THE TALE OF THE KINGDOM HILARIA: EPISODE-2

Listening to the chatters of four poors working at the yellow hill, queen’s sanitation dump land, senapati ran to Queen Persnickety. “Did anybody committed any mistake or you are suffering from constipation that dawdling around and calling me?” queen asked with a cunning smile but the senapati nodded horizontally. “Did Dasi forget to put salt in pickle? I will kill her if it is so.” Queen continued with hundreds of such silly questions and finally allowed senapati to put his words. Senapati jabbered “Asters are not in our favor. My lady I heard few cunts talking of your misfortune and this time not one or two but four were talking of it.” He continued “I heard people mumbling that all the nine planets ran out of your pocket, in different directions. The consequences of it will be so destructive that your all sons will start committing mistakes in their respective business.” The queen never wanted her sons to make mistakes especially when it comes to learning lesson. Moreover she could never see them standing even second in their school’s merit list. Once there was an exam in which along with students, teachers also appeared for. And when results were announced, the queen’s third son attained 2^nd position. The exasperated son when came in front of the queen, the lady cut his both hands and both legs. And before he could tell her the reason, the queen also punched his face burnt his tongue with wax.

Trouble always arrives in bundles. Before the queen could contrive any solution, senapati put another problem “Oh my helpless queen, storm hasn’t reached the acme of devastation yet. Besides, the warriors will throw off their swords and hold carrots in their hands to protect the castle. Think about carrot inflation in Hilaria and who will buy swords as scrap from us as it can be dangerous for them.” The queen tapped his back and said “you are my real commander. Your post-catastrophe analysis is appreciable.” The senapati continued “Moreover your enemies by birth, those weird poor citizens of the state will dismantle your throne from the hall and grow cacti there. The worst of all is that your dasi will put hair removal cream, by mistake, over your head and you will turn bald.” Queen’s face turned pale and she shouted over senapati “This is my city and I am it’s Queen Persnickety. I don’t want any of the poor even to enter my hall.” The queen sent senapati out to search for the solution of it within twenty four hours.

It were hardly twenty minutes, that senapati came back to queen with a smile on his face “Eureka! Eureka! We got the solution to get out of the trouble.” The queen took a breath of relief and asked for it. Senapati said “I heard those four workers again, talking about the solution to your misfortune.” Senapati told her a dozen of solutions out of which she had to opt one, if not successful then another and keep on till she get rid of it.

TALE OF THE KINGDOM HILARIA: EPISODE-1

Millions of years ago, when people used to roast the goose on dragon’s fire, there existed a kingdom named ‘Hilaria’. As the name suggests, the people of the kingdom were fun loving and they were so intrepid that even after uber-torture, they never feared of bantering with their ruler. But the ruler was not an ordinary lady, but a symbol of valour- Queen Persnickety-007. It were the rumours all over that during a war with King Pompy, who led an army of dinosaurs to fight the war, the warriors of the Hilaria frightened and moved out, joining the spectators who were circumscribing the battlefield. But the queen alone killed all the dinosaurs with her sword, which appeared so comical that the opponent king died of laughing. The queen received a huge round of applause all over.

Inside the kingdom, Queen was a benevolent lady with some strict credo applied in her jurisdiction. By name we should get a sense that she wanted everything to be errorless, error was the only thing which she could not tolerate at any cost. It was heard that she also assassinated her king just because once she caught her king playing cards with poor people, under the banyan tree. Mingling of royals with poors in a kingdom, where poors were the despicable one, was a huge mistake in the eyes of queen. The poor citizens were highly disparaged because queen didn’t want them to stand on their own. They were allowed neither to get education facilities nor to start their own venture; they were born to work under the bellies of the queen and returned with two meals a day and clothes to wear. She also had a commander, Senapati Dismal Das, who was kept to lead the wars, instead he used to wander all over and put the hot news of the day into the ears of the queen. One day, he saw two poor citizens were talking to start rag picking as a side business; he took them to the Queen who found their idea as a new venture and captured them. All in one, poverty stricken citizens were not allowed to grow in Hilaria. Another strange and strict rule was that if she found any lady with shaved head, she would be guillotined. Besides, Queen was a benign lady.

One day, all poor communities gathered under the banyan tree and shared their grievances. Hearing to all, one of them spoke “The lady is over ruling us and the need of the hour is a change in this torturous trend. It’s time to tell her that we are poor by money, not by brain.” and the others nodded, accepting his statement. It took a day for them to plan & plot and next day they began their play so called “Mission Transformation”.

“Oh my royal lady, save you. Save the kingdom from errors. Thunderous news for you.” Senapati ran vociferously to the queen.

IT"S NOT TOO LATE, RISE ABOVE THE HATE

Human beings are probably the most valuable resources for the growth of a country. The attributes like diligence, improvisations, courage to take risks and many more that human beings have, cannot be embedded into machines for today, who guarantees the future. We call the humans as a creation of God, who has a manufacturing unit up into the heaven. Everyone is fitted with a heart, a pair of lungs two kidneys, limbs and few grams of brain (except few characteristics that distinguishes between male and female). But as they are parceled down to earth, few turns to be tycoons, more than the few turns to be middlemen and a few fall into a quagmire, struggling for a peaceful life. The quagmire is named Poverty. All the royal places are already occupied, so we cannot blame almighty for it. And the unlucky guy curses himself inside and if asks for help then we should not turn our face. Poverty is turning to be incurable malady everywhere, but its effects are more severe in India.

Everybody is busy in grooming his career, concerned about self-development but he expects some respect from the society. We should ask ourselves what we have done for the society, and the maximum would reply “Cut the topic.” The small children working as tea vendors know that their future is into the dark. What need them to overcome their misfortune? A teaspoonful of education plus some monetary assistance and a pinch of encouragement is their requirement. But, again few freebies lovers may demand what they will get in return. This is the era when even education is ranked on the basis of annual salary packages as quid pro quo then such questions are expected to arise. Let’s inspect how our indulgence to poverty is stymieing the growth of nation.

As per the reports of the World Bank, about 11.8% people in India fall below poverty line, which means hardly 30% of would be able to arrange for basic amenities i-e food, fire and shelter. When it comes to shelter, a pale image of slum areas comes inside and our face expressions turn weird. A question waving its hand comes “why over government has failed to help them?” we should have ask ourselves first that thousand times we pass through such streets why we couldn’t help them? And these areas occupying the roadsides however question our system regarding infrastructural development. An infrastructure is the basic thing that reflects the growth of a country at first sight.

Poverty and illiteracy are interrelated. Poverty stricken cannot overcome illiteracy, unless he is given selfless support. Similarly, an illiterate person cannot overcome poverty, except the one gifted with acres of land from his forefathers. The per capita income of nation is total wealth divided by population. It means the country having more poor will have low per capita income and will be economically weak. In 1947, the average annual income in India was US$619, compared with US$439 for China and by 1999; the numbers were US$1,818 for India and US$3,259 for China.

We all have informal debates, standing by the corner of the road, arguing this country is technically advanced and that country is well equipped and ultimately feel that we still need more advancement for our nation. Had we supported the poverty stricken, from the beginning, who knows we would have more idols like Prime Minister Narendra Modi. We have now analysed that poverty is necessary to be overcome in order to see better growth. We need to support the poor people either with direct interaction or by cooperating with government and NGOs. If we are expecting the ‘Achhe din’ we need to have a sense to do the same for others also.

Where would you Start?

There's a beginning point when decisions and choices are made. Post tenth grade - stream to choose. Post 12th grade - college course to choose. Post university - career to decide. Post career - marriage maybe? The list goes on.

Change is constant. Everyone has heard it. But there are some emtions that needn't leave your side. They could stick with you - not like a shadow only visible in the light, but like skin which is just there. It sheds, sure. But it regrows.

Your caring nature. Your helping nature. Your loving nature.

Reach out to your aspirations. Do what you've dreamt of. Go where you'd like to go. Be the artist that you always wanted to be, let the canvas be vast. Artists dont just include the painters - it includes everyone of you out there.

But, take them along. Takw the kids along with you. It'll give you double the happiness!

Where are you starting from? A doctor's clinic, an engineer's workplace, a writer's words, an entertainer's stage, a banker's cabin, a musician's song, an inventor's invention, a creative person's creativity.

Start from being humane. Start from helping, start from spreading joy.

TOUGH TASK: A DAY UNDER A POOR’S SHELTER

Having a cup of tea and hogging snacks with our cunning eyes on plate of biscuits is what we do when we visit our far-far relatives, who may be much closer to our parents. And inside, we also mumble “Couldn't they ask me for a soft drink in this hot summer?” But the thing is that at least we have some advantages over there, like we get to hear the banal stories of uncle’s job, which may make us sleep well or we need not to start the conversation with them that can be initiated itself by our parents when the topic of our studies is raised by either of the sides. Now if someone asks whether we can spend a whole day under the shelter of a poor, hearing his grievances, tough replies are blatantly expected.

It was quite hot and humidity due to light rain teasers was so irritating that my forehead abraded wiping off the sweat. It was a location, hardly a kilometer from Ghaziabad railway station, where some slums were settled over both sides of the road. I was heading to visit one of the slums, but the conditions were so pathetic that I thought if they would throw me out of the entry, how to run from there as quickly as possible. It was muddy all over; the slums were built on the same level at which the sewage water was flowing, forming gullies around heaps of garbage over which pigs were scrounging for their meals. A herd of kids, wearing torn underwear, were throwing stones into a dirty pond and chortling when the waves on the surface of water appeared diverging. Women outside their shelter were blowing their coal braziers from which choking smoke was diffusing into air. I stopped in front of a man who was sitting beside his slum and looking at the people passing by the road. He stood up and looked at me as if he was an eager participant of any reality show and I would be announcing the winner of that sequel. I appeased his curiosity by telling him about my motive, though a bit exaggerated, but not as much as those fake wishers who do for lust of power and money. The man let me come inside his dilapidated cottage, where a year old baby, crying for milk, checked me if I had a bottle of it, I gave a cunning smile also feeling sorry for the disturbance. Suddenly a lady entered who covered her face when she saw me. It was suffocating to stay inside a place with paleness spread all over and a strange smell moving into my nostrils, but I controlled myself trying to develop acquaintances and share their problems. The man had a wife and three children, of which two were girls. “What do you do to arrange for meals?” I asked looking at his wife who brought a glass of water, a glass which lost its shape several years ago. I quickly checked what can be possible water borne disease if I would drink it because the whole arrangement was unhygienic. Without any second thought, I drank the whole, coddling myself “If your body can bear hostel food for three years, this water is far better than it”. The man replied that he was a rag picker and his wife was a sweeper. “None of them want to study and we can’t even guarantee them a meal for the next day, how can us…. Education” the man said with wrinkled face showing his inability to survive. There was lying a basket in which rotten meals were collected, pointing at which I asked about and the man replied it is the food which his wife gets from local people for sweeping the streets. “If I will teach your children and take responsibility to make them stand on their own will you let me?” I asked him but his reply was nonchalant because he was a bit concerned about his girls and present conditions regarding the safety of girls. I didn't put pressure to my words and asked the permission to leave with a smile, but this one was showing my helplessness. Moving out of his shelter, I assured him that I will meet him again with a guarantee for support, a support with education, a support with a quarter of basic needs and encouragement, from my group of humble members; because the people are waking up gradually and a time will come when there will be more hands to help than the poor themselves.

Be the change in you

There are more ways of spreading happiness than gifting new clothes, celebrating at top class restaurants, even buying a person a yacht. Jumping in rain puddles with water splashing everywhere, sharing a pani puri, running in the park with friends playing chase, tickling a kid until he laughs. There are so many ways, 'new' is not necessarily one of them.

See the smile on the face of a child when he eats a mango, see the smile when she gets a new dress. Be a part of that smile. Donate and contribute whatever you can - clothes, books, stationary items, games, food items - anything that a child can use. Help in educating them.

Experience the proud moment of spreading a smile, of spreading happiness.Be one to touch their hearts. Let them touch yours. Sparsh, the help.

About Sparsh (https://www.facebook.com/sparshthehelp):

Sparsh is a group to help the orphans and needy children . 
We collect donations , Clothes , Books , Pens and other items which can be useful to children 
who have no shelter over them.

Its not just limited till donations, one can also be a part of the education camp taken across 
the rural India. You get a chance to educate both children and iliterate elders. This is an
 exciting job. 

This organisation is spread across India by having its volunteers at many parts of the country.

About the Internship:

There are various types of internship in this organisation. You get a chance to be flexible 
with your choice.

• Become the volunteer of your society and collect old goodies for poor. 
• Later , you will be informed to give these to respective orphanage or Sparsh help centre.
• If your work is excellent , you get a chance to become district or even state head for Sparsh.
• You can also chose to be an education volunteer where you can spread knowledge 
• among illiterates and poor children and elders in the countryside.
• Various other options will be intimated to you time to time.

Welcome

Sparsh welcomes you