When you christen a project, some part of it becomes yours.

We’re all ration-al, jobiliant  people here- trying to excel!

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We think life is happening some place in the future, but it's really not- it's happening right now, as you reach the end of this sentence. This is one thing I realised here. Most of life isn't made up of big things- it's all the small things, disguised sometimes as microscopic. It's the morning 10 am meetings, the small talk, the conversations we try to initiate, the awkward pauses- it's all part of the package.

 It's when a website (exotel) greets you in different languages, when you see some emoji you use catch on, when someone looks through their gifs to find the right one. It's all of this and more.

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CALL IT BY A NAME

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 I joined as a completely unsuspecting volunteer, I named it because everything worthwhile deserves to be called by a name. I’ve always been skeptical of meeting people and warming up to them online but I don't think it would be a long shot to say that I’ve made some friends here. Friends who looked out for each other, who checked up on you- sometimes even if to only ask the status of a particular case; it made me realise the dormant need for human communication within me, and by extension of my arrogant homogeneity- in all of us.

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THE WORK

 

The work we’re doing is simple. In three words: food, work, home.

We are calling people- people who build our homes, our institutions, people whose name is only engraved on the bricks beneath our polished walls and asking them if they’re okay . We are telling them about their rights that entitle them to a basic comfortable life. We are the link between what people need and what is out there, waiting for them- theirs to claim and hold. 

I was happy being part of the chain. It was the first time my number was the helpline number for something, it's quite a responsibility. In whatever way possible, I like to believe we got things moving, we got things in place. We got some people home. We got some people food. We got some people jobs. While I may not have been pivotal in any of these processes, for the first time in a while, I felt happy to be part of a team, to be a cog in this machine, to be a tiny link. 

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In whatever little ways, the calls I made, the conversations I had, the excel sheets I stared at- all make me admire the little things all over again. I am reminded of why I chose to do this work each time a worker says a simple 'shukriya'- and in the contrary too. when a worker is a little frustrated because they can't have something that's theirs by right, it is the system that's failing them- and that reminds me all the more why I'm here at Jharconnect. There was one phone call when the worker said- 'aap ki hi toh dua hai 'when he received some extra ration through some help of mine suddenly meant the greatest thing to ever happen to me. I've been on a quest for

selfless deeds, truly selfless deeds all my life- and Jharconnect made me get there a step further.

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The initial skepticism of help when they pick up the call, the desperate tones when they talk of their needs, the internalized state of their being. The women, the children, the houses and what a phone call can do. There's so much information,so many initiatives, so much hesitant uncertain goodwill. Help dilutes, intentions dilute and actions dilute- but it's important that we keep stirring long after the dust has settled- because every call matters

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OTHER THINGS I HAVE LEARNT

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It is possible for 60 people to work on one excel sheet

Data is beautiful.

Organisation of information is key

Zoom games night can be really fun if done right

Typography is important. One must not do kachra of fonts and colours.

If the cause is resonated, friends are easy to make,

Always make the small talk- it's not that small after all.

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All of this reminds me that kindness is actually just one call away.

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