Social Service
Essay # 1
Man is a social animal. We live in a society, so we need to be sincere to it. We cannot look to our welfare only. Our own welfare is of no value if the people around us are in trouble. Doomed are those who want only themselves to be prosperous and happy, who are jealous of others’ good. We can be happy only if we grow along with all others. Gone are the days when there was long one Thakur in a village who enjoyed all the luxuries of life and the others around him lived in his servitude. They were born to lick his soles and would die like that. Now things are changed. No one can exploit the rights of others. So in this changing society, we are expected to change our attitude for the good of our fellow citizens, especially the poor and neglected. How many are there around us who need our help? They are depressed and illiterate. They cannot give vent to their feelings. They are poor and sick they cannot make their two ends meet. They have no work If at all they have some, they are paid very low. Nobody is there to hear their woes. They turn to crime because of their poverty. Everyone is there to harass them. How great it is if we are of some help to them. We have to understand their woes. They will not share their woes with us unless we are their benefactors. This is a great soda service. The woes of the handicapped among them are further heightened. Either they are not able to express themselves or they cannot approach the places or people of their interest.
Mother Teresa was one such social worker who took the trouble of these people as her own. She would caress them, weep with them and fight for them. She collected funds worldwide to run many homes for the handicapped and the destitute women. She was like a God for the depressed, diseased, and the poor.
Social Service
Essay # 2
What India needs today more even than political reform, is social reform. The bringing about of great social reform must be left to statesmen and legislators, but there is much that can be done by even the humblest individual who is willing to devote himself to social service. All unselfish efforts to improve the lot of our fellow-beings is social service, and everyone can find plenty of opportunities of serving and helping his less fortunate brother. Let us consider a few ways in which a young educated Indian may serve his village, town, or community.
Wherever we live there is poverty and distress. We may ourselves be poor, and unable to spare much in charity. But the poor want other things besides money. They need sympathy and friendship. The mere giving of alms by the rich does not permanently relieve poverty. We humble workers can help the poor with our sympathy and may be able to induce those richer than ourselves to help really deserving cases we have discovered.
Only a very small proportion of the population of India is educated, and large numbers have no chance of getting an education in schools and colleges. Many young men who have had a college education, or who are still students, could devote part of their leisure time to educating the poor. Many poor men in towns and villages, who have had no schooling and cannot afford to pay teachers, would gladly welcome night-schools carried on by voluntary workers, where they could learn at least how to read and write.
A fine opening for social service is afforded by the Cooperative Credit Societies, which have already done so much to release the agriculturists from the grip of the money-lender and the burden of hopeless debt. No better service to his nation could be done by a young educated Indian than to start or help to work an agricultural bank in the village.
There are many other forms of social service which cannot be even mentioned here; but, if we want to work, there are always the sick to visit, the sorrowful to cheer, the lonely to befriend, and the anxious and worried to advise.
