A Little Bit Of Help Goes A Long Way By Abhijit Gupta 05th Jul 2019

There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark.

This famous quote of Hellen Keller’s finds much fruition through the action of a 9-year-old Hridaan Popuri of Singapore.

A kid who sacrificed his birthday presents to gift eyesight to 2 unknown individuals from rural Bihar. 

A student of standard 3 of the Singapore American School in Singapore, Hridaan has always been moved by the plight of the lesser fortunate among us.  This benevolence has also led him to be a part of the ‘Care for Cambodia’ club at school.

Recently Hridaan, accompanying his parents, attended Akhand Jyoti’s 1^st overseas fundraising event in Singapore.  It was really amazing to see that how a 9-year-old could be so deeply moved by the plight of blind and indigent people in rural Bihar, in India – the country of his ancestral origin.

Many philanthropists pledged and came forward with their contributions at the event. Hridaan’s parents also came forward to provide support for 14 cataract surgeries. 

Amidst these acts of goodness, Hridaans shy voice really touched everyone’s heart –

I too want to help someone get back his eyesight.

Hridaan was thanked much and explained the ways, in which he could contribute, by members of Akhand Jyoti team.  He was much impressed with Akhand Jyoti’s “Pledge on Your Birthday” donation bucket.  This donation bucket allows a potential donor to request his/ her birthday invitees, not to bring any gifts, but donate an equal amount towards sight-restoring surgeries conducted by Akhand Jyoti.

Hridaan went on to donate his birthday gift money to support sight-restoring surgeries at Akhand Jyoti. 

There is much to learn from Hridaan’s contribution. 

Like money in itself has it’s limitation in satisfying us. It’s not because of the money, but because of what we can do with the money. That’s what makes having it meaningful. 

Our ‘Why’ is what gives our money its true purpose.  What we do with it makes all the difference.  It’s what makes having it and then spending it worthwhile. 

In the end, it’s not about how much money we make, but what we do with that money. We know the famous expression, which says money can’t buy happiness. Yet, it’s also important to know that it can be used to help someone address their basic needs. Like access health services, and pave pathways to their dreams. It can light up lives by restoring hope and rekindling faith. 

So the pathway to finding great happiness through spending your money, is to make sure it helps others. Hridaan has found this out at a very early age, which is why we believe that his money and happiness will always compound in life.

Here we really appreciate the efforts of his parents in nurturing the seed of ‘helping others’ in his tender mind.

He understands that the happiness of others is our happiness, and so is the pain. This is because we are all connected.

Can you feel that connection?

So let’s support our fellow brothers and sisters, the hard working rural men and women, alienated from many basic necessities in life, the hungry, the lost, and the blind. Let’s value their work and existence, and support each other’s vision. A little help can go a long way.

Your support would put us one step closer in attaining our goal to make Bihar blind-free by 2022, in our efforts to eradicate curable blindness from low-income geographies.