B’lurean finds god & love in Syria
BENGALURU: The blood-curdling, ongoing civil war in Syria has made even the believers believe that the country has been forsaken by god. A Bengaluru youngster, after a personal tragedy, visited the Syrian border to help the refugees and he shares with City Express the tale of seeing god amidst the chaos. It was in their smile, says V Sai Prasad.
How it all began
a camp located near the city of
Mafraq| Express Photo
Born in Chennai and residing in Jeevan Bima Nagar, the 22-year-old was studying in Bengaluru’s Sri Sathya Sai Institute of Higher Learning. Sai Prasad was diagnosed with a heart problem, Atrial Tachycardia, in 2013 and had to drop out from his second year of BCom. He then finished his graduation from home. In 2015, Sai suffered from stroke and had lost his speech and the ability to walk.
It was then that he started reading newspapers and magazines and became aware of the Syrian crisis and the plight of refugees. When he got better and was able to walk and talk again, he decided to backpack a solo trip to the Middle East in January 2016. He convinced his parents, who thought he was joking and finally agreed to let him go. In March 2016, he went on a two-week trip to Turkey and he did not intend to visit the Syria border. It was his first time abroad.
As soon as he reached the capital, he was greeted with the Ankara bombing that killed 37 people. A few days later there was another Istanbul bombing that killed five. But that did not deter him. It was the sight he saw in front of a mosque in Turkey that prompted him to cross the border. A Syrian mother was nursing a new-born baby on the street side and the baby had an abnormal lump on the head. Prasad could not get that picture out of his head. He decided to come back to India, think it through and plan another visit, but this time to the Syrian border.
Journey to the Border
After thinking it through, Sai Prasad ventured to the Middle East again in June 2016. He admitted to feeling scared when he was on the way from Amman to the city of Jordan. “In doing this, what if I end up doing nothing?” Prasad feared. One Skype phone call with his friend was all it took to get his courage back. His friend Sarika, who was constantly guiding him, dismissed his fears and said “What nonsense! You have come this far, do not back out. Even if one child smiles then our purpose is fulfilled.” Prasad did as told.
On nearing the Syrian border, Prasad was jittery. A child was running around the city holding a pamphlet that read “Help me! I am from Syria”. “It was written in English. The child had no idea what was written but because he was told to carry the board, he was just being obliging,” says Prasad. The sight made him more determined and he wanted to see more children who were the victims of such circumstances.
A 60-km ride from his hotel began. The camp was closed to visitors, open only to journalists. He could not enter the camp but he realised that about 80 per cent of the refugees live outside of the camp, in a desert, where there was little access to food or water. The tents set up by United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees housed around five people to a tent, who irrespective of gender and age huddled to live together. Prasad says, he saw no member of the UN there.
As of Today
Prasad has been bed-ridden for two months now. He has lost his ability to walk. He is taking medication to keep his heart beat normal. However, he promises that as soon as he regains his strength, he will visit them one more time. Every day, he prays for five minutes for at least a day when he won’t hear of atrocities in Syria. The recent chemical attack made Prasad cry. He hopes it is none of the children he met or any child for that matter. After his visit to Syria, his family and other elders have helped him start an initiative in Karnataka. Today he runs the organisation called Sai Aashraya which, in collaboration with Sri Sathya Sai Super Speciality Hospital, feeds breakfast to 130 slum children in the city. Not the mid-day meal, because breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Every third Sunday of the month, the organisation goes to the Leper’s Colony in Dharampuri to provide meals and medical aid. Every month, they conduct regular health camps and supply 5 kg of rice and wheat, 1 kg of dal and cooking oil to BPL families.
They Know Bollywood
Wearing floaters and an over-sized shirt, Prasad stepped out of the car. The children and the people just stared at him with weary eyes. He then opened his bag, filled with chocolates and cookies and handed them over to the child near him. The child took the ordinary chocolate and licked the wrapper inside out. Though language was a barrier, Prasad was in no time interacting well with the children. He was surprised when they named Shah Rukh Khan and Aamir Khan. “You see these kids were well-to-do normal children who had access to TV before the bombs turned their lives upside down,” explains Prasad.
More than Chocolates
Every child wanted to be lifted and to play. Prasad spent an entire afternoon and evening playing football with them. On sunset, he returned back but he had plans to surprise them the next day. Little did he know that he was in for a bigger surprise. The second day children recognized the cab and came running to meet him, all cheerful and smiling. Prasad opened the bag of chocolates again and handed it to the boy next to him. The most mystifying thing was that the child was not looking at the chocolate, rather at Prasad. Prasad stretched his hands to pass the chocolate but the child, instead of the chocolate, held Prasad’s hand. “I opened the chocolate for him, he came straight at me and hugged me,” shares Prasad, elated and despondent.
He spent another evening with them. “Where are you from?” asked an elderly man, “India” Prasad replied. “Thank you India,” the man concluded. “That day I understood the saying ‘Love seeks no reward, love is its own reward’,” Prasad shares. “The children looked for nothing besides love. They just wanted someone to lift them up and play... In every smile I saw on them, I felt the presence of god.”