Letter from an NSS volunteer

I am Abh..... from 3rd Year. I was in NSS in my first two years. 

I was thinking of one thing. Almost all NSS activities are concentrated in the villages in Kharagpur. 
There are also many people working in the campus like rickshaw pullers, sweepers etc who are also very poor to send their children to school.
Shouldn't some measures be also planned towards this ? This is just a suggestion and maybe something can be thought on this.

I had written a poem about a very poor elderly rickshaw puller in the campus some time before. I am attaching it below.
Maybe it can help to spread some awareness among students towards this cause. 


Lifting the pall of darkness
-

This poem is based on a true story. I was in MMM hall. In November 2010, I was going home one evening. I took a rickshaw from the rickshaw stand near MMMhall for the railway station. The man pulling the rickshaw was above 60 years old. I was talking to him. He asked me what year I am in and so on. He also told meabout his life. He had been working for 35 years in IIT campus. The poem says the rest. 

As the darkness starts to pull its hood
Travelling down a lonely path;
Gulping down all signs of light
With a chilling dark and misty bath.

A sight of light for which I crave
Lights inside a flame of hope;
Brought with it a darker thought
With which that flame failed to cope.
I closed my eyes, I opened my mind
As the man in front started to speak;
Took me to the darkness he knew
Where that flame looked to be so faint and bleak.

In the end sat a clumsy shack
Down a narrow and dirty lane;
The mist hiding the smiling moon
Brought their life to my window pane.

As I peep through a hole in the broken wall
The room stares back with a tired look;
Sat an old woman in front of the door
Waiting for her husband as long as it took.
Sat two boys on a rusty bed
Looked towards me with their innocent smile;
On the floor lay an empty bowl
With it, two plates in a dirty pile.

My son died a year ago
Said the man, “my tears in vain;
Left two boys of his with me
To live this life of sorrow and pain.

They live on only what I earn
He whispered with a terrible cough;
To get me medicine after rice
What I earn is not enough.

In this life of sorrow and darkness
There is no one to light the flame;
Why them? “, the question I asked to God
When to you we are all the same.

All of you are my children “
I heard the answer from my heart;
I am God, inside you,
As inside every man on Earth.

All of you are brothers and sisters
Living on Earth as one big family,
It’s your duty to ensure
That all of you live together happily.

So spread my message far and wide
Bring a happy smile to every face,
Extend your arms of compassion and love
For the entire human race.

Thanking You

Comments

Goutam Saha said…
Response:
Thanks Abh.... The poem is really moving. The answer is: Yes, we should definitely act.
I have forwarded your mail to all P.O. to consider accepting the problem / feasibility of a solution etc.
On awareness aspect, I have uploaded it in NSS IIT Kharagpur blog which will reach larger community.
http://nssiitkgp.blogspot.in/2012/07/letter-from-nss-volunteer.html
If you have any idea about a solution, kindly advise. And keep in touch.
Best