Those 1700 Rs.

Hello everyone ...
It's been such a long time that I haven't written anything. I was so much busy and am still working on lot of things which must be done asap. I promised Fakhar and Saad Ansari that I will blog about them but there's so much goin around lately that I don't even have time for myself. I downloaded few movies, thought I would see them but It's like almost a month and I couldn't spare few hours for that too.
Today, A quiz of Numerical Methods, was to be held and I was in no mood to give that after what happened few days back with me in university. Luckily it got cancelled and may be it's tomorrow and I haven't even opened the mail and seen the topics.
So there are a lot of things that happened and the best among them was that #SkyNewsArabia happened.

Yeah ! We (Revolution Flame) partnered an event of Planet Heroes and I was busy in my Mid Terms at that time. We asked two ambassadors to prepare a quiz competition which we were to execute there. That event was all about imparting awareness among the students about hazards of pollution and how can we protect our environment. Somehow both the ambassadors couldn't make it and then Ramsha came to the rescue. She represented us there and the best part was that a Saudi News Channel reporter, Suoad Raoudi came to cover that. She really like the innovative quiz competition we organized and she interviewed Ramsha in which she briefed her about the RQuad Project on which we were working day and night.
Revolution Flame logo on Planet Heroes Poster

RQuad focuses on awareness regarding the waste segregation so the things which can be recycled could be recycled, that would not only help reduce the waste we produce but also ensure a cleaner and greener environment. Suoad Raoudi left her visiting card and told us that she will do a separate story on us as this is something new in Pakistan and much needed. Nobody's working on it and the worst scenario is that officials of city administration do not know what to do with the waste they collect. So what we are trying to do is something 'Legendary' !

You can check our project at -> RQuad
RQuad Revolution Flame Project

Anyways firstly when Suoad called for the interview, I wasn't available and somehow that got delayed and next time when she called then unfortunately one of our team member couldn't make it. But rest of us did!  Here is one memorable moment of my life, when I saw myself on Sky News Arabia !

Sky news Arabia Interview RQuad at Seronic Islamabad

You can see this whole video on Sky News Arabia!

Some people are just happy to make it to local media but getting some recognition for the good and noble work you are doing and seeing yourself on international media is something which you feel so proud and satisfied. You wont believe that feeling, which I had got when I showed that to my dad. That smile on his face and those teary eyes said it all. I can't express that feeling in words ... It's like you can't be a better son.

I know I irritate him alot. Mum keeps saying, 'Go get some sleep! Go Study! What about your Final Year Project? Don't you have anything else to do? You keep sitting on this laptop whole day long'
But you know what You feel satisfied that 'At least you are doing something, something that matters to world. A little something that would somehow ignite a change, would make people re-think the way they are thinking right now. You are working for a cause, a cause with such a massive impact. Though I am not getting any financial benefit by spending so much time on it but what I get is respect and love from my team members which I would say is far better than million dollars, At least I am doing something for them. everyone lives for themselves but living for others is actually that matters.'

Today was just another day but what moved me was the stone-heart attitude of people who lived in my neighborhood. Fine you have 5 jeeps parked in your triple story home, fine you are doctors, teachers, engineers and army generals. Fine you run a school, work in media or God knows what what, Fine you earn around 60-100k per month but you are just walking dead meat if you can't give 1700 Rs. to a woman who was crying on the road, whose child was dying in the hospital right next your door.

I went outside, I saw her, She was constantly saying out loud, 'I am not a beggar, My child is dying, Please help me, I need money to buy an injection, Please anyone ... Her cries turned into sobs and then there was dead silence' She kept knocking all the doors. No one came out! Those who did, were so rude to her. Her face spoke of the pain she was going through!

Tell me that if we are not to help such persons that what's the purpose of our money? Have we became so selfish that if we give her 1700 Rs. we would become poor? When I see such state of affairs happening in front of my eyes I have to say at least I am better than them, I feel the pain, I share the sorrow, I know what it feels like to be at that place.

No one wants their mother to go out on streets and beg like that! Even if you are a mother or someday you would be, you wouldn't like to do that ... But she had to because she had no choice! She had already lost two kids and the last one was on death bed awaiting an injection which only worth 1700 Rs. I really felt that life has become so cheap that we just let a child die and keep the money to ourselves?

Who so ever is reading this and has made it this far, I would just request you to at least Re-think what we are doing right now. Those 1700 Rs. which we just throw away on a pizza meant a life to her son. Those 1700Rs...

When I was talking to her, she kept saying that, 'Please pray for my child!' I told her that do not worry, 'He would regain health and she needs not to worry, we are with her!'
But one line that just reduced me to tears was ...


'Beta ! Ghareebi Maar Daytii Hai' 
(Son! Poverty Kills!)


and she kept repeating that before she left! I did what I could and I pray that her son gets well and she never has to do that again. But next time, if you see someone in pain then please do help them. Those 1700 Rs. don't mean a lot to you but they meant a world to her.

#ReThink #BeABetterPerson #MakeADifference