Sometimes, it takes just a small gesture
of kindness to spark a revolution, that would go on to impact the lives of many
common men. Founders of MAD, Mele Pucho and Chiset Disong are ardent believers
of change that can come through positive work and love for others.
The young duo were exceptionally moved
by the sight of a Naga mother who was helplessly seeking assistance of a meager
amount of Rs. 200 from a non-Naga tailor, so she could pay her son’s school
fees. Eventually, it was them who happily offered her the money, which she
accepted with profound gratitude; her eyes filled with tears, and all she could
say at that moment was a whisper of, “May our God Lord bless you.”
This particular incident has been
greatly instrumental in challenging them to start MAD in October 2010, which
stands for, “Making A Difference.” “We realised that there are many of our own
brothers and sisters who are struggling so much in life and we need to reach
out to them in whatever way possible and lend a helping hand”, they express.
“Another reason behind this team is to
contribute in small ways to try and beautify our land especially Kohima town.
we are all very tired of the kind of roads we travel everyday. There are no
proper dustbins, no proper clean toilets for public, no safe drinking water
facility for free, no proper place to hang out and rest peacefully. The only
thing we have is lots and lots of DUST. We are not saying we can achieve to
provide all this things but we believe whatever small work we do for our
society can bring a lot of change which is much needed”, they further press on.
It is, in short, a team that walks the
talk in bringing about a few positive change in our society. They recognize
that everybody has a desire to bring change and help others but also aware that it becomes difficult on one’s
own ability, the whole idea is to bring people together who has a desire to
help others and contribute to the
society. It functions with a minimum contribution of Rs. 50 from its members
every month, and use the money to spread some good deeds in our land especially
targeting Kohima, to begin with.
Towards this endeavor, they explain, “most
of us spend money unnecessarily when we
have. To spend 100 Rupees in a day is not a big thing anymore for most
of us but at the same time there are a lot of people who work very hard to earn
that 100 Rupees everyday, not to spend that money for themselves but to take
care of their families. Today our society is facing a lot of problems and there
are lots of good works that we can do but we still keep on depending on the
Government, hoping and praying that something good will happen but it’s high
time we wake up from our sleep and take care of our society.”
The Team also has a desire to beautify
our small town in whatever way possible even as they speak their minds when
they say, “we believe that change is only possible if we all take the
responsibility to contribute in small or big ways. We believe and practice the
saying, ‘Action speaks louder than words’.”
Action, indeed speaks louder than words
and they have definitely walked their talks, evident from what they have
achieved so far. Just to list a few, the MAD team organized a one day seminar
called the Initiative of Change in February 2014 at Zubza where people, both
young and old from Nagaland, Australia, Lebanon, Maharashtra, Odisha, Gujarat,
etc came together to interact and discuss social issues and how to bring change
and impact our society.
The Team also donated 15 Garden Umbrellas
to our Naga mothers who sell vegetables at BOC with the prime objective of
providing shelter as well as beautify the market place, and also contributed
clothes and furniture to Tabitha Enabling school (a school for differently
abled children).
And yet, it’s never easy to work
together as a team, even as they confess that in a place like Kohima where
corruption is the biggest problem, it’s really a big challenge to work for
change. “Everyone is so caught up in their own world trying to be
richer and richer every minute that we have all forgotten to check the
things that need to be taken care of. We all talk about change but sadly very
few walk the talk”, they rightly point out.
However, as a team, they strive to reach
out to as many young people as they can to let them know that change begins
from oneself. “On the other hand we want to create an awareness of our responsibility as a youth in society. It has
never been so easy to reach out to all our youths but we are taking one step at
a time. We hope that everyone will come forward to play their own role to bring
change in our society”, they express with optimism.
CORE
TEAM MEMBERS ~
Mele
Pucho:
Proprietor of ‘Symphony School of Music/ Symphony School of Rock’
Chiset
Disong:
Proprietor of ‘Pinks and Blues’
Avino
Tase:
Kohima Doordarshan
Ketoriavi
Sakhrie:
Teacher
Lichan
Humtsoe:
Government Servant
Apong: Student
Vira: Entrepreneur
ADVISORS~
Theja
Meru
Ayieno
Kechü
