Today I visited the Cheshire Home in Andheri with my colleagues under an event organized by volunteers as a part of CSR i.e. Corporate Social Responsibility.
To know more about Cheshire home please visit :
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Earlier there were more than 90 people with disability/physically handicapped in this home but now only 26 are left. Every person there is disable in some or the other way but they all are so full of life and enthusiasm. They welcome you with open heart, greet you with a genuine and big smile. Almost every person is trained in some skill like tailoring or statue making.
idol making
These people are living here since many years , few as early as from 1984. They do go out of this campus but not so far. Means they are living in a loose isolation. When you visit them they welcome you, greet you, offer you seat and they are always eager to talk to you. All they want is someone to listen their story, someone to talk to them.
We went there and first of all we were introduced to Cheshire home, what it is? When was it opened? what is the motive of this institution and what volunteers like us can do for them. Then we visited people in their room or in their workshops where they were making idols of Lord Ganesha and Jesus. Some were tailoring. Then we played games with them. They all actively participated in the game and were very happy. We had lunch with them.
It all was a wonderful event.
It brings a great satisfaction seeing someone smiling because of you. At the end of the event when I was passing by a room I saw a very thin person lying in bed and reading newspaper. I asked him whether he had lunch or not? "yes I had, Good after noon , please have a seat" , these were the words of Sambhaji Jadhav with a big smile on his face. I took a seat and he started asking me about me and our group and then he started telling me about himself. Jadhav ji has been there since 1984 i.e. 28 long years. He had an accident and an unsuccessful surgery for scoliosis. He could not pursue his education beyond the 9th standard. To add to his misery his physical problem include the left side kidney not working properly and problems related to malfunction of his bladder and bowels. But did minimal education and health stop him from touching the stars...?? He won international greeting card competition two times, in 1991 and 1994. Cheshire home was visited by Prince Charles in 2003 and Jadhav ji Gave him a greeting card and in return Prince Charles send thank you letter to him. His one Marathi poem book has been published, "mam aatmanaa". Till now he has contributed around more than thirty thousand rupees for Cheshire home itself by selling greeting cards only.
In addition to this he has many more achievements to tell you, to tell the world.
I made a small video of 8 minutes of him (with his permission) to show my friends how to live life without regretting anything, to show them how to thank The Almighty for whatever He has given to us, To show them not to curse for what we do not have.
Next time you go to buy greeting cards from Archies , think of him once. Next time when all your friends are busy and you are getting bored, do visit him. Next time you are planning to waste 3 hours in a movie, do visit him. Next Saturday do visit him.
All they need is your TIME!!!
(you can donate any kind of gift like towel, soap, stationary or educational toys)
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Nice place. Thanks to share about this home. ,Old age homes in Bangalore
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