PASTI CHARITY
AHMEDABAD: If you remember the gloom that surrounded the world this time last year, Christmas of 2009 stands apart as a cheerful harbinger of hope. The Santas have emerged early in the malls and so have the big NRI shoppers with quaint accents from across the world. The party scene is peaking. Never felt better, as we head into the next decade — the perfect 10.
TOI and Radio Mirchi have come together to spread the cheer among sections which are still untouched by this feel-good phenomenon. This Christmas, Friday the 25th, we are giving all our readers and listeners the chance to play Santa.
The inspiration has come from different groups which collect newspaper waste from various neighbourhoods and use the money for a specific cause. This is something which can turn into a huge movement, given the philanthropic strain that runs in every Amdavadi's vein.
Call it 'pasti' charity, if you wish. No more haggling with the pastiwalla. Instead, just give it away for the sake of a poor girl in a slum of Ahmedabad or a neighbouring village, who wishes to study but her parents can't afford it.
TOI and Radio Mirchi, together with some like-minded NGOs, will start this campaign on Christmas day with some high-rises in the Memnagar-Gurukul-Drive-In belt. Those who do not live here can always drive down to these collection spots at the given time.
The other option is to load all the 'pasti' from your home and your neighbourhood in the boot of your car and drive down to the TOI Press in Vejalpur where staff will be present from 9 am to 12 noon on Friday to unload the waste. The press can be approached from under the Vejalpur flyover and can easily be spotted from a distance because of the Radio Mirchi tower.
Some spirited do-gooders have agreed to provide logistical support to the venture which will follow a Sunday to Sunday schedule after a high-voltage Christmas launch. The money collected the same day through the sale of 'pasti' will be distributed among NGOs who are working in the area of education of underprivileged children.
Yes, we are aware that this operation would hit the pastiwalla's earnings. Hence, part of the money will be used for providing school uniforms and textbooks to their children too.
To ensure that this does not remain a one-off effort, a mechanism will be evolved, roping in a panel of eminent individuals and organisations who can either provide the logistical support or use up the money for achieving tangible targets in the area of educating the poor.
December 22 is supposed to be the longest night of the year. Think long and hard about it tonight before you spread the cheer!
