INNATE DESIRE GETS IGNITED

The mind of Mr. Shyamoo Rastogi, Control Officer at RACPC Kanpur was ignited, after attending Citizen SBI programme, to make some positive contribution to the society, especially the poor and downtrodden for whom life means only suffering. The sight of the poor, with their half clad, thin bodies, who easily become a victim to the vagaries of extreme climates prevalent in India, is a nightmare to all thoughtful souls.

On New Year’s Day this year, Shyamoo, appealed to all staff to donate all their old/unused clothes, which had no value for them but could mean a lot for the poor.

To make it a mass movement, he made the appeal through IP messenger to all staff members of all administrative offices. Hand made posters were also displayed, prominently, in the premises of the Administrative office. Taking the help of a few like minded people, he arranged for collection of the used clothes at convenient locations, including RACPC, Kanpur , so that the giver also does not suffer any hardship. The efforts put in by Shyamoo, to atleast provide clothing to the poor, caught the attention of the Press and the local newspaper gave coverage to it.

By 13th  of January, heaps of used clothes were received both from the staff members as well as the general public. On Makarsakantri, the auspicious Hindu New Year day, he distributed the clothes to the poor and could successfully fulfill one of the basic needs of the poor to have clothes to cover the body, atleast for some period of time.

Shyamoo’s act of kindness and his concept of collecting used clothes from the ‘haves’ and distributing it to the ‘have-nots’, generated a lot of appreciation across the society.

Our Respectable Chairman, Mr. O.P.Bhatt, was touched by the incident and by the fact, that the programme had inspired him to go all out to help the needy by organizing assistance and contribution from others also. He adds, in his letter of appreciation dated 16.02.2010, to Shyamoo that, “ to set people thinking about the need to do positive contribution and the tremendous and far reaching impact it has on all of us, is in essence, the purpose of the Citizen SBI project”.

The Chairman also acknowledged it, “as a proud moment, when anyone from the SBI family is talked about for contribution to social causes.”

Giving Shyamoo, the entire credit for actually living the ideals iterated in the programme, the Chairman wished him well and asked him to keep up the good work.

Contributed by Ms Harina, State Bank Learning Centre, Indore with inputs  from Shri Hem Chandra Karnatak, Intervention Leader - 1, Lucknow