My wife has joined a charity organization. The organization aims at providing orphaned kids good education and upbringing. She has decided to volunteer two hours everyday on weekends to be with kids and spend quality time with them. It is a small step but a constructive one and I am very happy about it.

Two days before, my wife came after a visit to the orphanage and told me that kids there don’t have proper woolens and blankets to keep them warm in the freezing cold. She was pretty hassled and we decided to sort things out. We have a lot of old sweaters of our kids that we never gave away. We packed them neatly in a bag along with spare blankets and took them to kids.

The kids were extremely happy. the smile on their faces was very heartening. Somehow I couldn’t bear the sight and came back soon to home. My wife didn’t understand my mood. It is not her fault. Actually I have never told her. When I was a kid, we had very less money and winters were a complete hazard. I used to go to the market with my sister. There was a shop there that sold old, worn sweaters and blankets at minimal prices. We used to get our woolens from there.

I remember we used to wait for the shop to open at the beginning of winters and run to get our share. We were always scared that we might not get what we wanted with the money we had. My sister used to bargain for prices endlessly. I have seen her fighting for a single rupee. Since we were kids, the shopkeeper always used to avoid us. He was always more interested in families who took woolens from him frequently. He used to pretend that he was not listening to us.

I can still see my sister standing in front of the shop waiting for our turn to come. Even today, I often pass the same shop. Now it has been rebuilt. The old shopkeeper has gone and someone else sells ethnic mementoes over there. Many a times, I have stood near the shop, recollecting my childhood memories.

Today I am in a position that I can give something to kids who are not fortunate. My heart fills with gratitude at the kindness of God. May God make all those kids very independent and prosperous. I am feeling a silent peace inside me today.

Let me take your leave now. Please take care. Bye.

The ‘common man’ rang up his sister and they both talked for a long time on phone. They both together remembered their childhood moments. The common man told his sister about his contribution to the organization. The sister was filled with pride and they both thanked God together.