Dia Mirza and the Art of Living By Giving

(Photo Courtesy: The Quint)

‘Give’, ‘share’, ‘care’ are words we have all heard preached and been taught to practice ever since we gained an understanding of the meaning of words. But growing up from that child we were to adults, have we somewhere forgotten to use these words as a meaningful practice?

My association with Genesis Foundation (GF), a not-for-profit organisation that works to support critically ill, underprivileged children, gave me an opportunity to experience the warmth of these words again, and it did give a new meaning to my life.

‘Time to Give’ is a philosophy that GF believes in as strongly as its cause. Well, it’s said there is never the right time to ‘give’; rather, it’s always a good time to ‘give’. And so, I decided to give my time to give joy and happiness to critically ill little kids.

I have visited hospitals to see the kids under GF’s care, and the most precious experience was the recent one where I got a chance to spend time with some of the kids admitted for their treatment. And here’s something I would like to share.

The joy that the giggles of little kids gave was incomparable! In fact, this experience was a healthy reminder that each one of us can give life a chance. I was moved by the resilience that these little lives have. 

The time that I could give to those bubbly little bundles of joy was a heart-warming experience and will be etched in my memory forever. It’s said that when you give, you get back more. I definitely got a lot more than I could give!

My Lesson From the Little Kids

What the kids taught me most was courage. The kids there were suffering from cancer or thalassemia or heart disorders, but their energy was infectious.

I had gone there to give my time and to give them happiness, but what I came back with was the lesson that no matter how hard adversity strikes one, it is always possible to smile and I came back feeling loved and blessed.

(Photo Courtesy: The Quint)

We can all ‘give’.

‘Giving’ is a gesture that can never be quantified. And I can’t even begin to mention the several ways in which one can be more giving. We can also start by taking simple steps. Pick up one cause or one child and one thing you can do to help to make a difference.

I give my time to the cause of Genesis Foundation – to the little kids who are struggling for a chance to live. All we need to do is give meaning to this simple gesture. If you wish to feel what I did, get more people to know about GF, to support GF’s cause of giving little lives a chance to live, share GF’s stories online and spread the word that the time to give is now!

(The writer is an actor. This is a personal blog and the views expressed above are the author’s own. The Quint neither endorses nor is responsible for the same)