he cares
[Another old report from a few years ago…]
Mr. Mani, a retired bank employee hails from an ordinary lower mid-income background. While cycling to work everyday, he used to pass by the Bangalore Central Jail. He observed children crying outside the jail with the breadwinner of the family in the prison. The kids of life-convicts who had no support from the society. These kids were a "burden" to the society.
The law punishes the convict alone, but unfortunately, society punishes his
entire family including his/her children by alienating them and ‘being careful’ about them. This prejudice has a deep influence on young minds.
The plight of these children moved Mr. Mani so much, that he decided to dedicate his life – his everything – for their upliftment. With the help and encouragement of his supportive wife, Mrs. Saroji Mani, SoCare Ind was born in June 1999.
They put in the retirement money and all their lives’ earnings.
SOCARE IND was born to serve the marginalized and alienated sections of society. Focus on indigent children of life convicts and provision of comfortable shelter to the aged are central to its mission.
SoCare endeavours to protect them from prejudice, provide them an opportunity to become
independent self-confident individuals. When one spends some time with these kids, one can be
convinced that this building has more energy than the most powerful nuclear reactor… in the form of young, energetic kids out to win the world!
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Warm |
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The place has all the facilities of a home, including a kitchen, a dining room, |
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Karate |
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Here |
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The founder Mr. Mani along with the kids with a visitor – my sister who took me there. |
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Mr. Mani talks with pride about the brilliance of each kid and how each of them are |
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Some |
I had also visited socare a few months ago to make a small contribution and to check them out.
When I visited their site it was nice to see my photographs uploaded on their site as well… http://socare.org. Also came to know the date: it was in July 2001.
Its not that I’m actively into service, its something I was interested in but keep procrastinating. But this time my sister arranged for it and I just accompanied her.
“The law punishes the convict alone, but unfortunately, society punishes his entire family …”
There are but two alternatives:
Either the man you punish has no family, no relatives, no ties that bind in this world. In which case he has received no schooling, no education, no attention has been paid to his heart or his mind; therefore by what right do you kill this hapless orphan? You punish him because he has been dragged up, untrained and unsupported! The solitude in which you left him is held against him! You hold his misfortune to be a crime! Nobody taught him to know right from wrong. This man is ignorant. His destiny is the culprit, and not he. You punish an innocent man.
Or else the man has a family; in which case, do you believe that to slit his throat wounds him alone? And that his father, his mother, and his children will not also shed blood? Of course they will: in killing him, you strike the head from his entire family. And once again, you punish innocents.
– Victor Hugo, 29
Here Victor Hugo, a nineteenth century French novelist and politician, takes on the plight of the marginalized, of he who society has branded as Evil and who has therefore taken this label to heart, internalized it, and made it his own. On the question of responsibility, Hugo charges society with the crime of producing criminals and then unjustly and inconsistently punishing them for the outcome. For Hugo, this man’s lack of education, family, moral training, and support is important in the determination of his responsibility for his actions and the justification for his punishment.
But both Aristotle and Sartre hold that the individual must accept ultimate responsibility for his actions, no matter how important the external influences. For Aristotle, as long as the action is voluntary – the principle is in the agent – the agent is responsible for it. Even in situations where all options are undesirable, the individual must nonetheless choose one and is therefore responsible for his choice. Sartre allows no exception for he who is put in an unfortunate situation and forced to make a difficult decision. Man always has a choice and he is always responsible for his decision. Sartre explains that “this absolute responsibility is not resignation; it is simply the logical requirement or the consequences of our freedom. What happens to me happens through me, and I can neither affect myself with it nor revolt against it nor resign myself through it.†(Sartre 1991, 210) For Sartre, the individual is responsible for every action he takes.
I am happy that the good work done by Mani Sir is getting the recognition and hopefully this will pave way for a bright future for Desik kids. Yes, I am also a volunteer for Desik.:))
Hi madhubala thanks, nice to hear from you here! What’s this about Desik kids?
RK your comments are really interesting and informative but the context in which Hugo has talked about punishing the family is different from the context of the punishment in the above post. Hugo talks about punishment of depriving the family of the breadwinner and of the emotional bonds that are strained. Whereas in the post above the punishment is that in addition to all that, society also shows prejudice against the children.
In the light of your comments, a quote comes to mind:
Sanju
Uday mentioned this organization to me when he got back from India. I was truly touched to see the photos of the innocent kids. I want to help in any way I can. I will contact Uday and we will work out a plan. Thanks for sending the link.
Sanju
I remember each and every one of those kids. Lalithaunty and me went there 3-4 times a week to help them with their homework and other assignments. It was such a pleasure spending a few hours a week with them.
In light of my own inability ( DMZ Transgressions), I’m glad that someone is doing something about this. Maybe one day…
Arunakka, like any journalist, I try to just present things as I see them, trying to minimise my personal opinions on what is right or wrong. Its upto a reader to react in whatever way it suits them. But its really nice to see such a positive reaction like yours… even one small thing like this is very encouraging, it makes the whole time and effort taken to write (apart from it being fun) very much worthwhile! Thank you.
Ramya those were nice days! 🙂
Gautham, read your poetry – it was really nice! Glad to see you’re atleast not being indifferent about it, that’s definitely a step in the right direction. Am sure that sooner or later you’ll be able to find/create opportunities to be able to contribute to someone in your own way!