“About six months ago, I was going back home when I saw an old man wrestling with a dog on the side of the road. When I looked closely, I realised that the dog had a roti in his mouth and the old man was struggling to get a piece of it. That sight impacted me deeply.

When I thought of others like this old man, who was almost my grandparents’ age and were on the streets – fighting for a roof over their head and starving, I knew I had to do something.
So I started volunteering at old age homes. I’d spend time with them, help them gather resources and do everything in my capacity to help. I remember, once, at one of the old age homes, they were in desperate need of a van. They needed it to be able to make daily trips at night and easily rescue old people stranded on the streets. They needed about 5 lakhs to purchase it but had no idea where to get the money from. So I decided to take it upon myself to make it happen. I used my social network to spread the word and started a fundraising campaign. I wanted to reach every person I knew and make sure they reach people they knew. The word passed on so quickly that we managed to collect about 12 lakhs! We used that money to buy a van and gave the rest to other old age homes in need.

The van arrived last week and when we rescued our senior from the streets — I felt happiness like I can’t describe. 

I’m 15 years old, but I want to dedicate the rest of my life to this cause. I remember talking to this rescued woman who constantly kept saying–’mujhe ghar jaana hai’ (I want to go home), when she didn’t even have a home. Through all this, I am constantly reminded of how alone, ignored and deprived of love they are. So for as long as I can, I want to make this world a better place for them to live in and I want to make sure they know that they’re not alone.”

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