Seva by Boat: Crossing the Rivers, Traversing Mountains, Sadhu Vaswani Mission Serves Remote Villages!
12th October 2021, as early as 06:30 am, there was a silent buzz in the premises of Sadhu Vaswani Mission, Pune. Volunteers from across the city were arriving at the Mission. Greeting each other with a Dada Shyam, they were preparing for a day-long journey to Tapola, Satara District where 65 hopeful families were waiting for ration kits to meet their hunger needs. A first-of-a-kind ration kits seva by boat, the Mission volunteers made an effort to travel all the way to the remote village, cross rivers, and save the villagers the trouble of travelling.
Soon, 12 volunteers with a clarion call of ‘Jo bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal,’ began the journey. Traversing through the serpentine ghats of Satara District, crossing the misty lanes, they finally reached Tapola. But the needy brethren were still away. Joined by 3 more local volunteers with one being a little child enthusiastic to serve, 15 volunteers now boarded a motorboat; the ration kits too were unloaded into another boat. Both set sailing to reach the other side of the water body where the villagers were waiting.
Disembarking and unloading the ration kits once again, the distribution began immediately. One after the other, the names on the list were called out and with joy, gratitude, and relief, the villagers collected ration kits for their families. “We are immensely grateful for the ration kits, it is indeed a timely help,” said a recipient.
“The villagers are teary-eyed when we reach out to them. The situation is not yet perfectly normal and this helps them sustain. We carry out surveys frequently and share the list of needy families with the Mission. Once the list reaches them, we begin the travel preparations here while the volunteers at the Mission carry out the packing of ration kits. a day or two in advance we inform the recipients to gather at a distribution location and serve them,” said the local volunteer who helps organise the sevas.
On this day, ration kits were distributed to 65 needy families and 50 joy packets were given to little ones. The day also marked the Sacred Dada Yagna. The idea is not to carry out a mere distribution but to pour in love, empathy, and devotion. Helping them lift the ration kit, walking the elderly to a safe standing, giving them hope, restoring faith in humanity, and bringing a smile to little ones; that too is the purpose of these sevas.