When I was a little girl, my elder sister used to narrate to me the story of a little boy who was very poor and had to go walking across a lonely forest to reach his school. His mother was very poor and weak and could not afford to accompany him everyday to the school. The little boy used to get very scared walking alone in the woods and often told his mother about his fears. To instill strength in the young boy's mind, his mother told him that he should call out to Lord Krishna when he got scared; and said that the Lord will come to help him whenever he was scared. The very next day, when the little boy was going through the forest and he heard the roar of a lion, he called out to Krishna; and heard the Lord call out to him. It then became a regular theme each day; the Lord appeared and narrated stories to the little boy as he walked to and from his school.
One day, the teacher asked all the students to bring gifts and presents for each other. The little boy went back home and asked his mother for a present to take back to school. His mother was poor; and was struggling to meet both ends, the present was something she could not afford. She asked her son to ask Lord Krishna for the present. While going through the forest, the little boy called out to his friend (the Lord had by now become his friend) and asked for a present. Shri Krishna gave a little jug of milk to the boy. The little boy took it happily to school and gave it to his teacher when he was asked. Other students in the class had brought fancy presents; and this earthern jug full of milk looked very simple and humble among all the gifts.
Then the teacher poured the milk from the jug into a vessel, the jug refilled magically. the teacher tried to empty the jug again, and again the jug got refilled. They tried to do this a number of times, and no matter how many times they tried, the jug refilled with milk! The teacher and the other students were astonished; and they asked him with curiosity as to where he got the magical jug from - The little boy said with innocence that he got it from his Lord Krishna.
The teachers and students wanted to see the Lord; and asked the little boy to take them to show them their beloved Lord. The little boy took them along to the forest and called out - Shri Krishna, please come, my friends and teachers want to see you. There the Lord came; but the teachers and students could not see; it was only the little boy who could see his Lord. Such is the power of faith and belief, even God will appear and give you what you want; this is the moral of the story; my sister would say to me; and by the time my sister came to this moral of the story, I would either be fast asleep or be lost in dreams about finding Lord Krishna like the little boy one day on my way to school and asking him to give me a magical bowl of chocolates! :-)
I have always felt so blessed that the divine has gifted me with the basics I need - food, shelter, clothing and good schooling. Whenever I see a little kid at the traffic signal selling something; it's just heartwrenching; I just feel such a strong urge to do something about it; could I pull him/her from there and take them to school somehow? Could I do something to show them how much fun school is; how much it can make their life better? Then there is reality that kicks in and tells me; they need to feed their hunger first; knowledge and games cannot satitate hunger.
So, when I see a movement like "AkshayaPatra" http://www.akshayapatra.org/; empowering little minds to study and think in the right way; the story I narrated above flashes back to my mind; and a strong wish to support and be part of such a movement; overwhelmes me. Truly only in a healthy body can a thoughtful mind evolve; and it is so important for these young children to feel secure and to not have to worry about their daily food in their growing up years. We need many such movements to rid our nation of poverty & child labour.
Just like the poor mother who instilled in her son the faith that the Lord will help him out in his times of trouble; "AkshayaPatra" instills the faith that there is someone going beyond the thought of helping these kids; and actually doing something to try and make a difference. True to it's name; like the jug of milk that was always overflowing, may the very good work done here, attain the strength & magnitude to overflow beyond it's horizons, may this movement be able to supplant the hunger for food in every single child in our country; by the quest for knowledge & instill strength in them as they grow up, to use their learnings constructively to create a better life for themselves and live by true & honest values.
At this thought, my mind slips into a childlike imagination, if I could don the role of the little kid walking in the forest alone; then with the power of his innocent faith and belief; the Lord would appear and say "Tathastu!!" :-)
Does it need the Lord to appear, may be not, you and me can make this happen together; come join me; visit http://www.akshayapatra.org/ and be a part of this beautiful movement; powering these young and healthy minds!
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