THE DAY WHEN I CHOSE NOT TO BE AN IGNORANT PASSERBY

As we always say, the International Award for Young People programme is not only effective during the course of the programme but it also leaves a lasting impact on each one of our participants – an impact that will continue to prove fruitful as they continue on the journey called life. Here is the story of selfless attributes and courage shown by Urmi Sanghavi (Silver Award holder) from The Bhawanipur Gujarati Education Society School. 

During a road trip to my friend's house, I witnessed an accident, where an old lady looking to cross the road was hit by a speeding motor bike. This resulted in the poor lady been thrown off the road and into a quagmire. Our first thought was to actually pass by the accident spot and leave the old lady in our rear view mirror, but the thought of us being equally responsible for anything happening to the victim made us stop our car. The only reason we didn't wish to stop was the harassment of police and court cases that we would inevitably have to face in the aftermath of the accident. It was our moral and inner-conscience that made us realise that the happiness of saving the old lady's life is bigger than any other harassment that we would have to face. So we jumped out of the car and rushed to assist the lady who was moaning in pain, the only positive sign being that she wasn't bleeding much. Then while trying to help her out of the marsh I realized that during the course of the accident, she had broken her arm, which was her major source of pain. Thanks to the First Aid training that I had during my Silver Award IAYP Programme, I was able to administer first aid, and I managed to put a splint under her injured limb to provide proper support to the broken bone. After that we carefully lifted her out of the mud and while providing a proper cushion to her broken arm, we were able to put her in the back of our car. After reaching the closest hospital, she was able to get proper medical support and was kept under observation. 

To our surprise, rather than being harassed by the local authorities, we were applauded for our courage and our service in providing comfort to the old lady when everyone else was turning their back, which in itself was an achievement which needed no award. After two weeks I got a call from an unknown number where I was greeted by the very same old lady who couldn't stop thanking me for what we had done. I felt elated and felt grateful to the IAYP India Award programme that I did two years ago in the school. The programme taught me how to give service to the society, as we are part of society and undertake the responsibility to take care of it.

Let us end with the beautiful quote by English writer John Bunyan, “You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”