“Kisi ki muskurahaton pe ho nisar, kisika dard mil sake toh le udhaar, kisike wastey ho tere dil mai pyaar, jeena isi ka naam hai” These words truly define the Aashray NGO and their aims. Ashray India NGO works to create light for those people who cannot find it for themselves. It’s a non-profit organization started by Aman Ahuja (Founder) and Shane Bakshi (Managing Director) to curb child begging and make India free of child beggars.
Hatke Story wanted to know more about their work, so we connected to their managing director Shane Bakshi. He told us many things about NGOs and how they operate and manage the organization. So let’s hear more about Aashray NGO.
Aashna: Tell us something about yourself and your NGO. What type of work do you do there, and what are your aims?
Shane Bakshi – Hello, I’m Shane Bakshi. I’m the managing director of the Aashray NGO. This NGO was started back in the year 2012 by my maternal uncle to educate unprivileged kids who cannot afford a decent education. He wanted to uplift the living status and lifestyle of below poverty line people, especially children from lower backgrounds. Apart from that, he concentrated on deterring child begging. He solely believed that he could change their lives by providing primary and formal education along with better schooling.
That’s why in the initial phase, we started working in slum areas. We used to visit slums and talk about residents’ lifestyles and daily routines. You would be surprised to know that many were unaware of standard terms like a comfortable life, education, and a good fate. They didn’t even know the importance of education and how much their children needed it to survive in the future. They believe that they have lived their lives by begging so their child will do the same.
However, their reaction was optimistic when we started counseling them. We told them about the benefits of education, and they understood our points without any objections or arguments. Many of them had enrolled their children in government schools, but those schools didn’t train their kids properly. Their parents didn’t know about it due to their lack of knowledge. These people didn’t understand the basic alphabet, so we helped them by taking extra classes and spreading awareness regarding health and hygiene. The entire campaign was called the “Padhai Campaign.”
Later, we launched our school in the slum area with a motive to teach their children. Now, there are two branches of this school, one in Chandigarh and another in Jaipur city. These schools are connected to the CBSE board and Rajasthan board, respectively.
Many students study well and continue their studies until additional classes, but some can’t continue for some reason. So we suggest they complete their education till 12th class from National open schools.
Aashna – Tell us more about your contribution to the NGO. What have you seen personally?
Shane Bakshi – At that time, I worked as a volunteer and helped the NGO provide stationery, books, and other essential equipment. Later, I started handling Aashray NGO as a trustee when my uncle shifted abroad. I was pretty young, and I wanted to work for these people. That’s why I took the responsibility on my shoulders.
While working, I discovered many more problems in their lives other than having a good education. They don’t even have enough food to feed their families, clothes to wear, shelter to live and they hardly know anything about their rights. To support them in 2015, along with the ‘Padhai campaign,’ I launched many other campaigns. These campaigns brought so many positive changes in their lives.
My background motivated me to work for the LGBT community. I belonged to a Punjabi family, and I grew up watching the LGBT+ community dancing in functions to earn money. I thought about helping them. That’s why I started a campaign called ‘Satrang’ to support them in the educational field and socially. So they can raise their voice against the discrimination and harassment they face in our society.
Apart from these two campaigns, we also started multiple other campaigns, such as the “Feed the Hungry” campaign. In this initiative, we provided food to hungry people. We collected the food from the leftover food of Chandigarh’s restaurants. We brought it from them to distribute it among impoverished people. Later, we also tied up with Swiggy and Zomato for the delivery of food. We commenced this campaign in Panchkula (Haryana), but we spread its roots into other cities after a while.
The fourth campaign is ‘Feed The Soul,’ which we initiated especially for the street animals to promote adoption, medication, and care. Fifth is ‘Naari Shakti’ that we inaugurated to support talented women of our country. Through this campaign, we encourage teenage girls by selling their handcrafted items on Aashray’s merchandise page.
Then we have ‘Warriors,’ which is about making documentaries on real-life heroes. We have recently shot documentaries on Acid attack victims and corona warriors’ lives. Besides these, Aashray also promotes its volunteers, and our team makes sure to provide them with different opportunities. We ask them to teach and guide the children about general things that they must know.
We motivate people for donations too. We tell them to donate anything they want to give or whatever they don’t need anymore, like old books, clothes, toys, stationery items, and many other things. Local companies like Evepaper, Desi Cooks Chandigarh, Scrap Books also support us financially.
Aashray also volunteered to work in the Covid pandemic. In which we offered medical kits and food. Our organization commenced another campaign named ‘Thali Campaign’ to deliver free food to the covid patients. We distributed nearly about 10,000 medical kits during the first wave, and in the second wave, we allocated 20,000 kits, including sanitizers, sanitary pads, and even PPE kits. That’s the summary of our work.
Aashna: You were pretty young when you started, and managing a non-profit organization is not at all easy. Can you brief us about your struggles?
Shane Bakshi: Look, no job is easy, whether a non-profit organization or any other profitable business. Challenges are always present in work. Everyone faces difficulties. However, my route was more challenging, full of problems and negative opinions because I ran a non-profitable organization.
I came across many people who degraded my work or wanted me to quit and do something that paid well. Many adults are cruel too. They don’t care about society but themselves. So they feel social work is nothing but a waste of time. Though I never paid attention to these people. I didn’t even reply or try to change their mindset. However, people can be very mean at times. Let me tell you about an incident.
I have a pet dog at my house, but I feed 48 other street dogs daily. However, my neighbors never liked my work. They believed that I had alternative motives behind the chore. Also, dogs spread this filth everywhere. So they have a problem with it as well. Isn’t it funny? Humans are okay with throwing plastic in water bodies or garbage on the road, but they nag when dogs spread their food. This double standard never ceases to amaze me.
Sometimes people ask me odd questions like, ‘Why are you doing this work? What do you get in return? Where are you getting so much money?’ Often, they point out my family because I belong to political background. They think that I’m spending taxpayers or black money on this NGO.
That’s not true! We face obstacles in collecting funds and sponsorships, and it’s our biggest challenge. Though when we see the happiness on the faces of our Aashray family, every difficulty seems worthless. If the people we work for, people for whom we are suffering, are happy, we feel obliged to serve them.
Aashna: What are the significant challenges you and your NGO have faced till now?
Shane Bakshi: On the work front, significant challenges occur due to the pressure of government and political parties. When an NGO makes its name, different parties want us to join. They want to laminate us. They need publicity and credits but hardly wish to help financially.
So the main problem we face is collecting funds. In the initial phase, I ran the organization from my salary only. After completing high school, I joined Airtel as a telecaller. So whatever amount I’d get from there, I would contribute to the development of Aashray. I’d use 50 or sometimes 80% of my income for funding the NGO. But it wasn’t enough at all. Throughout the journey, many times, we have faced fund issues.
Though the local companies often come for our aid. So now it’s not a big deal for us anymore. We make it possible through teamwork. We can indeed do nothing alone. Teamwork counts everywhere. Different minds together can make anything productive. I learned that only by giving can you receive more than you already have. That’s why these obstacles don’t bother me anymore.
We are currently getting funds from local business people, social media followers, and sometimes our team members support us in different ways. On our social media page, we motivate people for donations. They do come forward to help. Every year we organize an event called ‘Joy of Giving’ where we ask students to donate their old books or anything that a poor child can reuse.
We teach them one simple thing: ‘If nature has made you a giver, then be thankful to God. Be proud of your hands because you have opened them to help someone. After giving, your hands would be empty, but your heart would be full of joy.’ Through these events, I have realized the meaning of real happiness. It lies in helping others. That’s why I love and adore my work.
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