Compassites On A Cause for Help.

“There is only one religion, the religion of Love,
There is only one nation, the nation of Humanity,
There is only one language, the language of the Heart,
There is only one God and He is Omnipresent.”

The warm summer day of May 6th ’06 will forever be etched in the hearts of Navigators. For this day brought the above message in to their lives. A day when they were touched by life, by touching someone else life.
 

The first step …
Compassite was having its maiden COACH program in ‘Karuna Mother’s Home’. An orphanage located in the silicon valley of India, Bangalore. Every journey starts with a single step. Every forest starts with a single tree. As Compassites took its first step towards building a future for the deprived and less unfortunate, it looked like a small step for the world but a giant leap for COACH.

All the Navigators assembled in the corporate office by 9:00 am and embarked on this much waited journey towards Mother’s home. It was heartening to see that it was not just navigators but their families, friends and well-wishers too who had poured in.

As we reached our destination and went inside the home we saw children decked in beautiful and colorful Indian dresses. They looked like bright morning flowers in a garden. In India we begin every endeavor with a prayer. And the children started singing prayer hymns which charged the entire atmosphere with positive vibrations. Prakash has a way with children as he cajoled the children in singing nursery rhymes like ‘Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall’ bringing about reminiscences of our own school days.
There was a hope and brightness in the eyes of the children that couldn’t be ignored. Each child introduced itself to all present there with a dazzling smile, and a Cadbury’s chocolate from the navigator. As they munched into their chocolates savoring the taste, Ramesh Rajamani came with another one.

COACH believes that in caring and sharing to those deprived around us we are adding not just value to society but subtly creating a wonderful and beautiful world to live in.

Ramesh’s Origami Session
Being a master in Origami (the ancient Japanese art of paper folding), he had thought out for a session on how to make paper head caps. “Who wants to make a cap?” And the room resounded with a thundering “Me!”. Soon Ramesh gave directions to the navigator to assist each child present there. Chokks came and distributed the resource (Old newspapers) to all the young learners. As Ramesh demonstrated the entire process step by step, the children were equally quick in following it.

 

Learning by attentive listening and observing. It was heartening to see the way they were folding the paper. It looked like And Voila! Within 15 minutes each little one had a wonderful paper cap in their hands. They couldn’t wait any longer to put their creations on their head. It was a beautiful moment to see each one of them proudly displaying their creations and beaming million dollar smiles. No balance sheet can ever reflect the value of these smiles.

They came and thanked the master for teaching them something so wonderful. Reflecting back for a moment, it looked as if they were not just shaping an old newspaper but their lives and future, out of nothing. Too often we underestimate the power of a touch, a smile, a kind word, a listening ear, an honest compliment, or the smallest act of caring, all of which have the potential to turn a life around. It strengthened the belief of each navigator present there, of the importance of their roles in helping shape these lives. For they were chosen as the role models by these little children.

Sharing bread and laughter
It was already 12 noon by then. It was time for lunch!!! Led by Naveen, the navigators served food to the children. The joy of giving has to be experienced and it’s addictive. The little ones were enjoying their banquet. Just then we saw Manjula, our finance executive feeding the little ones. Soon all had refreshed themselves and were waiting for the big one – A movie show. The hall immediately transformed itself into a movie theatre as people cozened up to see “Tom & Jerry” with a cup of yummy fruit-salad topped with ice-cream. The hall reverberated with the laughter of everyone present on watching the antics of Tom & Jerry. After this uproarious trailer, all were waiting with bated breath to watch the animated movie-“Hanuman”. Hanuman is the Indian mythological super-hero and popularly known as the monkey God. As the movie unfolded, the children were in awe. Somewhere they too wanted to be like Hanuman – the very embodiment of strength, power, wisdom and humility.

From Dusk to Dawn of life
Time just trickled away. But we wanted to capture this moment of joy and beauty albeit through a camera. So soon we all were smiling our best into the face of the camera saying ‘Cheese!’. We gave the shoes and a pair of socks along with some other stationery that we had brought with us to the care-taker of the children -Roopini Chandra. An amazing individual, Mrs. Roopini has been single-handedly nurturing and taking care of these little flowers. These children, abandoned by their own parents found a mother, father and a home in the warmth of her love. It was an emotional and touching moment for each one of us to bid farewell to the children. In just a matter of few hours, our lives had become intertwined with these little ones. Stephen Grellet had said - “I expect to pass through the world but once. Any good therefore that I can do, or any kindness I can show to any creature, let me do it now. Let me not defer it, for I shall not pass this way again." But the Navigators knew that in their voyage in Compassites towards new destinations, they shall always pass this way again and again.

View the smiles here