Do you have an idea like that?

Do you have an idea like that?

 

A soldier was posted in Kashmir and was part of the anti insurgency force. During one of his regular patrols, he was passing through a village and stopped at one of the houses for some water. There was only Hussain, a young boy in the house and he got talking with him. As he was talking it was dusk and suddenly the lights in the whole village came on. In this village they had power only for a few hours every evening and hence they never bothered to switch off the lights. The lights came on at about 5-5.30 pm and then were cut by about 10 pm. When the lights came on, the whole house was flooded with light.

 

So the soldier commented to the boy, "why dont you switch off the lights in the other rooms where there is no one." The boy replied, 'Ammi ne kaha, jitni time light he, uska poora fayda le lo". The soldier explained to him that even thought the power came for a short time, if everyone used only as much as they needed instead of wasting it, they would probably save some and get it for longer hours. Soon thereafter he left. A year later he happened to be passing through the same village in the evening and saw that most houses were not ablaze with light but had only a few on. He stopped at a corner shop and commented on this as most other villages were fully lit up at that time. The man told him, "Kuch mahino pahle, hamare gaon ke ek bacche ne apne ghar me 'bijli bachao abhiyan' shooro kiya. Pehle to sab uspe hase par phir, uske sath gaon ke saare bacche mil gaye and ham bado - buzugon se guzarish ki ke ham bijli waste na kare, aur ab hamare gaon me bijli kam use hoti hai lekin power cut samjho khatam hi ho gaya hai!"

 

The soldier realised where the germ of this idea came from and couldn't believe that his casual words had made such an impression on the child. He also realised that the impresssion would have meant nothing if the boy had not acted upon his words. The fact that the child turned the idea into action with conviction was what had made the real impact and led to a life change for the villagers. A successful idea is only that one in which we believe and are willing to work towards its success with conviction, even if alone.

 

Do you have an idea like that? Is there something you believe in - at work, at home, in society? Take the first step....and you may be pleasantly surprised at the support and success.....