Appealing to people to care for the children of Nepal, a Vedanta Group-backed NGO has said this is the time to help those who may have lost their dear ones. No money has been sought.
"Please take care of Nepali children and youth who you know in India. This is the time they need you -- maybe, some elderly people who have lost their loved ones in this calamity," said Pavan Kaushik of "Khushi" - a campaign that seeks to sensitise people towards care for the underprivileged and deprived children.
"Maybe as schools and colleges are destroyed, a number of children and youth may come to India to continue their education. Please help them," added Kaushik, whose movement has been backed by the Anil Agarwal-led Vedanta Group.
Speaking about how he came about being associated with Khushi, Kaushik -- who heads corpotrate communications at the Vedanta Group -- said years ago while getting down at the New Delhi Railway Station after a 40-hour journey from Karnataka with tons of baggage, a child, no more than six-seven years, started pulling his shirt, asking for money.
"As my hands were full of luggage and I had a bag on my shoulder, I was getting terribly irritated. In all this push and pull, my bag fell down and it opened. Everything inside the bag was on the road," he said.
"This was enough to push my patience and my hands did the rest. Everyone who passed looked at me with anger and disgust. No one helped me. Rather everyone only sympathised with the little child," he recollects.
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"Though I left the station, that guilt of letting lose my hand stayed with me. From that day, whenever I see a child begging, I experience that guilt. Today, after almost 24 years, I am attached with Vedanta's Khushi campaign."
"This is for the underprivileged children in India, for their education, for their nutrition, health -- I feel I am doing a bit for myself and for my country. My guilt has been now converted into energy."
Now the very first line which Khushi writes to members and patrons is: "Be polite to the children of the street - they are not on street by choice but by force."
According to Kaushik, India, with the largest child population in the world and almost a third of the world's malnourished children, must find a future for them and their welfare.
"Khushi encourages individual efforts. That's what the country needs today. The governments, non-government organisations and the corporates cannot do it alone."
He said the campaign now has some 50,000 members on Facebook from across the world -- and many want to donate money. "But Khushi is not about such monetary donations. It stands for donating time. We don't encourage or accept money."
Kaushik also wants people to share the experiences which many must be carrying about their feeling towards the underprivileged children in India. "Here is a chance to put value to life," he said.