I Sold Hand-Made Book-Marks to Help the Needy’

VEDANTA KHUSHI

Vedanta Khushi is a social media campaign that started off to spread the awareness towards care for the underprivileged children – their Nutrition – Education – Health and overall development in India. Through its blog, www.khushi-creatinghappiness.blogspot.in, Vedanta Khushi posts motivating heart touching experiences and stories of people who have helped underprivileged children through their own ways.

This incident is when I was in my fifth grade in Tagore International School in New Delhi, when my classmate’s mother gave us a presentation on her NGO which was helping the deaf and dumb children. I was a very enthusiastic student. I was the first one to jump-up when the teacher asked who would like to contribute to this cause. The teacher smiled and that made me even more confident to contribute something, but yet in a different way.
I wasn’t thinking about asking my parents for money ….. I had something else going on in my head. I decided, I would like to earn money myself and would give it to the NGO. First I thought of collecting money from my colony by promoting the NGO project, but I thought of the other kids, who would laugh at me, since I were suppose to go door-to-door and ask for the same. Many thoughts came into my mind, but finally I made up my mind to make something on my own and sell it in the school during the upcoming event itself. I felt proud within, but now the question was “What to sell?”
I began thinking what would my classmates prefer to buy, something in handmade? Paper bags, boxes, pen stand, book-marks etc. was all I could think of. The idea that struck was to make book-marks with catchy quotes on them, decorate them with ribbons, stars, sparkles and many more things. I made 40-45 bookmarks on my own with no help from my parents or friends.
Deciding the price was another issue. Being a kid I honestly had decided to at least keep some amount of money with myself as I wanted to experience the feeling of spending the money earned by myself.
The event day came. My stall was an instant hit. Not only my fellow class-mates but parents of children also bought them. I was too small to give complete finishing like book-marks available in the market, but I felt, more then my book-marks, people appreciated my thought behind.
I was accompanied by my senior teachers and they helped me throughout the selling. I earned Rs. 620 in exact figures and very honestly kept half of the money with me and donated rest to the NGO.
What a feeling it was… after so many years…. Now I am in eleventh.. I still smile remembering the day. My ex-classmate and her mother surprisingly remember me even today. “Khushi” has given me a platform to write my experience, and more than this, I feel like doing some thing more again.
One needs a heart for giving… and that is why the feeling of satisfaction and contentment also lasts long.
Pranjal, Udaipur