ഇനി എത്ര ദൂരം

 

An eye-opening visit to Salva Care – A home for the homeless ones

As humans, we always love to explore new places. I’m also that kind of person who loves to travel to different places. Spending a lot of time in new places always give a soothing experience for the soul. But sometimes life intentionally offers some new experiences for us in order to teach some lessons and make us realise how blessed we are. Recently, I got an opportunity to visit Salva Care, an old-age home, as part of the Unnat Bharat Abhiyan initiative. UBA provides opportunities for young people to contribute to the development of rural areas. For this, we made visits to various villages in order to find the gaps that existed there. As part of  it, we visited the Vettikkattiri village office and met Shyam Sir, the village officer. After various discussions about doing the activities, he suggested a place called Salva Care, which was the first time I had heard of it. He provided the contact number of their manager, and we decided to visit them.

 Yes, some visits are meant to happen. While going, we expected a normal old-age home. The staff there warmly welcomed us. But the life there really opened our eyes. The building looks calm and peaceful from the outside, but the emotions are very deep inside. There are a lot of humans who don’t actually know who they are, who their family is, or what their background is. Nothing… They simply don’t know about themselves. But they welcomed us with their pleasant faces. Their life moves as planned by certain generous people who are providing 24x7 for these innocent faces. They looked at us with full of curiosity in their eyes. Actually, they were happy that some people were there to meet them. Many of them live different lives inside their Salva home. One of them love birds so much that his day begins with feeding birds. Another loves to help others in doing things, and she always assists in doing household chores, but doesn’t interact with anyone. Some lives are set inside rooms where special arrangements are made for their bedridden conditions. Even though they welcomed us with pleasant faces, their eyes failed to hide the long-lasting traumas. The feelings of loneliness and sadness were flowing through their eyes, even if they didn’t want to show them. There comes a moment of stillness in me, the moment we realise the blessings that the Almighty has showered in our lives. When we complain about the small tests life puts us through, we do it without realising how blessed we are. We do have a healthy life, a caring family, a loving partner, a safe home, a decent job, etc., but what are we doing? Instead of showing gratitude, we all complain about the silly matters we go through. But there are some sections, some people in our society that deserve all these things, but still do not have them. Looking at their eyes, how can we complain about the silly matters in our lives? So always try to say thank you to the universe for giving all the blessings, because sometimes our minimum is someone’s maximum. 

Rajashree. V

Asst. Professor of Commerce,

Al Shifa College of Arts & Science, Keezhattur, Perinthalmanna