HOPE

26.06.2007

16-year old, Subbu wanted to visit the new mall next to his house in the adugodi slum. A son of a daily-wage labourer, his father struggled to make ends meet and send his son to school. The new mall held a lot of attraction to Subbu and his friends from the neighbourhood. One fine Sunday morning, they wore their best clothes donated by an NGO in the community and walked up to the BIG Mall. They felt a little threatened by the looming structure and thought maybe it wasn’t a good idea. Subbu wanted to do this, so he prodded them on. They entered the world of glittering lights, luxuries, food and richness in that one step and left behind the drabness of their poverty stricken world. In no time, Subbu ran out frustrated and angry. He saw everything that he wished to have – colourful clothes, toys, games, computers, chocolates but could not because all that he had in his pocket was 2 Rs. He felt angry that his father could not give him more, that there was a youngster his age in the mall who picked up a new mobile phone while Subbu watched from the impenetrable glass wall outside. Subbu walked away angry.

This is Bangalore today, a chaotic city trying to keep the socio-economic balance intact and failing miserably. In my work with Dream A Dream, over the last 7 years, I have come across many children like Subbu whose aspirations and dreams have built up with the growing purchasing power of the city. Whether these aspirations will get fulfilled; the path they will take to fulfill these aspirations is what gives me sleepless nights every night.

Our constant endeavour at Dream A Dream has been to build a sense of self-esteem and confidence in the children, to build dignity of labour among the children for any service in society – be it an auto rickshaw driver, a cleaner, a vegetable vendor or a server at a Coffee Shop. The children learn fast but the world is changing at a much quicker pace, increasingly becoming a challenging environment for those without support. Will these children be able to make it to the first step in the ladder of development and if they do, will the society accept them for who they are and not judge them based on where they come from?

A group of 12 of us started Dream A Dream in 1999. At the peak of the software boom in India, 12 people wanted to contribute back to the community inspired by the idea of one person, Brinda Jacob. We believed that while we have grown up with stereotypes about people from vulnerable backgrounds, at the core of it, we are sensitive and we wanted to bring out this sensitive side of people. We are inspired by the idea of involving young people in developing our own communities, contributing to our societies and making our world better. 7 years hence, over 600 volunteers contribute to empowering the lives of over 500 children from vulnerable backgrounds. These are as you would describe the young, ambitious, aggressive Generation Next who believes the world belongs to them and yet are humbled when an 11-year old Usha’s eyes brighten up when she sees them on a Sunday afternoon.

This is the contradiction of our times. There are young people who spend every weekend with children at Dream A Dream and then there are those that go to the malls. A new breed of young people who hang onto trees to stop the BESCOM from cutting down the last green glories of Bangalore and then there are those that smoke like a chimney and throw cigarette butts on the roads.

The young who are walking through open-gutters, filthy conditions to provide health facilities to the poor and those that throw garbage on the roads and complain about the deteriorating quality of life in the city. There are young who rescue children from child labour and those that get 11-year old Pallavi from the village to take care of their new-born akash.

The community is in a state of constant chaos today and depending on how you look at it, you can either hate your life or love it. I love it.

Because of the 600 people who believe they can change the world through their contributions – small or big. Because there is HOPE!

There are more people now who want to make this world a better place than before, there are more people now who want to spend their quality weekends volunteering for a cause than before, there are more people now who are taking responsibility for their neighbourhoods, communities, and cities than before, there are more young people now voting than before.

There is hope because an old, poor man brings tea for me every morning with a million dollar smile, and announces “Life is indeed Beautiful!”

I don’t know if Subbu will ever have more then 2 Rs. in his pocket but I do hope he is respected for who he is, not discriminated because of his background, acknowledged in the community and he himself is responsible towards his community.