Service with a Smile..

The curtain raiser for today's event would be in the form of questions for which there are no universal answers. I would encourage you to think about them. Here, I would be presenting my views. I thank AID-TAMU for giving me this opportunity to express myself. There might be differing opinions and I would respect an individual's personal opinion and would expect the same from the other side.

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Life - A journey; where man and woman are one and the same; to experience the same joys and sorrows; to learn lessons and more importantly to do something about the lessons. It is not to so uncommon for us to get entangled in the web of life. Nothing else would then seem to matter. So, this reminds me of the basic question - What, then, is the concept of social service? Why does it exist? Is it fashionable for a person to be branded a social activist? What is his/her purpose in life? With the constant increase in the NGOs, this question becomes all the more important for us. In the first place, should service be allowed? Is it right for us to help others. Who are we to help others? Would helping others lead to the growth of dependents or in the extreme case, parasites?

Well, it truly depends on the quality of service being rendered. It is better to give the means of making a loaf of bread than the loaf itself to the deserving. Productivity, then, is rightly the solution. Thus, we need to give them the ways to sustain themselves. By this approach, we would definitely not be nurturing dependents. It so happens that there is a skew in the very distribution of resources. At times, people are simply helpless but to give in to the dire poverty. At the other end of the spectrum, we do have rich people who have come up the hard way, the simple way, the honest way, the crooked way, well, have come up nevertheless.

It is more at the micro level, at the level of humanness within us, "Service" of others can be beneficial in more ways than one. In the wise words of Mahatma Gandhi, the father of the Indian Nation,

The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others.

Often we are so blinded in our thoughts, and are too involved with our very own problems. It so happens that we make mountains out of mole-hills too. The satisfaction and contentment that one gets from doing service is inexplicable. Best when experienced. For most of us, grappling from one end to another, "Service" opens up new frontiers, improves our understanding of the world around us, makes us forget our problems, etc. So, when we look outside the box, look at others less fortunate than others, we do have the sense of being more fortunate. This is not truly and ethically correct. We look towards someone less fortunate for our own appeasement. Celebrating the strengths, success in everyone, multiplying the joys would be a better goal. Nevertheless, the realization of this utopian dream needs a start. Thus, "Service" should rightly be a way of life and importantly, a means of service to our very own self.

What then are the qualities of a social worker? Service with a Smile. We are into this scheme of things for our very own sake. Often, we tend to bring others into the picture. We at times crave for recognition, appreciation, support. When we encounter criticism, we are morally shattered. The mistake has been done right at the beginning. It is always our very own inner self on its alchemic quest towards the state of elysian bliss and ecstacy. No one else matters.

People who know not much about the purely voluntary efforts of the workers comment on their very ways of functioning. It is very easy to pass judgement on others. There are always two extreme sections of people - one, that is dangerously crazy of something; and the other that is equally dangerously against that same something. Every work that is carried on by the people has seemingly an increased number of critics than appreciators. With so much of attachment to negative qualities, it is often a wonder to us if someone is exceptionally pleasant to us. More often than not, if 9 people were to appreciate us, and 1 was to criticize, we would still be thinking about the "1".

So, where is all this leading to? This very concept of "Service" seems to be hazy, caught in its very own whirlpool of creation. With so many ideas floating around, it is but natural to be bewildered and do nothing about it. This is sadly, the worst thing that can happen, and is so in most cases. We need to learn to revere, love and appreciate the efforts put by people who have chosen "Service" as a vocation/ an avocation. These people invest the most valuable commodity - "Time". Nothing should bother them. We are lighthouses. Our duty is to bring light and shine into other's lives. Nothing else matters.

Thus, I would like to end this with the Chinese proverb-

It is better to light a candle than curse the darkness.

Let us all take that small but significant step towards making this world a better place to live in. There is no ocean without the small drops of water in the first place.

With this introduction, I take this opportunity to welcome you all to the 2005 General Body Meeting of Association for India's Development, Texas A&M University (AID-TAMU) Chapter.

Thank You.