No one is useless in this world who lightens the
burden of it for someone else.”
Benjamin Franklin

If the first twenty years of my life were any indication of how the next twenty were going to be…Oh boy! Was I wrong! Let’s omit the boring aspects of my childhood...to cut a long story short; in my middle school I discovered a fondness for extracurricular activities. I was an active adolescent, full of energy, looking for new opportunities at every nook and corner. I was unafraid to try anything. So I ended up signing up for as many different projects and activities as came across my way. To name a few: I helped build a drainage system in a remote village in Tamil Nadu along with my Girl Guides group, I distributed malaria medication in slums in Chennai, I volunteered at the polio camp in my college, I joined a group of girls to educate low income people about family planning, I worked on a road project with my National Students Social Service team, I hiked up the mountains of Vedapalyam along with my Youth Hostel Associates to work on a canal to bring water to a community settled there. I also participated in several social service camps to work on projects that aimed to bring essential services, like roads, electricity, drainage, medication and education, to my fellow citizens.

When you grow up in a developing country, you realize that life is not fair to all. Some have it easy, but most have to work hard even to secure basic necessities in life. I felt blessed that I had some nice things in life that others did not. This awareness served as a motivating factor to keep me working to support the disadvantaged. As much as I gave to all of these activities, I found that I got back in double. I carried back trophies and letters of commendation to my institutions, and heard nice words from ever-grateful people, and it worked like a charm for more good work.

As life progressed, I moved on, got married and settled in a new country. Personal issues in life took predominance…my social work initiatives took a back seat. Over the next two decades I began a career, concentrated on my family and health issues and completely gave up volunteering.

When we moved again in 2002 I found myself in the U.S. where volunteering was a big thing. The dormant urge in me to volunteer began to bloom again, and I began searching for ways to again make myself useful to someone somewhere. I began with helping out in the kitchen of the Shiva Vishnu Temple in Maryland. We would go there as a family to pack lunches and dinners for the devotees. I began helping at Thomas Jefferson High School where my daughter was enrolled. I bought them goodies for several Talent nights and activities, stayed up with them all night during their all-night Grad parties, and sold tickets for their I-Nites.

In February 2007, flipping through the Mosaic one day, I noticed an announcement calling for writers. I thought this was the perfect opportunity for me. I walked into the WBFN office with great trepidation, only to find myself face to face with Maaike le Grand, the cheeriest person I have ever met. She made me feel so much at ease and put me right into the middle of things as if I had been there all my life. She briefly went over all that was being done at the Mosaic desk and eased me into the job over the next few months. As I continued working, traces of unease disappeared and I knew I had found the right place for me. I made new friends and found a new routine for myself. WBFN increasingly became an important part of my life, and I took pleasure in devoting time to it. As time passed, and I became the Mosaic editor, my associations multiplied, I began to correspond with many different people, organize meetings, and even got involved in many other aspects and activities of the Family Network. This position clearly helped me to help myself, whilst I also helped the organization. I grew confident about my abilities and became conscious of some of my latent talents. At WBFN I had friends who cared about me, an organization that was grateful for a job well-done, and, above all, I had the satisfaction of a day well spent.

The volunteering mantra that is usually publicized is “Help others.” Actually, I think for spouses like us who keep moving and find ourselves in the midst of transition woes, the mantra should be “Volunteer: To help yourself.” Volunteering could be the outward manifestation of natural compassion that springs from the heart of wanting to help others, but the person being most helped is YOU. I think every volunteer gains more than she gives. Volunteering helps us move beyond the sphere of our daily existence into a new world where we can explore and learn new things, diversify our friendship circle, increase our self-confidence, feel in control of our situation, feel valued and wanted, get away from our fears and stress and rest assured that every single task, however small it might be, helps. M

Now, going back to the beginning, the first half of my life was spent in volunteering my time and effort for manual tasks, and the second half putting my mental faculties to help a newsletter blossom every month. But frankly, the sense of satisfaction that I felt and feel is the same. In either endeavor, there has been and is a heightened sense of fulfillment and contentment.

So, to all of you who are debating whether to volunteer or not—do not think twice. Plunge into volunteer work; I am sure the results will be satisfying. Whatever you decide to do—build a school, lay a road, pack books, help a hospital, write for a website, design a poster, tutor a student, answer emails, attend phone calls or plan events—do it with the conviction that you will carry home a heart rich with gratification and a mind proud of your achievement.

Vidya Rangan