Teenage Social Worker Steals Hearts
Pulkit Vasudha
Ahmedabad, August 26: Yogesh Mer’s (13) face lights up as Amardeep Rana (16) hands him a shining black toy radio. Yogesh, a patient in the paediatric ward of M P Shah Cancer Hospital, was paralysed 25 days ago. Amardeep (16) visited Yogesh in the antiseptic ward on Saturday afternoon and asked him if he wanted anything from outside. “A radio,” was the barely audible reply. Fifteen minutes later and after a quick trip to the market, Amardeep returned with the radio.
Amardeep is not new to lending a helping hand to the distressed. On the contrary, public service has taken him to far-flung areas of the state and has earned him several accolades, the latest being the gold medal of the Governor’s Award, which he received last month. Amardeep was just 10-years-old when the earthquake hit Gujarat, killing two of his playmates. He donned his scout boy uniform and started assisting the Army and BSF in their relief operations. “As scouts, we were taught to help distressed people,” said Amardeep. He even took several homeless families into his own home in Kalol.
“When Bill Clinton heard of a small boy helping traumatised people on the streets of Ahmedabad, he called Amardeep for a personal meeting,” said Rana’s father Bahubhai M Rana. “Clinton told me that even though he was a scout boy in his childhood, it had never occurred to him to help people at that age,” Rana added.
Amardeep lost his mother and elder brother before he turned 10. “That was the turning point of my life. My brother used to say, ‘This is the time to do something. Anything may happen anywhere, anytime.’ After his sudden death, I started to help those in need. Who knows what may happen tomorrow?” he asked.
The encouragement and appreciation of people in the first few years strengthened Amardeep’s dedication towards public service. “When I first started of utilising my free time for public service, I never thought that so many people would help me in my efforts. Many rich and famous people have given me the resources — monetary and otherwise — so that I can reach out to the masses,” he said. During one of his vacations, Amardeep sold agarbattis and donated the profits to an orphanage. In another vacation, he donated warm clothes and blankets to slum dwellers and homeless people in Ahmedabad. Another time, he went to far-flung tribal areas in Palanpur to distribute clothes. He also provides food to patients’ families in Civil Hospital and distributes books and bags among poor children.
After tsunami in 2004, Amardeep appealed to visitors at the Kankaria Lake, Science Mela and Police Stadium to donate generously to the Prime Minister’s Tsunami Relief Fund.
Amardeep aspires to be an IAS or IPS officer. For now, he is busy with school and distributing toys among cancer-affected children during weekends.
Source: Indian Express