Sunday, February 17, 2008

My cousin Irene

It was Ash Wednesday and I went to my relation's place after church. Ash was on my forehead, which marked the beginning of the period of repentance/abstinence forty days before Holy Easter. The basic idea is to try and humble yourself. My cousin Irene asked me if I was gonna fast and I said no. She told me that she also was not gonna fast and decided that she could do other things instead. Then she lit up and told me that she was taking her school children to Disney's Magic show the next day, the first day first show in Bangalore, which would extend over two weeks.

She used to work in Microsoft but then decided to leave and teach at a school for poor children. The tickets for the show were priced at 500, 750 and 1000 Rs and so she decided to call up the organizers and see if she could do something to get some of the children, whose parents can't afford those pricey tickets, to watch the magic show. She ended up talking to various people in the organizing company over the next week or more. She also tried to talk to people in Microsoft to get something done. First the organizers told her that they could give them the tickets for half the price but she said that too was way too much for people who can't afford a good meal. She kept on calling daily and they used to tell her something or the other and then tell her that they would think about it but the people above have to decide. So she would get the numbers of the higher ups and start all over again.

She then went for one of our cousin's wedding in Nagpur and when she returned she called the organizers again asking them what they had decided. Finally they told her that they had some good news as they had decided to keep aside 1500 free tickets on the first day for under privileged children. This included her school which has 250 children and other organizations that teach street children.

It brought a big smile on my face to say the least :-)

2 comments:

Goli said...

This is so inspiring, Hats off to Irene.

which school does she teach.

--
Goli

CandidConfessions said...

That is a really nice move! Admire your cousin! Cheers to her!