at the Naz Foundation...

I begin this post with great happiness and joy. I do not wish to bring in any sign of gloom or despair as there isn’t any actually. In fact I have never been so happy with life before. And maybe that is the reason which is forcing me to write tonight.

It will take me hard to forget their faces. Not so bright, not at all rosy, or glowing but there was happiness which I saw. Unconditional happiness! The little kids were somehow aware that they won’t have to strain their lungs for long. They knew they were not wanted. Being afflicted with AIDS, they knew they had very little potential. Yet they chose to be happy. I say that with conviction because such blissful expressions cannot be faked. They were children with an innate knowledge that the little life they have is too short for grief. And that is why amazingly I did not see them cry or fight in those 2 hours I spent with them. it seemed that the virtue of cooperation and team work was inbred in them. And all the team efforts led to a single goal, of celebrating the moment!

After meeting the kids, I am humbled down. I find myself very fortunate. I’ll be indebted to Tushar Kaudinya, who helped me open my eyes to reality. There is suffering, true. Brahma created it, Budha defined it, Gandhi fought it and we live it. I wonder how I in those sick children couldn’t find any pain. All they wanted was love. Yet they never asked for it. It was only natural on our part to transcend it to them.