This social activist ensures that his winged friends remain well-fed

Ravi Dhaliwal
Tribune News Service
Batala, May 23

In the past several years, social activist Harmanjit Singh Goraya has purchased thousands of earthen pots, which are kept in parks and open spaces in the town. He ensures that his winged friends remain well-fed.

He considers it his sacred duty to fill these pots with water every now and then, so that “his friends can quench their thirst”. “I do not feed birds because they need me. I feed them because I need them. Feeding birds means feeding yourself. Birds are a part of nature and feeding nature is nothing but feeding yourself,” says Goraya, who heads a social organisation, ‘Jan Kalyan Charitable Society’.

On being asked when will the scare of Covid-19 go away, he said: “God will give us some directions in the times to come. We should always remember that God gives a low branch to the bird that cannot fly.”

He has been into social service ever since he left college. Knowing that kids studying in government schools are not privileged enough to buy certain things, Goraya has been coming to their rescue by providing them with water coolers, uniforms, shoes and socks.

His main focus is on differently-abled kids. He provides them with crutches, wheelchairs and tricycles to mitigate their sufferings. Even during the lockdown, he made sure that such children were not left at the mercy of the elements.

“I often tell these kids that their abilities are greater than their disabilities. We must stop believing that disabilities keep a person from doing something. That is simply not true. Having a disability does not stop anybody from doing anything,” he said.

Without any fuss and away from the glare of publicity, he has been distributing dairy products, including milk pouches, among people living in slums.

“I get in touch with poor people on the basis of lists provided by the administration. This is the least I can do in these uncertain times. The poor should not be ignored. They, too, have dreams. Actually, we all dream and it does not matter whether we are rich or poor. Every time the rich ignore the poor, the rich become poorer,” he said.

In his message to people, he said: “All of us want to survive the pandemic. Most of us will and after that, we will look back either with pride or regret on how we dealt with things during the crisis.”