Volunteering....again

I started volunteering again.....after 4 years. I feel good :) It was at a Govt school in Gopanpally, Hyderabad, where my job in the hour was to clear doubts that 4th and 5th grade students had in Gen.knowledge and computers. I was there, representing 'GE Volunteers'.
It was a repetition of feelings... of returning home feeling devoid of all the 'worries' of the several pending 'issues' around your life... and the rest of the day becomes (I won't call it magical) relaxed.....satisfying... life-reassuring.

The same feeling from the Samarthanam days of jumping into every opportunity the NGO presented for volunteering, of reading to the kids, of running around in the Yesudas concert arrangements, of having lunch with the folks at the NGO and of performing 'hacchevu kannada da deepa' with the visually impaired........ so I've asked myself several times since then 'What was it that made me stop being plugged in?'. Yes, it was a sudden plug-out.

Well, time to change that. Serendipity - The 'Teach India' campaign has kicked off in Hyderabad from today, and I feel I should (and will) register. If not anything, it will be a platform for me to get acquainted with the NGOs in and around Hi-tech city after I've moved to Hyderabad. (When's the last I blogged? Shoot ..lots happening in life after that!!!!! :) for starters, I am married!! More on that in subsequent posts)

While filling up the form I am asked for the reason I want to volunteer. I want to use what I wrote as a discussion point with the readers.

"I believe volunteering is a means of give and TAKE. While I am giving something to somebody I do not forget the feeling of success and the warmth received that I take back every time I volunteer. I also believe that volunteering is NOT CHARITY and every act of volunteering should be a project configured as specific, measurable and result oriented activities like the projects we have in other spheres of life. I see a good opportunity for realizing the above through Teach India and also a chance for reviving my volunteering. I do hope I get a call soon!"

I am not patronizing here. It's just that all of us, including me, are guilty of believing that volunteering means a one way street of 'giving'....and that the recipients of this giving are 'needy'. Just by thinking that way, in fact, you are setting your volunteering up for failure. Also people are not selfish enough when they volunteer to 'volunteer', in terms of knowing and establishing what they want to get out of it. I invite readers, many of who have thought about volunteering and have given up due to frivolous reasons like 'no time', 'nothing I can help with', 'cant stand to look at disabled/challenged people' to consider that you instead need to put in place a specific, measurable, result oriented approach for volunteering and that is when some reality might happen. The rest is left to being so determined that you won't give up.

Then the aspect of considering the recipients of your volunteering 'needy' - I think that's a heinous act. All of us are guilty of it. What one can do is be available to serve, when required.

There is this scene in the movie 'Sparsh' where Naseer, the principal of a blind school, says to volunteer Shabana Azmi 'aapko agar yaha kaam karna hai toh please kisiko bechara mat pukaariye' (If you want to work here please dont address anybody as needy/hapless) after she utters that phrase. By not being one among them and treating them as 'becharas' you stand to lose their confidence.
Sparsh, by the way, is a very profound film and a must watch for anybody who wants to volunteer.

I am not very sure yet that the 'Teach India' campaign will be a great platform for my volunteering efforts, but I sure do hope so!