Meera, a fifty year old widow, shook her head in joy and bewilderment. The sack of provisions placed before her was too heavy to carry off single handed. “I think I have almost a month’s supply of rice and other items for my small family,” she said.

Meera, who lives in the Baans Kothi area of Patna, and works at odd jobs whenever she can, is grateful for the food. Nursing her late husband through a paralytic stroke drained whatever little resources they had. To add to her woes, her labourer son lost his living and health during the Covid pandemic. “I was left with no option but to depend on other’s charity.” Her son does odd jobs, her daughter in law does what she can. Meera found some part time employment as a cook for a working couple. “But with three grandchildren, there’s always hunger at the door. God bless these people for their gift. God will bless them.” she said.

‘These People’ were the Danapur Branch of the All India Anglo Indian Association, and the Management, staff and students of Don Bosco Academy, one of the leading English Medium schools in the Bihar capital. The occasion was a ‘Joy of Giving’ event to commemorate the legacy of Mahatma Gandhi.

Daan Utsav, previously called the Joy of Giving Week, gives every Indian an opportunity to give back to society. Daan Utsav is India’s festival of giving that was first launched in 2009 and is held every year during the first week of October (Oct 2-Oct 8)

The Anglo-Indians are known for their sheer resilience and their big hearts. The Danapur branch of the AIAIA, put their heads and hearts together and reached out to some 70 low-income and destitute families with a substantial hamper of provisions to mark Gandhi Jayanti and the joy of giving on Monday (October 2).

Tossed into the Mix

“It all started off with an idea that was tossed into one of our meetings,” Sharon Hurley, a school teacher at Notre Dame Academy said. “We were talking about the Joy of Giving week, and how the community should participate. Then Tanya, one of our active members, threw the old newspaper idea into the mix.”

Old newspapers? “Yeah, it was like people still read newspapers, or at least many houses still have newspapers delivered to their doors. Now the ‘raddiwallah‘ gives you at least nine rupees for a kilo of newspapers, and he sells it to the recycling guys for a bit more. If we could ask people to part with their throwaway newspapers, and if we collect enough, we could get a good price for them,” added Mario Martín, assistant professor at St. Xavier’s College of Management and Technology. “It seemed like a far-fetched idea, like nowadays people are into web-based news and all. But, we said it wouldn’t do any harm. We wouldn’t know if we didn’t try.”

It also helped that AIAIA Danapur Branch President Eric DeRozario is a part of the management of Don Bosco Academy. Don Bosco was ready to collaborate. “Since a sizeable number of members are from the teaching fraternity, most of us took up the matter with the heads of our individual institutions. Several educational institutions put out cartons to collect the old newspapers,” explained Honorary Secretary Tyrone Lazarus.

Ball starts Rolling!

The ball was set rolling. Newspapers poured in from dwellings across Patna. School children went to their neighbours and got them to part with a few.

“Good things are infectious. After all, Jesus said that it was more blessed to give than to receive,” Alan Cowell smiled. “Some of the families who don’t buy newspapers, said they would donate some money. That was welcome indeed!”

When some of the good people of Patna came to know from their kids or their neighbours that the ultimate goal was to put together gift hampers with dry provisions, offerings in kind also began arriving.

Humungous Hampers!

The hamper was going to be substantial: Five kilos of flour, Five kilos of rice, two kilos of sugar, a kilo each of pulses (masoor dal, channa dal), and beaten rice (cheura), a litre of mustard oil, two and a half kilos each of potatoes and onions, and 250 gram packs of tea leaves. In addition to these there were to be goodies such as biscuits, bananas, and fruit juice. And hot samosas and aloo chops for all the beneficiaries. At least 20 kilograms of stuff!

Who could believe it? It started off as a modest effort and now, the cost of one hamper was at least a thousand rupees. “Cash donations aside, it would be pretty accurate to say that 60 percent of the money was raised just through the sale of newspapers,” remarked Clyde Lazarus, an office bearer of the association.

The target beneficiary group was first a modest 25 to 30 households. But as the final calculations were done on the 30th of September, the delighted team members discovered that they had enough to distribute to no less than 70 needy households.

We may be small, but …

“There’s no doubt that we Anglos are a micro community. We aren’t very affluent like for example the Parsis. But we are multi talented: we are singers, musicians, teachers, in hospitality and management, we are railway people. But there’s no doubt that we are doing our share in building our country. So we pull together and put in our effort, and with a lot of faith, we try to do our best, ” said Terence Chesney, ” So, yes, I am very happy about what we have been able to put together.”

No doubt, it was an ‘Alleluia’ moment. “It’s all about kindness, helpfulness, service of love, and sacrifice, and this event, being held on Gandhi Jayanti is so appropriate,” Fr Martin, the parish priest of the Patliputra Parish, one of the guests at the October 2 event told me. “Gandhian principles are all about doing away with greed and helping your fellow man. The members of the Anglo-Indian community have always been generous to my parish. They have come together on numerous occasions, for blood donation, to help with relief work, during the time of covid as well.”

Simple and Significant

The simple programme held on the grounds of Don Bosco Academy was amazing. DBA Principal Mary Alphonsa was the Chief Guest. Other dignitaries, such as the SXCMT Principal Martin Poras SJ, and local ward representative Ranbir Kumar were also present. The students presented speeches and songs and helped in the programme management.

There is a road ahead and Ms Mary Alphonsa told us that Don Bosco could collaborate with the Danapur Branch different initiatives such as an ‘Each one, Teach one’ project. The other guests joined in the praise. the Municipal ward counsellor spoke said that the event was a hands-on lesson on recycling waste. The College Principal spoke about the relevance of Gandhi and his philosophy for today’s generation.

What did I, an observer, take away from this event?

Seventy families in Patna are probably delving into the contents of the heavy sacks with smiles on their faces even as I am punching the keys on my laptop. Such is the power of a few old newspapers, some good hearted souls, a bit of commitment, networking, hard work and a lot of love.

THE AUTHOR, FRANK KRISHNER, IS A WELL KNOWN COMMUNICATOR AND JOURNALIST. HE IS ALSO A COLLABORATOR FOR SEVERAL SOCIAL AND CHARITABLE EVENTS.

  AIAIA Danapur, All India Anglo Indian Association, Gandhi Jayanti, Joy of Giving