You don’t have to be insanely rich or highly successful to perform an act of kindness, preaches a latest TV commercial. This proved true in case of FLAME’s students, when they visited an old-age home on the outskirts of Pune. The FLAME University’s SoAct club organized a visit to ‘Behere Vridh Niwas’ (BVN), and the students visited and helped the residents there.

The winds have changed, the youth today does not shy away from an opportunity to help others. Neither do they make a big deal out of it. It was most endearing to see these young students helping everyone, trying their best to entertain the elders. Bring some joy to their routine daily lives.

Behere Vridh Niwas is an old-age home, built on 2.5 acres purchased from the government and has a total capacity of 76 people (2 in each room, it has a total of 38 rooms). Each room is about 200 square feet with an attached bathroom and a verandah. The rooms are well equipped with cots, mattresses, bed sheets, pillows, mosquito nets, cupboard with safety lockers, chairs, tables and stands for drying clothes. It is self-contained and green as it is supplied with hot water provided by solar water heaters. The facility has a sprawling community hall, equipped with a library, television, newspapers, exercise equipment and sufficient space for community programs. BVN also has a meditation hall for evening prayers, bhajans and of course meditations. The home publishes an internal magazine every quarter. The in-house magazine is written and drafted by the residents of the home. It was well written and drafted, and contained all the information about the facility and schedules of several activities. The home was well organized and fully facilitated, enveloped in serenity. What it lacked was some cheer and noise, an influx of youthful energy, which was sufficiently induced by FLAME’s students on the day of their visit.

Right from the time FLAME students arrived, they started taking up chores and dividing it among themselves. Fixing equipment, moving heavy objects, cooking and cleaning are some of the things they got involved with. The students also spread out and made sure they visited every resident and bonded with them, interacted with them. A resident had his birthday, which was celebrated by the students with much splendor. Later, a group of students sang and danced which was very well received, and appreciated by all. The students also had their lunch with the residents. It was evident how much the residents enjoyed the new energy. They appreciated it as it broke the monotony of their routine lives. It was indeed gratifying to see the students interacting with everyone with so much compassion and care. This was not a task or an assignment. It had no bearing on their curriculum and therefore it was pure selflessness on their part. What they received in return was a lot of blessings and smiles. Their enthusiasm for this courteous act was profound. FLAME University supported this endeavor as they wanted the students to enrich their experience, and aspire to continue performing acts of compassion and kindness in the future too.