Making A Difference

"All I got in my life were a bunch of prolific and kind hearted friends whom I never used to
understand since I joined a esteemed college. College seemed like same routine life which I have
been acquainted with the past few years of my study life until one day when I was struck with
an opportunity in a blessing. All the years I have been surrounded by my mates who gave me the
impression that their smile was the reason that kept them happy. Their happiness resembled by the
way they have fought through millions of aspired minds who want to make it to the top colleges in
our country. Their victory showed the way they can smile through their happiness. For a reason I too
have become part of this happiness.

The days passed witnessing at spectacular marvels the world has come up with in the name of
Facebook, mobile revolution and the never ending liking for the internet which become a part of
our college which we called it “living life king size” . The day has arrived when the opportunity in a
blessing which I mentioned in the paragraph above has been set to motion. I have been just dragged
by my friends to attend the interviews for which a NGO in the name of MAD(Make A Difference) was
recruiting as a teaching volunteer . To attend an interview for the NGO for which I have absolutely
no idea was like a herculean task in the making. The interview started on a sound note with the
introduction of all the applicants who want to be part of such a coveted society which I found out
later! . Well even though its an organization which teaches the underprivileged kids the art of living
basically communication skills,The best part of MAD is its presentation and its briefing of the way its
going to effect the kids lives with its portrayal of unique blend of notions . It will blow you away the
moment you enter its domain with profound sense and obsolete morality. Any one wouldn’t aspire
to teach people but for a cause when you think you can make someone stand up for themselves.
But this was not the reason why was so adamant to join MAD, remember I was talking about the
victorious smile I have seen in my college mates . I wouldn’t speak about the people who are
successful because I have never experienced what its like to be successful in life. For me success is
defined by what I see . To see beyond what I see is something not expectable. So the only success I
have seen is having the victorious smile my mates and I have earned through the ladders of life. This
smile was what I wished I could see in those kids who resembled us when we have been the pearls
just of the shells.

After being part of the organization for two years I still think I did the mistake joining it. A mistake
I call it because in teaching those kids how to smile I have lost mine. A day wouldn’t pass until I
remember a kid comes up running to me always smiling and asks me whether he could have the
company of seeing a guide in me everyday. But for an ordinary student like me I can never see that
happening due to the numerous burdens I have to go through to be successful in life. But if I have
lost my smile to see a young kid jolt down his happiness is really an opportunity in a blessing isn’t it
fellows ? . Well I have seen part of my share to owe my life to the wonders of what human bonding
can do not to a privileged, self esteemed and motivated but to make a underprivileged, unmotivated
and socially unacceptable to see the limelight of what they couldn’t desire .

It’s a memoir because it has memories of a lifetime and it’s a journey because I was living on
the edge with the college life with the astonishing phase a person would go through or wish for .
Together they become a memoir within a journey.

If i was fortunate enough to experience the smile of hundreds of kids you can too. MAD has desperately tried to bridge the gap between a literate and illiterate . But this strive to achieve illiteracy should not go in vain it should be dealt with competence and desire that a volunteer possesses in MAD. There are always people like us who know the importance of the victorious smile but its a blessing to see that smile in a dillusioned face. As a person who expects right to equality and for the poor kids who don't know what does right to equality mean, Its a growing seed that can be nurtured not the tree that has fallen . Its never too late to do anything. Youth have the power to do anything. Future of India is in the hands of so called "Youngistan"! "

~BHARGAVA SAYALA

"High profile school, high profile college, new clothes for every occasion, family outing every weekend, new gadgets to play with and all other requirement s, all just in one say and more importantly parental love and guidance in every step of life, every major decision in life became easier with that. But, not with everyone. There are thousands of kids who are less fortunate than us, who are deprived of all these facilities, who don’t have parents and were left alone at the streets to struggle by themselves. Kids in the shelter homes don’t get to study in a high profile English medium schools. Also they have to leave their shelter homes by the age of 18 and again live by themselves. Thus, there is every possibility for these to not continue with their education.
I had always wanted to do something for these kids but never could because I always used to think, me being a student can’t do anything as I don’t earn or have any such resources to fulfill their desires. But then I heard of a Youth organization, MAKE A DIFFERENCE, MAD as it is popularly known as needed some volunteers for the city I currently dwell in and that would be Bhopal. And that is when I came to know you don’t need to be earning to help anyone, a pure heart and desire to help is all that is needed.

MAD as it is popularly known is a non-profit organization that empowers youth to become change leaders who make positive social impact and create self-sustaining communities. Make A Difference aims to eliminate the inequality in the society through education. MAD currently is in 23 cities of India and changing lives of more than 5500 kids. MAD runs different programs for the better future of the kids. English project, placement project and library project are the main projects running. Under English Project, MAD volunteers teach English to the kids of shelter homes. MAD has been using Cambridge university press material in its classrooms. The English project takes learners from starter to intermediate level using the Cambridge English for Schools series of textbooks. Placements activities provide kids with the knowledge of various career options. The basic aim is to place these underprivileged kids in the same footing as children from regular homes with regards to experiences and interaction with various walks of life.


Never excited was I than that day; 7th January 2012. Couple of books in my bag and a story which my Granny told me when I was a kid was all I had when I entered the premises of SOS children’s village, Bhopal. And it was then when I started my journey.It’s been more than a year with these kids. Now there’s a special bonding between me and these kids. Every Sunday I go there and be with kids, it has become an essential part of my life now. Generally people don’t like to be asked any questions but until one hears “bhaiyaa aap agle Sunday bhi aaogge na?”From those small kids which now I want to be asked every Sunday when I leave them. There is a different satisfaction to see smiles on their faces and what is more satisfying is the feeling that those smiles are because of you. Loosing on a Football match with the kids, not being able to find them in hide and seek, not being able to catch them when they make you run and after defeat at everything and still being happy than ever. And now I can say I have made a Difference."

~Subodh Kharel
http://www.isb.edu/idiya/