HUMANITY TRIUMPHS – FIRST DAY OF THE MOVEMENT (19th Mar 2010, 0345 Hrs)

HUMANITY TRIUMPHS – FIRST DAY OF THE MOVEMENT (19^th Mar 2010, 0345 Hrs)

My beautiful nation India proved this day HUMANITY EXISTS… the day surely started with the last minute touches… surprisingly, Zen Café donated indirectly by cutting down on the Print-outs’ rate by slashing one rupee for 36 pages… that is Rs.36/- donation… It also proved that I was at the right path and there are a billion plus Indians, who are ready to support the suicide farmers’ families with their valuable contribution.

Having prepared the donation box with the poster, I headed towards the Sai Baba Temple… prayed to Him to give me strength and guide me in the right direction. The first stop was my newspapers’ stall at Ambernath Station. Sandeep was touched when I told him about my mission… he asked me with his innocence – ‘Only one rupee? What if, I wish to donate more?’ The beginning was beautiful and he contributed Rs.20/-…

At 1.00 pm, I boarded the fast train to Dadar… some of the college guys did try to read the caption on my T-shirt… a look of amazement and curiosity… I was calm, confident and full of pride to face the unexpected for the farmers’ families of my nation… Overwhelming response as every passenger donated generously… Honestly, I never expected young college students to come forward with their valuable donation… In fact, they were very happy to donate generously unlike the older generation… there were queries and there were skeptical views as well… however, 95 per cent Indians donated generously.

Laxmikant Verma, a professor who teaches Mechanical Engineering in two colleges… was the find of the day… he requested for my mobile number and then gave his number and told me – ‘Please visit my colleges and we can mobilize the students to raise a good amount for the cause.’ Yes, there are people who believe in doing something good for the nation in their own small ways… a group of students from Wilson College immediately requested for the blog’s link on my way to Andheri, took out their notebooks and noted down the blog's link while donating generously… Yes, there were very few questions about the authenticity of my efforts and mission also… however, when I told them I was a Film Journalist once and had contributed articles in more than 60 plus publications in National & Internationally since the last one decade, there were look of amazement… and now have dedicated my life to support suicide farmers’ families, they were amazed as to what made me to give away a lucrative career that every single journalist dreams of…

My look surely misled people to think I am a foreigner hahahahaha… what do I do about my appearance? However, when I request them humbly in chaste Hindi… they get shock and ask about my family tree…

Who says RPF soldiers are heartless? This day, they proved every one wrong by donating well without questioning unlike few educated people… who refused to even donate ONE SINGLE RUPEE…after asking whole lot of questions… No offence to anyone as such, such reactions was expected and in fact, I was expecting more than I had experienced today… Most of the shopkeepers were amazed and welcomed me with a smile on their faces and when they hear my request – ‘Sir one rupee per Indian for suicide farmers’ families…’ – they smile, ask and donated with 2, 5, 10 rupees… From 1.00 pm to 5.00 pm, I was in the train and on the streets hopping shop-to-shop in hot sun… Since this was the first day… I didn’t want to push hard and decided it was time to return home…

Oh yes, I forgot to tell you that the bigger the shops, the smaller the donation amount was and the smaller the shops, the bigger the donation was… I would also like to tell you about some elite customers, who when approached just walked away as if I was suffering from leprosy hahahahah…

Architectural Firm S M Studio (Meghana Shetty & Suresh Mistry) donated valuable Rs.5001/-… It was surely an amazing gesture coming from them and they also promised that they would forward my cause to all their friends… The total amount raised today jumped to Rs.9251/-, great thanks to Meghana & Suresh…

Yes, it was surely a very tiring experience considering it to be the first day… I know in coming days, my stamina will increase to walk the streets for longer hours to raise more money because my passion has doubled up today and my belief in HUMANITY has become stronger than ever before.

Support has been pouring in from Delhi (Vasundhra Singh, an old friend with no contact since the last few years) and Birmingham University (Eesha Shukla, an avid follower of my blog)…

The bliss that is obtained when you are working for others is the ultimate joy I have experienced today to remember my Mamman (late Mrs. Pratibha Jaiswal, she adopted this orphan as her son), who always took great care to make everyone comfortable and happy with her caring nature… I miss her so much today after the day’s work… she would be so happy for this movement and I know she would have donated generously and bless me too!

After the hectic day, it was time to share my experience with pillars of strength, who were anticipating about the response that I would get… Jaya Bhattacharya, Sameer, A, P, my English Teacher Mr. KK Roy Choudhury, Madan Patil… everyone was very happy with the response… I am so glad that the foundation has been laid to Support Suicide Farmers’ Families…