For the Precious Smiles

"So there's this NGO that provides the leftover foods to the underprivileged in slums. I talked to our seniors who are already working with them. I'm joining it, are you interested?" He said "We have to volunteer during our weekends" I unenthusiastically nodded yes.

It was summer of 2018. Some people in our college were working with an NGO called Feeding India. When my friend learned about them, he got pretty excited and wanted me to join as well.

While I told him yes, I had no intentions of going. It was not that I didn't like helping people in need. I used to help the homeless on the street whenever I could, but joining an NGO was a commitment. And I had a bad history with commitments.

Also being an introvert, my weekends were reserved for chilling at my dorm. I hated the idea of motion during weekends, why move when you can sleep and watch shows all day? And on top of that our mid-semester exams had ended recently.

The weekend arrived, and so did my friend. He asked me to be ready after lunch. Although I was regretting my decision of saying yes to him earlier, something changed my mind and I decided to give it a go.

So we got ready and waited for our seniors. They had several containers which were used to take food to the destination.

After everyone ate, we went to the mess in-charge and inquired about the leftovers. Turns out, an ample amount of food was left. It was a weekend after exams, and some people had left for home, while some dined outside.

After collecting the food we arranged a Rikshaw ourselves, as the assigned van couldn't come due to some issues. The designated place was a nearby slum, it had small huts and uneven roads. When we reached there, the people got cheerful. An old lady told her daughter to bring utensils for food.

When we unloaded the rickshaw, some children came running towards us. We told them to inform other kids. They did and we started serving the food on their plates. The dish was traditional Indian food, Khichdi.

Although there were different kinds of people in my college, we all had one thing in common, most of us hated Khichdi. I too was among the critics of Khichdi.

When we served the food, I saw children enjoying the meal. Some even asked for more which we happily served them.

The experience was heartwarming and humbling at the same time, seeing the children's eyes light up when being served the food we often complained about, reminded me of all the things we take for granted. A normal nutritious meal was a luxury for them.

After serving the food we chatted with them a bit and asked about their whereabouts. When the kids finished their meals, we started serving the adults.

A drunk man was standing nearby. He started insulting us for no reason. "They are paid by the government for doing this " He said "They think we are dogs, they are giving us their trash"

It was disheartening to listen to something like this on my first day being a volunteer. None of what he was saying was true, we only served fresh and hygienic food to them, and no one payed us for volunteering.

My seniors told me to ignore that guy. Other people of the locality scolded him for saying such things. Turns out that guy was a regular troublemaker, he would often try to disrupt the peace, whenever people went to serve at that location. We ignored him and continued serving.

After serving everyone, we cleaned the containers and headed back.

On the way back, I kept thinking about the disparity in the world. How some people can afford to dine in the most expensive restaurants every day while some can't even afford a proper meal.

That day I felt a different kind of satisfaction. The smiles and energy of the kids had a profound effect on my mood.

Since then I never complained about the food served to us, even the Khichdi. I also started expressing more gratitude for everything that I was already blessed with.

After that day, I decided to continue my journey with the NGO. We went to several rides after that, the locations included local slums and orphanages. We also volunteered when the city was hit by floods, distributing food packets to the needy. In August 2019, the team thanked me with a badge of Hunger Hero of the month for my little contributions to the NGO. Although, I didn't work for these validations, yet it felt good to be appreciated.

Initially, I didn't believe I would make it this far but it has been more than 2 years, and I'm still connected with them. It surely is one of the best commitments of my life. As Anne Frank has said, “No one has ever become poor by giving”. Volunteering truly made me a richer person.

If you appreciate what we are doing, you can donate to Feeding India here.