Karmaveeras of India

-- Surya S Prakash

Monday, January 25, 2021

On such important National Days of India, as Republic Day, it is good we remember the positive notes country has, the progress country has made, the highs the country has achieved. Every country has its own highs and lows as country is made of people and people have different minds. The collective effort of a country’s citizens makes the country grow and glow. Towards achieving the glory of the country, apart from aiming for technological and scientific achievements, financial strength, medical feats etc we, the citizens, should also pay heed to the issues faced by the society in which we live in.

Some noble souls we call, ‘Karmaveers” across the religions and caste, have taken it upon themselves to shoulder this responsibility with a sole motive that, “I am that ‘somebody’, who should begin doing it and continue doing it”. This is the greatness of India, encompassing all religions and castes under one umbrella called “The Indian”. These citizens had the motive to do and sustained doing the noble work not waiting for any recognition nor appreciation from any quarters. If this recognition has come it has come as a by-product and not as a goal to achieve the recognition. One of the TV channels took it up as Social Corporate Responsibility (CSR) to showcase such noble souls and spread the message of selflessness to the society at large.

The viewers of a popular TV show, have come across these episodes I am sure. These are mostly unsung heroes of the Indian Society who are doing yeomen service to the society by helping the poor and downtrodden in their own way. There is a long list of such noble souls doing the selfless service.

The striking trait in all these noble souls is one thing: Selfless service. Some of the Karmaveers are poor financially but their indomitable spirit of serving a cause to uplift the society in which they are living knew no bounds. It is good we know about some of these karmaveeras:

Brij Mohan Bharadwaj and Madhuri Bharadwaj: social workers and the founders of Apna Ghar – a chain of shelters for the homeless. Apna Ghar has got 21 ashrams across the country that gives shelter to more than 4,000 homeless people.

Sylvester Peter Sylvester discovered the everlasting consequence of improper education like corruption, drugs, crime, negativity, etc that these kids were receiving, and at a very young age of 13, he decided to act upon the situation. He started My Angels Academy to impart the right education to underprivileged children living in slum areas. His motto is: attaining moral values is as significant as becoming a scholar or a professional footballer.

Usha Khare: With the help of higher officials of the school education department, principal Usha Khare has been able to transform the Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Jahangirabad, which she heads – so much so that it no longer looks like a typical government school. The school, in which 1,200 girls study, has Wi-Fi and the students use Tablets for study. It is one of the few state government schools which impart instruction in the English language.

Bezwada Wilson: He is the founder of the cleaning worker Andolan (SKA). He has been awarded the Ramon Magsaysay Award in 2016. He never believed he is an ordinary citizen and made a difference to the by standing up against the society when the so-called scavengers were treated as untouchables.

Karimul Haque: The ambulance man and he received Padma Shri for his selfless work. A tea garden worker, he began doing this work of utilizing his motor bike as ambulance for the under privileged to transport them from remote areas to the nearby hospitals. He also learnt first aid and saved many lives from near death.

Many more such karmaveeras are there who are now being recognized by the society thanks to the electronic social media and the TV channels. But lets’ remember even if these karmaveeras were not recognized by the society, they will continue doing their selfless and noble work.

SALUTATIONS to all such noble souls wo are making a difference to sections of the society through their selfless dedication.

JAI HIND