The Third Coming

This year marks the third chapter of the JGW, a festival of philantropy in which all can participate. In these three years, the JGW has made great strides and is well on the way to turning into a national festival. Some of the events like Design for Change is now seeing participation from beyond the boundaries of India. But certain fundamental questions continue to be asked about the JGW : Is the week more important than the giving ?, is one such question that is often asked. To be very honest, at some level, yes, the week is important for after all the Joy of Giving is celebrated during a week that is earmarked in advance. But this does not mean that giving is secondary for what is of primary importance are the giving events that take place during the week. Can these giving events not take place before or after the week ? Of course they can and they must, but by devoting a week to giving, we are effectively raising the collective consciousness of the people to charity and philantropy. To illustrate : The movement against corruption has seen unprecedented support because of the collective disgust aroused by large scale looting. A time has come when we the people are no longer prepared to put up with corruption and the apathetic attitude of the government to it. Hence massive support for the Anna Hazare led team. We at JGW are similarly trying to drum support for the JGW by pointing out that by simply indulging in an act of giving, we transform lives. If we want to transform society as a whole, then all of us must consciously indulge in acts of charity. That is why the JGW and that is the reason the week is more important than the giving. Oct 2nd to Oct 8th 2011, marks the third chapter of JGW and we at the JGW team hope to raise the bar higher this year, in terms of number of events held, amount of resources raised and most important number of lives positively affected and though there is no way to measure the joy that will spread during the week, we are confident that there will be a lot of joy. The Joy of Giving Week.

of men and letters

Endorsements for JGW 2011 have begun to come in from many sources and this year, the Chief Ministers of 3 important states have written appreciating the JGW and exhorting citizens to participate wholeheartedly and willingly in 'giving activities' during JGW '11. As Mr.Narendra Modi says, " The joy, the cheer, the bliss we attain through sharing can encourage us to bring a smile on the face we face." Mr.Chavan, the CM of Maharashtra, is encouraged that the JGW is organised by socially minded citizens and he is confident that "such voluntarily organised social functions will help society to strtengthen the bond of love and togetherness."

of forgiveness and friendship......

The Hindu : Today's Paper News : A tale of two letters

On this, our 64th Independence Day, comes a story of regret, forgiveness and friendship. As countries continue to battle, as communities continue to mistrust and religious identities are more marked than ever before, this story of a Pakistani army personnel expressing regret for an incident that occured in the line of duty 46 years ago, is proof that empathy is all it takes to break barriers that seem insurmountable. The words of regret poignantly expressed forms a beginning of a new friendship. People reaching out to other people, irrespective of the colour of the skin, irrespective of the flag they owe allegiance to, irrespective of the God they worship and the homes they live in, is absolutely essential for us to live in a safe, peaceful and more equal world. The Joy of Giving Week is an endeavour that seeks to heal wounds between people and communities for it has as its genesis a hand extended to help and hold other hands, spreading security and by extension freedom from fear thus forming an unbroken link in society. The Joy of Giving Week 2011.

The Times We Live In

'Greed' is a single word that defines the world today. It is greed that causes people to amass an obscene amount of wealth,; it is greed that leads to looting; it is greed that has people fighting over property : most of the ill conceived and negative acts in the world today, have greed as their root cause. It would be hypocritical of us to assume a holier than thou attitude because most of us enjoy our comforts and luxuries and feel they are well deserved. We have no arguments on that. But it is essential to define our boundaries and say to ourselves, "I have enough". One wonders how many of us are really able to do that. If one were to go by newspapers, not many because all are in a mad rush to buy, to accumulate, to hold. It is as if we seek security in our material possessions. But does our car, our house, our accessories define who we are, or are we more than these ? Do we want to be remembered as the person with the 27 room house, a fleet of cars, the one who holidays abroad twice a year, the one who is dripping with jewellery, the one who carries expensive accessories or would we like to be remembered as the person who gave of himself/herself generously, who gave time, who gave love, who gave possessions, who gave money, as one who did all in his/her power to make the world a better place ?

We need to ask ourselves these questions and answer them honestly as we step closer into the Joy of Giving Week 2011. As we introspect and seek answers, we would do well to remember that in these answers lie the key to a better life for many. When each one of us empowers those who need to be empowered by giving of ours and ourselves generously and wholeheartedly, the world will automatically be transformed into a more egalitarian and less volatile one. That this is within the realm of possibility, is beautifully illustrated by this story from across the Atlantic :

The Power of Half : if all of us can decide to give away if not half, at least some of our possessions, in our lifetime, we would have contributed in a small measure to healing the world. Let us begin now, during the JGW 2011, between the 2nd and the 8th of October.

from a small seed....

Children, have been amongst those who have embraced the JGW, transforming it into a festival of change; one that is positive, deeply impacting and hopefully permanent. We have seen this in the increasing participation in the Design for Change contest that is into its third chapter this year. Participation in DFC has extended beyond the boundaries of our country and has stepped into practically every continent on the globe. The DFC encourages children to look at problems within the community and also find solutions to them. It envisages children as keepers of the world by making children responsible for identifying problems and solutions. Hopefully, the thousands of children who have participated and will participate in the DFC, will continue to remain sensitive to the needs of our world and will continue to question the inequalities and anomalies that exist in the world and find answers to the same.


This JGW update from Ondikuppam, Koppur and Arunvoyel, all villages in Tamil Nadu, bears testimony to the above. The children from Arunvoyel who had participated in JGW 2010, had also managed to raise Rs2000, which they are using to buy books for children in the village. This year, the children of all the 3 villages hope to participate through various initiatives ranging from setting up a garbage segregation unit to provide manure for the kitchen gardens in the village to raising funds to buy a goat for the poorest family in the village. What is also heartening is the vision of these children to make the positive changes in the village more permanent by discussing 'issues of social concern affecting the village', with the adults.

From such small seeds do mighty trees grow and the JGW that began as an abstract idea is growing, spreading its branches across the world, permeating the air with joy. The Joy of Giving