![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harbindernarula.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Mother-Teresa_Narula_2.jpg?resize=264%2C167&ssl=1\")
was still studying in school, I would regularly accompany my father to an old age home managed by Mother Teresa\u2019s \u201cMissionaries of Charity\u201d<\/strong> in Delhi. On one such visit, to deliver our family\u2019s annual donation of woollen blankets, on a Sunday afternoon, my father and I saw a Mercedes car (not so common in those days) being parked outside the compound and a very unassuming gentleman stepping out and walking in to the building. I could not help but observe, the otherwise sad and gloomy eyes of the inmates\u2019, suddenly sparkle with\u00a0divine joy. We could not understand why. A sister, who was a part of the team managing the facility, told us that this gentleman would come every Sunday to offer shave for the inmates. I continued to observe very closely as he shaved and went from one person to another. I soon understood the reason of this happiness. Those few minutes he would spend with the inmates \u2013 shaving them, gave them both an opportunity to converse.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harbindernarula.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Mother-Teresa-_-Narula_1.jpg?resize=376%2C198&ssl=1\")
That’s when I realised that, for these old people, the importance of having someone to talk to and share a few moments of kind words was more important than anything else. This\u00a0is one gesture that has left an impact in my mind ever since. This is why, probably, I am able to sit and chat with people of all ages, including old people.<\/p>\n
The second institution that I remember visiting is a place called Pingalwara in Amritsar<\/strong>, Punjab. Pingalwara was started by a gentleman whose original name was Ramji Das, who later came to be known as Bhagat Puran Singh. His charity started in 1934 when he found an uncared crippled child at a railway station. Bhagat ji took this child home, gave him a bath, gave him food to eat, named him \u201cPyara\u201d and then continued to take care of him as a parent would. Baghat ji was moved to India and continued his acts of goodness and soon his home was filled with abandoned old people, destitute women and orphan children.<\/p>\n The above three opportunities in my life have led me believe the following two (2) things:<\/strong><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harbindernarula.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/Screen-Shot-2018-05-20-at-11.42.00-am.png?resize=278%2C300&ssl=1\")
His life was influenced by the two philosophies of Sikhism – \u201cSarbat da bhala\u201d \u2013 meaning welfare for all and \u201cDeen Dukhian di sewa\u201d \u2013 meaning service to the needy. When I visited Pingalwara about three times. Bhagat Puran Singh Ji and Pyara (the first inmate) are both no more, but the ideology and vision is being carried on still. One things that moved me when I was there last was the sense of belongingness to the institution, how the destitute women got a meaning by taking care of the orphan children. I am no sure if things have changed but it was beautiful support system that I saw there during my visit. Also, clearly noticeable was Bhagat ji\u2019s courage to give up everything and living a life of a higher purpose, something most of us only talk of. Giving love and working with your hands, taking care of even lepers, is not for the faint hearted.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/harbindernarula.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/05\/aadi.jpg?resize=300%2C225&ssl=1\")
Third incident is of the most recent visits of an institution called AADI \u2013 Action for Ability Development and Inclusion<\/strong>, an institution at Hauz Khas. I got my first opportunity to visit them as a part of a drumming troupe called ODC of which I am a part of and we were invited to perform for these specially abled children on the annual day. The emotion in the eyes of these children while performances were on and their keenness to participate and dance with you in their own manner was beyond words. One could see their eagerness to be included being such a loving expression. You could see in their eyes and converse without words. It was the love of the people around including their teachers, their caregivers, their parents and their peers that was guiding them through life.<\/p>\n