So Why Are You Here
Konish Naidu, Sunbird Team member, writes about how he came to be an integral part of the Sunbird Trust organisation. He addresses the question ‘So, why are you here?’ which has been thrown at him multiple times. He hopes the readers will understand through his story and pictures, something that he could not explain verbally earlier. Here is his candid story.
“I cannot play with boys, they are too strong.” she said. I profusely tried to convince Farah to play football with the boys in a friendly football match while I was coaching underprivileged children in Bangalore, as a volunteer in Magic Bus. She got the ball and scored a goal, her reaction still brings a smile to my face till date. She ran all the way across the field and hugged me tightly, I was at a loss of words. This was quite a long time ago but recalling it always gives me a delightful feeling.
If someone told me one year ago, that I would be sitting here high up in the hills of Manipur, planning the campus of a new school, I would think they were delusional. While all my companions were biting their nails and waiting on their placements in multinational companies, I was still waiting for a sign or an indication from the universe for me to find my calling.
Couple of months went by and I still was a young man without a plan. Time wasn’t slowing down and I wasn’t getting anywhere either. At this point, I am sure some of you will be expecting the occurrence of a life changing incident that gave me direction and purpose of my being, but unfortunately there wasn’t any such incident but it was me just being a little more observant of my surroundings. The fear of me not being able to find a job compelled me to dig deeper not just into myself but also explore the intricate system of people we call “society”. There is so much more to us than what meets the eye. Being in a metropolitan, sometimes the pace of life never really allows us to notice the truth which is omnipresent but is never acknowledged or is often ignored. Growing as individuals has become a priority for the majority, it is essential but growing selfishly can do only harm and comes at the cost of advancement of others. I worked for a short time with children in Bangalore through a couple of organizations and it did not take me even a week to realise that the biggest victims in this entire façade are the children, who are deprived of education and don’t even have a chance at life. My curiosity eventually evolved into a passion that helped me bridge an emotional connect with the people around me.
However, at that point of time there was very little I could do and I had to come back to reality and finish my Civil Engineering, but over time my passion only grew stronger and fortunately for me an opportunity came in the form of Col Christopher Rego who has dedicated himself to the people in need and started an organization in places where nobody dared to enter. Sunbird Trust, Col’s brainchild has been doing phenomenal to bring peace in the most violent and desolate parts of North East India through education. This is not an advertisement for my organization and neither am I disregarding the work done by the work done by other organizations but knowing the political and social instability of the area, people usually shy away from even visiting the North East let alone work here. The organization has touched the lives of so many people in places that are non-existent to the rest of the country. On hearing about the work and learning more about the place from Col Rego, my heart was set and my mind was made up. I am now officially part of Sunbird Trust working in the remotest, highly inaccessible but most beautiful regions of India.
Many a time this particular question gets thrown at my face ‘Why are you doing “social service” after engineering?’. I honestly don’t have a proper answer for it, but only hope they realise there is so much more they can do for others and in doing so they will welcome fulfillment and true satisfaction in their lives.
People often love to criticize the government, organizations and most of all society , but fail to understand that they are society. They love to demand quick change but not to mention, don’t comprehend that all good things take time.
Why should you wait for the world to change?
