At the time of the Partition in 1947, the 12-year-old boy accompanied his parents from Peshawar in Pakistan to India. The refugees first sheltered in a Patiala camp, and were later shifted to Amritsar and Mansa.

To survive, Jagdish Lal Ahuja joined his parents selling candies, bananas and moong dal sprouts on buses and on pavements. They would purchase two kilos of moong dal for one rupee and make packets of the snack to sell. Due to this, he could not go to school.

With a meagre savings of Rs 415, Jagdish and his parents moved to Chandigarh. With hard work and God’s blessings, Jagdish became a successful businessman there.

One day, while celebrating his son’s birthday, Jagdish realised that there were many who did not have food to eat. So he served food to underprivileged children on that day. That gesture gave him a special joy. Remembering his starving and miserable childhood days, the businessman decided to help others.

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“I believe that individuals can make a difference in society. Since periods of change such as the present one come so rarely in human history, it is up to each of us to make the best use of our time to help create a happier world.”

— The Dalai Lama

Scholarship committees have a massive responsibility and that is to distribute the money in such a way that diversity is increased in the classroom, stronger ideals are rewarded and the best students are encouraged to join a University. In this context, those students have an edge who have dedicated their leisure time to empowering people other than their own selves. The question young people ask is: “What can I do?”, “I am still learning myself?” However, each of us has the capacity to help another no matter what our age and/or ability. We all have our unique skills which can be used to benefit other people. For some of you it might be a language skill, for others it could be time and compassion or knowledge of everyday technology, etc. It really depends on how you utilize the skills you have and help make a difference in somebody else’s life.

How to choose the volunteer experience

Ideally, you want to volunteer in a community that you would genuinely like to impact. However, sometimes that may or may not be possible owing to the circumstances you are in. The important thing is to be consistent and work with a community for a long period of time. Being flighty and working a few weeks here and a few weeks there is not really looked upon as being dependable. So be consistent and do some intensive work in a setting to gain the full benefits.

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