Sankalp India Foundation did not take roots in a personal tragedy. It was not like someone faced an intense situation on a particular occasion and decided to do something. Sankalp was born as a result of the massive unrest that resides in us. The unrest which arises from the state of things around us. When we see the way the world works around us, with all it's imperfections, prejudice, injustice, corruption and so on, we do tend to get agitated. There is a small rebel inside us which wants a change. Most of the time we hope for that change to come from someone else's actions - an administrator, a politician, someone.. On numerous occasions before 23rd May 2003 the people who founded Sankalp had faced extremely difficult and helpless situations. Corrupt officials, ineffective systems and unjust society. These young people wanted to do something to make things better but they were finding the inertia was too much to overcome.
When Sankalp happened, it was that one escape, that one ray of hope for these young people. They knew that they can't change everything. But at least they wanted to make a difference in one area. They decided to put all the frustration, all the desires, all the efforts into solving at least one problem of the society. They resolved to give life a better chance!
In the initial years of the organisations itself, emphasis was laid not on handling situations somehow but on creating a framework, a mechanism to handle situations in an organised kind of manner. A huge amount of time was spent understanding the intricacies of the problem at hand - that of lack of blood available off the shelf. Be it the medical aspects, the socio-economic aspects, or the demand and supply related issues, everything was examined in great detail and appropriate strategies were designed. Building expertise and doing things the right way was always a priority. With passing months, the organisation emerged as one which had very well laid out mechanisms to respond to situations. This led to incremental learning, uniform and person independent intervention and deterministic behaviour - all of which went on to make it possible for a small group of volunteers to take up a challenge much larger than what was the possible with the sum total of their individual capacities. Synergy was created!
The organisation always choose the right path instead of the fast lane. There were instances when the organisation was asked to involve in undue favours. When for particular individuals or organisations, someone who was supportive of the cause would suddenly demand something which was against the organisational policy of working. In such situations, however intense the debate between the volunteers and however much wrath the volunteers faced, the undue favours were refused outright. Initially it lead to people rejecting the organisation and making attempts to create hurdles on the road ahead. However, soon they understood that the intent was pure and the effort selfless. They realised that it was not stubbornness or ego which prevented the favours, rather it was principles! Several of these people went on to become ardent supporters of the organisation later!
An interesting thing about such situations was the way they were handled in the minds and in the meetings. A very popular response to absurdity, threats, attempts to subjugate and silence - something the volunteers would tell themselves and tell the other person - "Oh Lord Forgive Them! They know not what they Speaketh"
Numerous individuals had shared their contact information with Sankalp after a promise that they will be called only when there is an emergency. There was a time when the volunteers of the organisation were told that they should surrender this list so that a particular institution could increase the count of donations in their drive. The volunteers explained that they got the donors enrolled with the promise of giving a call when there was no one else to donate - the small database was that of the most reliable people who would not mind waking up in the middle of the night to help someone. However, the authorities only had the number of donations in their camp in mind. They increased the pressure on the volunteers and warned of consequences. That day the volunteers had a choice. Either to concede to the demand or face action. They chose the later - but as it is in most cases - there was no ground for action and it never did happen! If at all there was an outcome, it was that the volunteers belief in their principles and their methods got reinforced!
Being a volunteer of Sankalp was a tough job especially in the very early years. Sankalp has never worked in a kind of a manner that we do things when we are free. We do things when it is required to do those things. This meant that the volunteers had to re-organise their lives massively to be prepared to handle emergencies whenever they came. Through the first few years, even when there were exams, even during holidays, even when there was just one person in town and the number of blood emergencies spiralled - Sankalp did find a way to respond. After every blood request hours were spent discussing how could things be done better.
The road was tough, but then it had to be walked through. Occasionally you would find a Sankalp volunteer sending an sms, Tweeting, Orkuting, Facebooking, whispering, mentioning, screaming, - Keep Walking!
There was a day when 5 volunteers visited KCG hospital to take care of a request under the guidance of a senior volunteer. They were asked to speak to the doctor, the patient's family and the blood bank and draw conclusions on several aspects of the request. Once each one of them had concluded upon what should be done, the senior volunteer took some steps and asked everyone to come for a meeting at the college. In the next 5 hours there was an intense discussion exploring how information was collected, what were the facts, what was the science and what was the actual situation apart from the representation which the people involved had given. When the meeting got over, all five volunteers had learnt how to analyse an incoming blood request so that most appropriate action was taken. Such discussions and trainings enabled capacity building which would otherwise have been impossible to achieve.
While some people contributed by opposing any change for the better and making the volunteers even more determined to bring in those changes, the organisation did receive right from it's early days unconditional, limitless support from many. Numerous individuals and institutions had faith in the vision of the organisation and in countless ways contributed whatever they could. It is the sum total effort of all of these selfless individuals and the volunteers together which made it possible to get the ball rolling and then keep pushing it higher up the incline plane. Someone coined the phrase - "Blend into the Spirit of Life" for Sankalp on the 2nd anniversary. Numerous people did!
Sankalp started as an emergency organisation. People would have faith in the organisation if and only if the organisation responded in emergencies! The problem was that with all student volunteers, at least 6 hours were to be spent in classes. VTU had banned the use of mobile phone on campus - leave alone in the middle of the class! While on rest of the campus mobile phones were being confiscated and students penalised, there was an exception. Almost all the teachers of the volunteer who held the emergency line trusted him. They did the unheard of. They allowed him to take calls in the middle of the class. Where in the world would someone expect teachers to have such faith and be so deeply understanding? Every time the teachers permitted getting disturbed because of this young person running out of the class to take a call, they watered the little plant that would go on to become a strong tree - the tree of life - Sankalp! Hat's off to their faith.
Sankalp volunteers have never believed that they do a favour to the society or to anybody. The relationships with work are simple. If you do call this country your home, your mother, then all the problems that happen inside are also your own. Like it is no favour when you take your parents for medical help, like it is no favour when you clean up your own house, when you contribute as a Sankalp volunteer - you contribute to only your own self. If you do think that you want to help someone, it is not only because the person needs help, but also because it makes you uncomfortable to witness that situation. Therefore, Sankalp never believed in asking people to do charity. The organisation was centered around responsibility - around duty! With that sense, the volunteers always tried to manage as far as possible the expenses and issues of the organisation by themselves. For ordinary middle class young people, to run an organisation out of their pocket money was an amazing learning journey. They spent only when there was a great reason to spend They never had easy access to money. They could not afford any wastage because it would burn their own pockets. They justified each rupee spent against the outcome it would bring. This laid the strong foundation of an organisation which would go on to utilise the resources extremely judiciously and meticulously.
A few months after the organisation started there was a need to give the emergency number to the people so that emergency requests came in. The organisation decided to print visiting cards for the purpose. After a long meeting, it was decided that 1000 visiting cards would be printed. Plastic visiting cards were chosen because they would not spoil in the purse. This was the day when the organisation approved the first ever major spending - that of Rs 1,200/-. The volunteers themselves anonymously contributed. The interesting thing was whenever the volunteers used to give the card to someone, they would explicitly request the person to place the card in the purse so that it does not get lost! They realised that every time someone carelessly dropped their card, it was Rs 1.20 lost from their own pocket money. Such small instances brought about an organisation wide sensitivity towards the way we would use the money we had.
A few great men came along down the journey. They came, saw what we did and then bountifully shared their knowledge and experience. Truly, for an organisation like ours, it was like standing on the shoulder of the giants to see what lay ahead. Each meeting with them unlocked numerous gates. They trusted us. They supported us. They promoted our cause. Again the important word that needs to be highlighted here is the selflessness of their support.
What makes us come together, brothers/sisters, comrades, fellow travellers - is our unrest, our heading. If you have the same problem that we have - of not being able to ignore the unrest, the little rebel in you, sooner or later - we will meet on our way. We have just one way - the work way. Take charge. Do what you can. And we will see a better day!
It's hard to believe that 10 years have passed since we started on this journey. The roads were unknown, the destination obscure, the fellow travellers too were not fixed. Just that we knew the broad direction in which we wanted to seek our salvation, our nirvana, our peace! And we started walking mile after mile. Today, as we rest our back against the milestones, ponder and reflect, it is not accomplishment that pleases us. We are not enthralled by how far we have come. What is comforting to us wanderers is that we believe that we chose the right roads, that we are heading in the right direction. Today we are less bothered about who is doing what and what is so wrong. We have a problem at hand. We have good idea of the possible solution. Time has taught us that with sufficient determination and effort, no goal is to big to achieve. We know that down the road we will meet numerous comrades! As we rest for a while, we know that now it is in our hands to bring in the change! If we work well enough, hard enough the change will come! 10 years tell us that it is possible - and that after having learnt to crawl and then to walk, the time has come for us to pull up our socks and run!
Even at this time, someone suffers due to blood. The road is long and winding.. We do not know if we will ever succeed. What we know is we will never give up. We are reminded of the poem by Robert Frost:
"The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep."