International Day Of Charity

International day of charity,

I remember seeing this beautiful posters of Audrey Hepburn in sepia tones  one that said,

“For attractive lips, speak words of kindness.
For lovely eyes, seek out the good in people.
For a slim figure, share your food with the hungry.
For beautiful hair, let a child run his fingers through it once a day.
For poise, walk with the knowledge you’ll never walk alone.

And another that said

Remember, if you ever need a helping hand, you’ll find one at the end of your arm.
As you grow older, you will discover that you have two hands: one for helping yourself, the other for helping others.

I wonder, when I organize a langar, people say “bless you” oh! You are just like your father, between you and me, my father was kind and generous but he valued energy exchange it is my mother who is does charity, but when I ask why is there a situation where people have no food, then I am either a communist, or an anti-establishment.

Where I stand if I give something out of choice because I feel so then it is charity, but if it is demanded of me, then it is a polite word for extortion. Charity to me comes with a subtle hierarchy,  I prefer the word share.

Anyway the UN commemorates the death of Mother Theresa as the international day of charity. Mother Theresa born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu in 1910, came to india in 1928, became an indian citizen in 1948, began the missionary of charities in 1950 and died in 1997, she was awarded the Nobel prize.

the event was conceived as a Hungarian civil society imitative in 2011, this was supported by the Hungarian government. The idea was to increase solidarity, social responsibility and public support for charity.  On this day the United Nations invites all member states, national and regional organizations as well as civil societies both NGO’s and individual to commemorate the day in an appropriate manner.

The charity includes monetary, education and public awareness-raising activities.

Somewhere I agree with Elizabeth Gilbert when she says —  “In the end, though, maybe we must all give up trying to pay back the people in this world who sustain our lives. In the end, maybe it’s wiser to surrender before the miraculous scope of human generosity and to just keep saying thank you, forever and sincerely, for as long as we have voices.”
― Elizabeth Gilbert, Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman’s Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia

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