A salute to the champions

This is my first post and I would dedicate this to one of the most heart wrenching experiences that I have been through in the recent past. I would dedicate this to a friend who has compelled me to keep a promised that I made to him a week ago and more importantly, I would dedicate this to each and everyone of the 50-odd new friends I made that day who made me realize that I possessed what 107 million orphans worldwide dint and more importantly that those 50 little champions in the game of life possessed what I dint.

It was the beginning of the last quarter of what has been a pretty leisurely weekend when Shiva called up asking me to accompany him and two more friends, Varun and Victor to Sphoorti, an organization that is home to 50 odd orphans. It was a plan made a week ago, which I would have conveniently ignored, had Shiva not made that call.

The moment I entered, those kids greeted me as if I ve known them for ages now. This little gesture gave me the first feel of the uninhibited warmth they had for a stranger. One of them was down with a major cut on her ankle. And the care and concern the others had for her, it was indeed surprising to say the least. Another incident that really made me think occurred when we saw them play cricket. I remember the days when I was in my primary school and would quarrel with my friends at every opportunity available for that little stint out there in the middle with the bat in hand. Those kids just don’t fight. I would say that they are living far away from the so-called civilization. So far away that they just don’t know how to hate. The levels of maturity they have shown at that age were something I could never imagine all these days.

It was such a happy lot, purity and innocence personified. They were extremely satisfied with what they were getting. All they need is a bit of moral support, people who play with them, people who listen to them and people who can talk about anything that they think makes sense. These little gestures of affection just make their day so special.

I was speechless for most of while during our drive to the restaurant where we had dinner. And the factor that I just couldn’t help brooding over was, each and every child I met must ve had a tragic past or a depressing background behind him. Well, how many of them are really aware of it? If they are not, are they strong enough to withstanding the truth if they come to know? Are they resilient enough to keep their misfortune aside and go ahead with their life? Who would provide them with the answers of all the questions that might spring up once they grow???

To conclude, I would applaud the Srivyal, Founder of Sphoorti for being so efficient in keeping the children happy and I would like to thank all the people who have always stood by be through the thick and thin.

for more picture and information visit http://www.sphoorti.org/