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netchef · 22nd May 2008, 13:53

Team_BHP Fund
India faces a thousand issues and many are beyond the help of the Government. Could we float a Team_BHP Fund after polling the cause we wish to support? Monies collected could be channelled to the PM's Relief Fund, or any appropriate NGO (again after collective decision). I'm sure we can obtain Tax waiver.

Issues I see are:

Food insecurity: many including (and especially) children are malnourished.
Housing insecurity: millions without a roof over their heads (we can see the homeless around us in every single city)
Natural calamities
Education
Child labour

Could people please add to the list so we can prioritize?

Way I see it is we Team_BHPians are the creamy layer. We are successful, and some of us even rich. While we indulge in banter about cars, gadgets and other things inconsequential and inane, there are people- Indians- not much further than our own doorsteps who can only focus on where their next meal is going to come from, where they will find shelter from the rain. And many are not successful.
It's a safe bet that NOT ONE Team_BHPian has ever HAD to go hungry for even a day!

Speaking for myself, I feel rotten for indulging in such frivolities knowing another faces such dire circumstances. (I ride a Honda Fireblade. The construction workers kids wave insouciantly and joyfully at me as I pass them every morning, but they live in makeshift huts that-I'm pretty sure- leak when it rains. Rs 20 would probably cover the dietary requirements of that entire family for a whole day, so where in any macro equation is there justification-in this context- for a guy whizzing past on a bike worth 5 lakhs? It's so mind-boggling, it's criminal. To one for whom food is a struggle, mere transport like a simple moped would seem a luxury. A superbike is off the scale. I think it's hugely unfair that I can even discuss a car worth 3.5 crores when the person down the road cannot manage Ten Rupees to get a decent meal. I'm pretty sure we have each- at some time or other- seen a fellow human eat out of a dustbin.

To get some idea of how removed we all are from the life-threatening situations the unlucky have to weather, take a look at the 'Issues' section on the Forum: you'll find us discussing and cursing the state of our roads, poor street lighting, the damage caused to our expensive vehicles by floods and more. Weigh that against a situation where a man is starving. And then tell me we don't have to put something back to help tip those scales even a little bit.

My point is NOT A SINGLE TEAM_BHPIAN has to worry about his or her next meal. Or a home to protect them from the weather. We can and do take them for granted. Others are not so lucky. Are we going to sit back and see them become victims of their luck -a luck that didn't ensure they were born into the right families, luck that didn't give them the right education, luck that didn't place them in the right row when the good jobs were being dished out.

(There are tears in my eyes as I type this, and I think they are tears of shame.)

Anyone with me?

22nd May 2008, 13:53	#1 (permalink)
netchef BHPian Join Date: Oct 2007 Location: Bangalore Posts: 625	Give something back. Team_BHP Fund India faces a thousand issues and many are beyond the help of the Government. Could we float a Team_BHP Fund after polling the cause we wish to support? Monies collected could be channelled to the PM's Relief Fund, or any appropriate NGO (again after collective decision). I'm sure we can obtain Tax waiver. Issues I see are: Food insecurity: many including (and especially) children are malnourished. Housing insecurity: millions without a roof over their heads (we can see the homeless around us in every single city) Natural calamities Education Child labour Could people please add to the list so we can prioritize? Way I see it is we Team_BHPians are the creamy layer. We are successful, and some of us even rich. While we indulge in banter about cars, gadgets and other things inconsequential and inane, there are people- Indians- not much further than our own doorsteps who can only focus on where their next meal is going to come from, where they will find shelter from the rain. And many are not successful. It's a safe bet that NOT ONE Team_BHPian has ever HAD to go hungry for even a day! Speaking for myself, I feel rotten for indulging in such frivolities knowing another faces such dire circumstances. (I ride a Honda Fireblade. The construction workers kids wave insouciantly and joyfully at me as I pass them every morning, but they live in makeshift huts that-I'm pretty sure- leak when it rains. Rs 20 would probably cover the dietary requirements of that entire family for a whole day, so where in any macro equation is there justification-in this context- for a guy whizzing past on a bike worth 5 lakhs? It's so mind-boggling, it's criminal. To one for whom food is a struggle, mere transport like a simple moped would seem a luxury. A superbike is off the scale. I think it's hugely unfair that I can even discuss a car worth 3.5 crores when the person down the road cannot manage Ten Rupees to get a decent meal. I'm pretty sure we have each- at some time or other- seen a fellow human eat out of a dustbin. To get some idea of how removed we all are from the life-threatening situations the unlucky have to weather, take a look at the 'Issues' section on the Forum: you'll find us discussing and cursing the state of our roads, poor street lighting, the damage caused to our expensive vehicles by floods and more. Weigh that against a situation where a man is starving. And then tell me we don't have to put something back to help tip those scales even a little bit. My point is NOT A SINGLE TEAM_BHPIAN has to worry about his or her next meal. Or a home to protect them from the weather. We can and do take them for granted. Others are not so lucky. Are we going to sit back and see them become victims of their luck -a luck that didn't ensure they were born into the right families, luck that didn't give them the right education, luck that didn't place them in the right row when the good jobs were being dished out. (There are tears in my eyes as I type this, and I think they are tears of shame.) Anyone with me?