Thursday, October 14, 2010

Why do we give?

It might seem absurd to ask the question “why do we give?”, now when one has been writing about various aspects of giving for a month. Is it necessary to understand our motive for giving ? Is giving a learnt behaviour or is it an inherent one ? Does motivation for giving stem from a common cause or does it vary across communities and cultures ? Do we need to answer these questions? Is it not more important to continue giving ?

To answer the last question first, it is definitely essential to continue giving. Discovering the answers to the other questions will help us to sustain our giving. We have in other posts presented the view that ‘giving’ is inherent and instinctive. Witness a newborn mother with her child, whether in a 5 star hospital or in a remote village at home, there is a spontaneous joy and an immediate need to protect and nurture. That is ‘giving’. A child grows up with this basic desire to share and the experiences of sharing and giving, when positive, increases this and he / she grows up to be a ‘giving’ person. The positive experience one is talking about is what economist James Andreoni calls the ‘warm-glow theory’., where he argues that internal motives for giving are more important than having a building named after one, or saving on tax by contributing to charity. The feeling that one has contributed towards making the world a better place, is what leads to the glow and so one continues to give.

Image Source

That is why we give : to cherish, to nurture, to protect, to better, circumstances, people, the world. Indigenous cultures have understood this concept very well and not for nothing is it said “It takes a whole village to raise a child” (African proverb).

Source: JGW


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Tuesday, October 5, 2010

Last day of the Joy of Giving Week

The final day of Joy of Giving Week, and it was also Gandhi Jayanthi.

A group of students from IIIT went to Chavadi Poor Students' Ashram on the evening of Oct 2nd.

Chavadi was started for the welfare of poor, downtrodden and orphaned children of the society in the age group of 5 to 14 years, by providing them free food, shelter, clothing and education as well as vocational training including medical aid with a main aim to create an awareness among them that the education is the fundamental right of every child.

They advertise in newspapers to admit kids. It houses around 40 semi-orphan and poor students.


We had an introduction session where each kid introduced himself to everyone and then we introduced ourselves to them. Some kids danced to some songs, some kids drew some paintings. We spent a lot of time interacting with the kids and it was a very nice feeling. Finally, we distributed Samosas and Jalebis to the kids. We had to leave early as they have to study for their exams which starts from Monday, Oct 4th.

The secret of happiness lies in the joy of giving and sharing. As a child, we all have experienced this wonderful feeling of receiving chocolates and gifts from elders and friends. Even now, a lot of happiness is associated with receiving our birthday gifts, howsoever we grow up in years!

But the joy of giving something to someone who needs it is incomparable to that little flutter the joy of receiving something creates in our hearts. You will agree with me, if you have indulged in this feeling sometime, am sure you have!

If Mahatma Gandhi were alive today, his message to us would be to give and continue to give. Let us pledge to do so both today and for all the days to come. Giving can and should continue even when the Joy of Giving Week has come to an end.


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Saturday, October 2, 2010

Day2-6 of Joy of Giving Week

Day2:
I gave an amount of 200/- to my friend Nitin for the cause he likes to support. He bought some fruits and distributed them to the children at nearby slums.

Day3:
I took my friend Sai Krishna to KFC restaurant and we had a nice dinner.

Day4:
I gave away 2 pairs of my shoes to the housekeeping guys at our campus hostel.

Day5:
Samvedana (a team from IIIT) has organized a collection drive at the campus to pool in some donations for this cause. I donated a little amount for that cause. If anyone of you wishes to donate money for that, please follow the instructions given at the link.

Day6:
Students from IIIT collect some clothes in order to distribute them to people when there is a need. I donated a pair of clothes.


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Friday, October 1, 2010

Generosity

“Thousands of candles can be lit from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared.” -Buddha
(Justin Shattuck)

Generosity is the habit of giving something freely without expecting anything in return. That something can be a nice word, a smile, a warm greeting or a few minutes from your routine. I would like to share a stroy involving Mahatma Gandhi.

Mahatma Gandhi went from city to city, village to village collecting funds for the Charkha Sangh. During one of his tours he addressed a meeting in Orissa. After his speech a poor old woman got up. She was bent with age, her hair was grey and her clothes were in tatters. The volunteers tried to stop her, but she fought her way to the place where Gandhiji was sitting.

“I must see him,” she insisted and going up to Gandhiji touched his feet. Then from the folds of her sari she brought out a copper coin and placed it at his feet. Gandhiji picked up the copper coin and put it away carefully. The Charkha Sangh funds were under the charge of Jamnalal Bajaj.

He asked Gandhiji for the coin but Gandhiji refused. “I keep cheques worth thousands of rupees for the Charkha Sangh,” Jamnalal Bajaj said laughingly “yet you won’t trust me with a copper coin.” “This copper coin is worth much more than those thousands,” Gandhiji said. “If a man has several lakhs and he gives away a thousand or two, it doesn’t mean much. But this coin was perhaps all that the poor woman possessed. She gave me all she had. That was very generous of her. What a great sacrifice she made. That is why I value this copper coin more than a crore of rupees.”

Source: Inspiring Stories from Gandhiji's Life


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