President's Desk

From The Desk of the President

It was a lonely old lady in the railway station. She had difficulty in standing properly and even her crutch deserted her. She was trying her best to stand steady in the jostling mob and entreating feebly for a bit of alms which could save her life. Alas! Nobody had the time to care for her. Suddenly she fell there and died. She died there with an empty stomach with nobody to care for her.

I had this bitter experience on the very first day of my first job. It struck me deeply and remained with me. This type of experience is very common to every daily passenger who commutes in railways in India. However from that day onwards something like electricity flowed through me constantly egging me to do something about the elderly people who I realized had dire need for help in general. Even people with money and status find their old parents and grandparents ‘obsolete’ and burdensome. They are thrown out of their fashionable apartments to make free spaces to be adorned by decorative pieces which will make their status “high” in the society. For these so called “high class” personalities their parents and grandparents are material “things” which can be thrown out if they do not “fit” with their fashionable houses or children. They are sometimes left alone to find their shelter on their own

The dream to do something for these unfortunate people remained with me even as I grew old and matured. God in His grace has given me a lot in my life. And as a thanksgiving to Him I now want to give back to this world as much as possible I have received from it. As I walk through the streets and see innumerable old and uncared for people and remember that old lady at station I feel determined to help the underprivileged in an organized and sustainable way to make the help permanent.

So, we the “Rescue and Relief” team have decided to work for these deprived generation of people who actually brought us to the world, gave us our identity and cared for us until we were old enough to look after ourselves. We are starting “Rescue and Relief” for those unlucky parents who are beaten up by their children for their old age disabilities and “faults” and who always have to prove the worth of their presence in nuclear families to survive.

Hence, I, Swapan Kumar Ghosh with utmost gratitude and respect towards my parents and elders and for their teachings, announce that we are commencing our work and I wish and expect support from all the literate people for this noble cause.

Swapan Kumar Ghosh

President at Rescue & Relief Foundation