seems to be the start of a change. Seven decades of 'aid' to Africa did not do much good. Now we see organizations like Water For People working on a empowering the poor at a whole different level. May be not in my lifetime, but I hope that soon thereafter this force of will shine through and it will be a different happier world.
--------------------------------------
* This story is from Rashmi Bansal's book "I have a Dream" where she chronicled 20 inspiring stories of social entrepreneurs.
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