Anand Vaidya & Team - PUKAR Youth Fellowship 2010-11: Guddu Sapre

Guddu Sapre - A True Human Being

- Anand Vaidya

Guddu

He is just 19 years old. He was abandoned by his mother in a train when he was just 2 years old. He considers himself an orphan. He spent his last 17 years in government hostels for orphans battling all odds & difficulties. He told me once that whenever a crime took place nearby, the police used to come to their orphans hostel, round some of them up, file fake charge sheets against them. Only last year he got an opportunity to work as 'barefoot researcher' at PUKAR. Topic of his research was 'difficulties faced by orphans'. This year he & his group has chose to research on 'can middle-class boys & girls be friends with each other ?'.

It was Sunday, 26 September. I along with my team members Chanda & Sharda had come for the Open House at the PUKAR Office. Guddu was also there. In the morning session, some fellows were asked to become volunteers for an activity that PUKAR staff had planned. Activity required volunteers to make pairs, one member will blindfold the other member, both members will keep a safe distance of 5 feet between them, blindfolded member will walk around the office only listening to the instructions from his partner. As activity was interesting everyone, including us, went outside to see how each pair was performing.

As Chanda & Sharda walk with the help of crutches we were walking very slowly and were left behind. I also wanted to take some photos of the activity but could not leave my team members alone. Guddu saw this. He just asked me for my camera. He started taking photos of us walking & also of the activity. He took some 20 nice photos.

I started thinking to myself, this 19 year old boy, raised in an orphanage, could think of my problem & took initiative to take photos for me. Whether the act is small or big, does not matter to me. What matters to me is that he thought and he did it. That is why I called him 'A True Human Being'.

I immediately wrote an email praising his kind act and forwarded it to Executive Director of PUKAR Dr Anita Patil-Deshmukh, Project Director of PUKAR Youth Fellowship Mr Rajendra Jadhav, Project Coordinators Mr Sunil Gangavane, Mr Kapil Chavan, Mrs Amrapali Dalvi, Office Manager Mr Bharat Gangurde, Guddu Sapre & to all my team members. Below is the email that I wrote :

"Dear All,

As you are aware my team members are coming for every workshop/open house. As they are physically disabled I have to come along with them. All these workshops/open house I strongly noticed one thing that I had to ask for help from other youth fellows, or if they are told to make groups they always made groups among themselves only.

The incident I am referring is when I came with my team members Chanda Jagde & Sharda Jitekar for Open House on 26 September, 2010. We were given an activity in the morning session where all of us would walk around Pukar office.

All of us went outside. But as Chanda & Sharda had to walk with the help of calipers, we were walking slowly. I also wanted to take snaps of the activity. On seeing this, Guddu himself came up to me & told me that he will take snaps for me. And he took some 20 snaps of us walking & the activity that was going on.

The point of sharing this story with you :

Guddu has been raised in an Orphanage. He himself thought & helped me take snaps from my camera. I did not have to ask him 'can you please help me?'.

Whereas other youth fellows, who are raised by their respective parents, did not even think that I might need some help.

I sincerely appreciate Guddu for his own initiative to offer help...my many many thanks to you Guddu.

Regards,

Anand Vaidya & Team"

First reply that I got was from Executive Director of PUKAR Dr Anita Patil-Deshmukh. She wrote in her reply

"Dear Anand:

Thank you so much for sharing this experience ans for appreciating Guddu's offer to help. Guddu it was very thoughtful of uyou have offered to help! I appreciate that kind and humane spirit much

As PUKAR Team we perhaps need to make concerted efforts to make other youth fellows more aware and less scared of rendering help to you and being more aware.

Thanks again for sharing this eye opening experience.

anita"

Project Director Mr Rajendra Jadhav wrote me a very interesting & thoughtful reply,

"प्रिय आनंद,

आपण OPEN HOUSE किंवा WORKSHOP मध्ये जेव्हा - जेव्हा लहान लहान ग्रुप बनविण्यास सांगतो तेव्हा तेव्हा ते ग्रुप DIFFERENTLY ABLE मेंबर ला वगळून बनविणे जातात/ बनतात. याचे व्यक्तीशः मला खूप वाईट वाटते. मनाला खूप वेदना होतात. मात्र आपण ज्या व्यवस्थेचे घटक आहोत अशा समाजाला हि माणसे अडचण वाटते. परिस्थिती वाईट आणि गंभीर आहे. मात्र आपण यात काही बदल घडवू शकू, अशी अशा आणि खात्री आहे. अखेर उम्मीद पे दुनिया कायम है!
माणूस जे दुःख भोगतो त्याची त्याला जाणीव असते. गुड्डू ने आपल्या १८-२० वर्षांच्या आयुष्यात जे भोगले आहे. त्यामुळे त्याला बहिष्कृत जीवनाची तीव्र जाणीव आहे, ती जाणीव त्या तुलनेत जे सुरक्षित जीवन जगले आहेत, त्यांना होत नाही. आपण सारे एका मुक्कामाचे प्रवासी एका जागेवरून प्रवास सुरु करतो तेव्हा आपल्यातले काही साथी मागे राहून गेले आहेत याची साधी जाणीवही होवू नये हे दुर्दैव आहे.
या बाबतची संवेदना जर आपण एक वर्षाच्या प्रक्रियेत निर्माण करू शकलो तर आपण मोठ यश मिळवलं अस मला वाटत.
परिस्थिती भीषण आहे मात्र बदल घडेल अशी अशा आहे आणि आपण नक्की एवढा बदल घडवू शकू याची खात्री ही आहे आणि याच साठी तर आपण एकत्र आलो आहोत.
गुड्डू मध्ये तर गेल्या दोन वर्षाच्या प्रक्रियेत जे बदल आणि प्रगल्भता आली आहे, त्याचा मला खरेच अभिमान वाटतो.
तू स्वतः देखील गटातील सदस्यांना ज्या प्रकारची मदत देत असतो ते तुझ्यातील माणसाची ओळख देत असते.
तुझ्या निमित्ताने या प्रवासात एक खराखुरा सोबती मिळाला, असे वाटते.

राजेंद्र"

My team member Ms Manisha Bhurke wrote,

"प्रिय आनंद,

तू पाठवलेली गुड्डू सप्रेने स्वःमनाने केलेल्या मदतीची मेल वाचून मी तुला फोन केला; पण खर तर तुझ्याप्रमाणेच आम्ही सर्वानीही मेल पाठवून त्याचे आपल्या टीमच्यावतीने आभार मानून कौतुक करणेही आमचे जाणीवपूर्वक कर्तव्य आहे कारण हल्ली जेथे मागून मदत मिळत नाही तेथे गुड्डूने ती न सांगता, न मागता स्वतःहून केली ही गोष्ट खरच प्रशंसा करून वाखाणण्यासारखी आहे तसेच अशाच छोट्या-छोट्या गोष्टीतून माणुसकीची जाणीव होते ती टिकवण्यासाठी आपणही आपल्यापरीने त्याची मनापासून कदर करून त्वरित त्याची पोचपावती देणेही तितकेच जरुरी आहे जे तू आमच्यावतीने केलेस व दुसऱ्याच्या कर्तुत्वाची जाहीरपणे प्रशंसा करून दाद दयायलाही खूप मोठे मन लागते जे तुझ्याकडे असल्याचा गेल्या ७-८ महिन्यातील माझा स्वःनुभव आहे तर गुड्डूने स्वःप्रेरणेने मदत केल्याबद्दल व तू त्याने केलेल्या मदतीची सहृदय जाण ठेवून आमच्यावतीने त्याचे आभार मानल्याबद्दल आपल्याटीमतर्फे तुम्हा दोघांचे शतशः आभार; असे म्हणता येईल की तुम्ही दोघ पुकारचा जो माणसातील विचारशक्ती व माणुसकी जागवण्याचा उद्देश आहे त्याचे प्रतिनिधित्व करून तो उद्देश सफल होत असल्याचे प्रतिक आहात.

पुन्हा एकदा तुम्हा दोघांचे व पुकारच्या सर्व कार्यकर्त्यांचे आभार.

मनिषा"

And finally just read what Guddu himself had to say in his reply to me about all this,

"Dear Anand Vaidya & team

अरे आभार मानण्याचा प्रश्न च येत नाही मी आपल काम केल या पुढे thanks नको बोलु जर अस बोललास तर अस वाटत कि परक्याला मदत केली

THANKS YAAR......

Regards

Guddu Sapre"

What else can I say about you Guddu...you are a true human being!

Below are some of the photos that Guddu clicked from my camera :