Dil without bill

 Paradise has never been a ’place’ for me, it mostly represents a memory that is frozen in time, always getting that smile in the heart. While there are many memories that do brighten up my face and warm up the soul there are a few that are truly etched in memory!

It was the time of my life where I had taken a ‘break’ from regular career and was volunteering in the IT centre of an NGO. There was a proposal of conducting a heart camp for little kids which sounded like the need of the hour. As many of you may be aware, many small kids especially till the age of 10 to 12 have a heart condition where they have a hole in the heart making normal life extremely difficult. 

 In no time, we were preparing for conducting the mega camp and like it or not I became the ‘eye’ of the storm. All coordination between patients, the conducting hospital our own NGO was being handled by me. Sometimes I feared that I myself will develop some ‘heart condition’ as it was an extremely stressful time. 

 

All the hard work paid off as the camp was a huge success. Children from so many places all over Maharashtra came and benefited from the initial examination. It was beyond the normal divisions of caste, creed and colour. Over 150 kids were given dates for the free surgery to be conducted in Gujarat. That night I slept with a deep satisfaction never experienced in any of the “jobs”done in so many years.

The most touching part of the entire experience was when unknown people (mostly parents) started calling me months later, from remote parts of Maharashtra to thank me for the efforts as their child was successfully operated and was leading a ‘normal life’! Given the huge amount of money required for such complicated operations in regular hospitals, getting this done free of charge was beyond their imagination. Many of them could not even afford a single square meal for the entire family every day.   

 

I consider this as something worthwhile done in this life time. I am grateful to the Universe for making me instrumental in pouring life in to the little buds that now have bloomed in to wonderful flowers. They just echo the words “Work for a cause and not for applause”. 

 ** This was written for a magazine published by Coast Guard Wives Welfare association in 2021