Vidushhi Gandhi, an intern with Global Peace Foundation (GPF) India, is one many outstanding youth who volunteer their time, energy and passion to encourage community bonding through grassroots service and leadership training in communities throughout India. Inspired by the vision of One Family under God, Vidushhi was challenged to expand her perspective towards the people she serves by getting to know people in her community and connecting with them as “one family.”
This is her story.
How funny it is that we consider our incomparable problems so huge? How do we see the problem of being stuck in the traffic or not finding a fairly new dress for the function that you have to attend that evening as the biggest issues for the day? How exactly do we continue to live in a world full of such grave problems with utmost bliss of ignorance?
A single visit to a mercy home made me question all these things and much more to myself. It can be easy to sympathize with the underprivileged but not that easy to empathize with them. And they realize it. Yet, at the mercy home, there is no shortage of hugs, smiles, real laughter or acceptance—genuine acceptance. There wasn’t a single person who did not express his gratitude or happiness when I visited them.
“It’s a totally different world where people are just happy being alive, getting two meals a day and thanking God profusely for the gift.”
Twelve men live in the mercy home along with three caretakers. All live with some form of disability or were simply too poor to survive, brought to the home by police or people who found them when they had nowhere else to go.
Vidushhi Gandhi takes a picture with Mercy Home friends during her visit
But there is nothing that can dampen these soulful spirits. Christmas is coming up and Lola and Ashu were more than happy to show me the Christmas tree they had helped to put up with the caretakers the other day. They were so happy and innocent as children and explained to me ever so patiently about how the Christmas tree refused to stand upright for the first few attempts.
Zakir, who had welcomed me so enthusiastically, brought his dog to meet me. He loves his dog, a roadside adopted mix breed called Timmy. His full name is Zakir Hussain. It is because “I am from West Bengal,” he explained, happy knowing the fact that he is sure where he has come from. There are many who don’t even remember where they lived or the family who loved them before tragedy struck.
“It is not everyday that we get to experience such simplicity of life when we are so caught up in our bubble of privileges.”
And then there was Happy who explained that even though he never had any alcohol or smoked any cigarette, he still has some problem in his liver, pointing and showing me the right side of his stomach like a child. Golu snickers from behind when Happy explains that he can’t even have rice now.
It’s a totally different world where people are just happy being alive, getting two meals a day and thanking God profusely for the gift. They don’t start their meal before saying a prayer together, which they repeat after Zakir because as Zakir says, “I am the smartest of them all,” smiling like a naughty child. They don’t leave the dining table until everyone is finished with their meal, which means waiting for Lalu, the oldest of them all to finish slowly chewing his food. I reflect on the miracle it is that many nuclear families today can’t sit down to the same meal in our fast-paced life. “Well, is it that difficult?” That is all I could think when I returned home.
It is not everyday that we get to experience such simplicity of life when we are so caught up in our bubble of privileges. This opportunity will always be cherished in my heart as it was such a grounding experience for me. I am sure that nowhere else could I have experienced such warmth or welcoming nature. These people never let any kind of barriers come in between us. And when it comes to life, all they need is a little love.
