My sister is never happy net-net. But she has the heartiest of laughs. And she can cry at the drop of a hat. Overall she is full of emotions. She has had her share of life’s ups and downs, and enjoyed everything she could in the scheme of things during each phase of her life.
No matter how happy, sad, normal or boring her day has been, my sister mostly ends her day with a worry. She has been this way all her life and after retirement time is aplenty. If it wasn’t a tree that was cut down on her way home, it was her maid who was abused. If it wasn’t the maid’s son who was playing truant from school, it was a neighbor that was beating his son. If it wasn’t a stranger in dire need lying unconscious near her house, it was a dog that was abandoned by the owner. If it is none of these, corruption is the wild card. How much she emphasizes and drags on a vowel or a consonant in a word is often directly proportional to her anxiety levels. Howwww can evvvverybody be like this? It is sssssooo saaad. I Ccaaannt eeeven imaaaaggine, I couldn’t sleep onnnnnne bit….. There are the small problems and then there are the really big ones. There are those that she can jump in and solve right away but others that leave her totally overwhelmed.
But act on every one of them she does. With the undying support of her husband and her children who play second and third fiddle, she leads the charge. She goes all over town, fights, writes, brings attention to causes, raises awareness, and raises much needed funds. She is an obsessive networker with an ever increasing mental Rolodex of the needy, the willing and others. It’s as if she is putting people in one of these buckets as soon as she meets them.
Extended family gets a free pass to enlist help. Numerous strangers literally destitute have often become family. Over the years, half a dozen dogs and a few cats have found a place to call home and feel truly human. Household help and live-in nurses (they’ve had many to care for elderly that they care for) have a special place in her heart and home. A home was built for one that became ‘extended’ family. Drunken husbands are chastised, children are educated, seen through job trainings and jobs, and even marriages and childbirths are supervised. My sister and brother-in-law took one child’s cancer treatment personally – from evaluating the best hospital option (traveling to Vellore & all Bangalore hospitals), scouting for blood donations, personally supervising chemo sessions, providing transport and healthy food until the child fully recovered.
My sister surrounds herself with friends who are good samaritans with causes that cry for attention and much needed funds. An apartment, donated for use by non-profits as temporary housing for emergencies was one of the causes. A school for the blind (Mukta Gubbi), a school for the mentally challenged (GR Shenoy), a training facility for underprivileged youth (Alphonso Kurian), a shelter for girls (Magadi Saroja), an animal shelter, a child who needs help with education, an old man that needs help with treatment, a family who lost the breadwinner, blood drives – the causes kept growing. And then one day together with friends she started SAHYOG – that raises funds and channels it to deserving causes.
SAHYOG has remained a family, friends, friends of friends and looking for more friends kind of organization. My nephew’s wedding invitees were pleasantly surprised to have collectively gifted a hospital room to a cancer hospital. Just this January, SAHYOG saw through the renovation of a private ward at another cancer hospital.
In these days when (migrant) workers, patients, marginalized citizenry are all hurting, SAHYOG decided to go totally COVID. With trusted aide and incessant warrior for the marginalized Mansoor Chetlu leading the charge, every tear drop in my sister’s eye is being cared for. Sometimes it pays off to be unhappy like my sister Sudha Narasimhachar. And this right here is her winning smile.
PS : Interested in keeping this wheel going and want to be sure your funds are reaching the most deserved causes, comment here to reach out to SAHYOG.
Ushi's Take 
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