#NGID #miscellaneous
How lucky we are? How privileged are we? We never ask such questions to ourselves, these are the thoughts that only occur when we meet or surround ourselves with people who are not as lucky as we are...
We hear and read every day about how there is a mass population in India that suffers with unthinkable diseases or who struggles to meet their ends, but are never able to relate to them just by reading. The experience of being among them, interact and spend some time with them is an eye opener. Yesterday Nielsen celebrated its 4th Global Impact Day where the entire Nielsen family globally went to various NGO's, hospitals, orphanages etc. to spend time with the patients, children in there and to give back something to the society. Our group went to Vimla Centre, Versova, Mumbai which treats Leprosy patients and hosts school and hostel for under privileged kids. It was an engaging and enlightening experience for everyone, to say the least. But it was more than an experience but kind of a life-altering event, as one can put it, for me.
It was fun-filled day with lots of activities. Needless to say, the organizers of the event did an awesome job. The day began with introduction to the organization, where we met with greetings and taught children about the 'importance of health & hygiene'. We then met the Head Sister of the organization who came to India 45 years ago from Italy and stayed here forever just to help and assist the patients of Leprosy, kudos to her dedication. After that Nielsen engaged in multiple activities starting with entertaining patients with stand-up comedy act, which with no doubts brought smiles to people's faces.
Nielsen also hosted a drawing competition (for the kids of different age groups) and one cannot believe the talent that is hidden in India. Some paintings were so beautiful, they can easily out-win today's 'modern art' that people buy for hundreds' of thousands these days. Though we gave out prizes for the winners of the competiton, you can clearly see that there was no jealousy amongst those who couldn’t win a prize. They all clapped whole heartedly as a name was called out and cheered up. When the winners were asked if they will share their prizes with others, there was no hesitation in anyone saying an instantaneous ‘Yes’ and you can sense that there was no sign of selfishness and they genuinely cared for each other. Someone has rightly said that Children do have a pure heart.
Next was dance competition where Nielsen employees danced with the kids. Few of us first taught them some steps on a song and then they performed those steps on stage in front of everyone. The smile that we saw on the kids' faces when they danced was priceless. Some of the steps they did were looking better compared to their trainers. We were amazed to see the talent that these kids had and if given the right environment and facilities, they can do wonders in their lives.
For the first time in my life I loved a group of children, they were not like the spoiled brats we see everywhere today; these were the kids who value the importance of love, belonging, every single bite of food & every sip of water. They danced like no one was watching and honestly it was a blissful sight. We also donated things to the patients and they just didn't say 'thanks' but they had thanks in their eyes and smile. It's moments like these that reflect all your other moments in an instance. It is these moments which force you to ask the question to yourself- do you really do enough for the society?
We spent almost a day with the little kids & the patients and the love, courtesy that they showered on us, I have never witnessed it before. We all post on Facebook, read in papers on how we should be grateful for things we have, but after meeting these people, I honestly realised what it is like to be grateful. The smile they had when we talked them, the content they felt after sharing their stories was simply priceless.
When we were leaving, kids said Good bye to all of us by leaning against the balcony and we can clearly see the happiness in their eyes along with the hope that these guys will visit us again. I hope that I do not let them down.
Every year Nielsen family go to such places, and every year many of us think that we will come again, we will do something for the society but unfortunately daily routines don't allow us to do so. I hope this year, at least once more I would be able to do such thing again, because when we visit it's not just the people in these homes who get a smile and content, its us too who feel blessed.
My thanks to Nielsen for hosting such day every year, through this you don't just leave a positive imprint on the society, but also on your employees...
By Kritika Sharma & Rajat Kumar Sharma
Nice effort...
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