The uneasiness of a mute speactator

In perhaps the most happening 8 weeks of my life, I have visited many new places and met a lot of new people from all walks of life; but perhaps the most impactful encounter took place in a Mumbai local. In all its hustle and bustle and even the chivalrous charm, the Mumbai local never ceases to enchant you. For every swear word that you blurt out there’s always a praise to go along.

On weekends, along with my cousin I went and explored Mumbai to be left with memories that last perhaps the lifetime. On a certain such Saturday we boarded on the Andheri station headed towards Churchgate; the plan was to visit the Gateway of India. As the train left the station, a man began shouting in full volume swirling papers in an eddy current developed by his own motion. There was a donation box in his hand and my first impression was that he surely was mad.

Sandeep Desai with his donation box

Upon listening to the man for some time I realised that he was asking for some kind of donation. As he showed cuttings of at least 50-odd newspapers and photos with some prominent personalities, he grabbed attention of everyone in the bogey. His pitch was something like, “Sajjangan, Vriddhajan, bhaiyon aur beheno, ishwar ki di iss zindagi mein aaj aapne kya badla, kitne chehron ki muskaan ka kaaran bane aap, Bharat ki samriddhi mein aapka kya yogdan hai? Aao aaj aisi khushiyan baanto, aisi khushiyon ka karan bano, aaj daan karo unn bacchon ki padhai k liye jo desh ka bhavishya badal sakte hain, unn haathon ko kitaabein pakdao jinke haathon kahin chai to kahin eent (bricks) hain.” Then he talked about a no. of schools that they had opened in villages in and near Aurangabad, Pune, Jaipur, Udaipur etc. He repeated a similar pitch in English and Marathi and the impeccable accent that he talked in made me realise that this perhaps was a learned man.

Students came up with notes of 10 and 20, ‘hip’ youngsters who had removed the ear plug for like once in the century went to him with money and with offers of teaching various subjects and even different instruments. Almost the whole bogey donated; notes of 100 to 500 and the donation box seemed full. Someone asked him his no. and to note it down there was a complete pin drop silence in the train. There were a couple of teachers in the train who volunteered to teach on the weekends. As the procession went on I asked my brother about the man and I got to know that his name was Sandeep Desai and that he was an IIM A alumnus and a VP and Director in a couple of companies who begged in local trains for his NGO to promote education among poor students; he was also a pioneer of girl education.

I sat there on a corner in the train and saw the whole incident with wide open eyes. I didn’t donate as I haven’t in cash ever in my life. In a couple of NGOs that I have worked for I have learnt to take action by doing and not by donating. However, this time a feeling of an emboldened helplessness took over as a picture of what would be my ideal future showed me that it was not the titles and the money that gave him satisfaction, it was something else; a little something that we fortunate ones conveniently choose to ignore.

On the next day, on my laptop, I was watching the movie ‘Into the Wild’. It is a true story about a very bright guy who leaves university education (though he has offers from as high as Harvard Law) to go on a cashless, identity-less trip around the country and then to Alaska to search for true happiness. His aim is to find total independence in its purest form, independence from money, man-made tools, technology and most importantly relations: something that he believed would lead him to true happiness. He writes down about each of his experiences in his diary and after being paralysed by accidently eating a poisonous berry his mind flashes with all the incidents that caused him true happiness and the last line he comes up with is:

“Happiness real only when shared”

It almost seemed to connect all the little dots. I searched for Sandeep’s email id and told him that I wanted to contribute in my own little way and not by donating. A small time writer that I consider myself to be, it was only fitting that I came up with an article to gather support for his movement.

Please feel free to donate and to volunteer:

http://shlokamissionaries.org/trustees.html