Creative Help

Couple of days back, I happened to discuss with a friend about the true meaning of "Happiness" in our life. We were discussing why is it that people don't cherish what they already have (including us).....why do they need to run after things which they don't have. During our conversation, she mentioned one very beautiful sentence which touched my heart. In short, it meant....

At times when we feel that things are not going the way we want or we are not getting what we want, then we should stop n think that now is the time for us to "GIVE" back to others. By "Giving" means help of any kind....may be just a helping hand, advice, empathize, appreciation, monetary help, creative help!! A help with no purpose...just for happiness!! Giving to others may or may not give us what we want but it would definitely open our doors to happiness!!

Most of us relate "Giving" with monetary help. But believe me other forms of "Help" would give far more happiness than what money can give. There was another incidence i would like to mention here that was somewhat related to this thought.

Most of us feel sad on seeing the plight of beggars on street during chilly winters or scorching summers and we tend to give them money to pacify our souls....in a way encourage begging. I'm one of those guilty souls but my better half discourage this style of philanthropic activity on road. He is from different school of thought and has his own way of philanthropy. So I thought of some new way to ease off my guilt of being privileged or in other words give Thanks to God for blessing me with more.

Few months back I decided that every time when I go out for shopping, I will keep aside 10% of my shopping amount in a pouch. This would give me a chance to collect some money for needy people and also save me from the guilt of big shopping without giving back to the society. Alas!! Most of the time I forgot filling up that pouch but thankfully I was able to collect enough money for charity purpose. So, I went to an orphanage near gurgaon. There I met a lovely lady who was in charge of there. She felt happy and thanked me for this gesture. I met kids and distributed sweets and talked to them for few minutes and decided to leave as I was in hurry like always. Before leaving, the lady said something really nice and touchy. She said next time do keep some time extra and spend with kids, read them stories, teach them creative stuff....that would be the biggest help!! I wanted to go back there but couldn't as it was quite far from my home (its rightly said distances are in mind). 

Anyways, I kept that lesson in my mind and took my first step towards creative help. I met couple of kids during a "Clean Drive" held in our sector. I invited couple of kids to experience clay at my studio. The overall experience was enlightening. You can gauge that from their face expressions. In the coming months, I'm planning to conduct summer workshops for such talented kids and promote clay as a medium of learning. Hope will succeed in this endeavor. Here are few smiling moments during clay modeling workshop with children (with hidden talent).

Happy Claying!!