Gussie Fink-Nottle and I

When Mrs. Dahlia Travers wants someone to hand out the prizes at the Market Snodsbury Grammer school, she calls her nephew Bertie Wooster, who cleverly wriggles out of the assignment by roping in his friend Gussie Fink-Nottle. As Mrs. Travers says, they are not very choosy at the Market Snodsbury Grammer School and a newt lover is as good as any body else. Gussie Fink-Nottle horrified at the prospect of having to make a speech takes Bertieś advice and has a drink(s) to fortify himself for the ordeal.

Unfortunately, I could not do what Gussie Fink-Nottle did when NATURE NGO called me to be the Chief Guest at their annual function. More horror was waiting for me when I realized I would have to speak in Hindi. Now I can talk in Hindi. I can even curse in Hindi but I cannot make a speech in Hindi. All I could fortify myself was a glass of pepsi, which I should not drink but nothing stronger was available. I came out of the ordeal pretty okay but I am still shaken up. I cannot imagine anything worse than spouting advice in public. Yeesh! All I can do in such situations is to recall how I used to sit in the back as a school student giggling at the Chief guest, stifling a yawn and when I can get out. And the chief guest would drone on and on and on and on....ad infinitum.

On serious note: NATURE NGO is a venture of three sisters all of whom are blind. They are amazing. One of them is at Daulat Ram College. She commutes from Moti Bagh, where she and her husband live, to North Campus, from there to Raja Garden, and then back home every day. The other sister, Amita, is a teacher at Govt. School, Tagore Garden, and is the prime mover behind this venture. And finally, the younger sister who also participates. They have one brother who is also blind.
The NGO runs a formal school called Gyan Jyoti at Raghubir Nagar, a JJ colony near Raja Garden. They have classes from Class I to V and about 80 children are attending it. They have partial funding from Noon.ch, a Swiss funding agency and are searching for an organization who can fund the remaining budget.

The program was fun. But what was really nice to see was the way the children behaved with Amita and her sisters. That sensitivity is sorely lacking in our society.