This was my first year attending the annual conference ofthe Association for India’s Development (AID). It is difficult to describe what a powerful experience it was. I learnt a lot more about AID activities, ways to get involved and AID’s relationship with its Saathis and Jeevansaathis.

The social interactions surrounding the conference also affected me deeply. I have never met so many generous, intelligent, wonderful people in such a short span of time! The incredible generosity of AID volunteers is what touched me most. When I say generosity, I don’t just mean generosity with money or time that people show in choosing to contribute to AID. I also mean generosity in interpersonal relations: a willingness to engage with other people at an emotional and human level. Every night of the conference, we stayed up until 3:00 or 4:00 a.m. joking and also discussing issues that each of us was passionate about. I was very sad when I had to leave such a generous social environment. For several days afterwards, I had what can only be described as a “high” from all the positive feelings and great people I met at the conference.

This led me to rethink the nature of giving. When one gives a good thing to others, one always gets something
good in return. Giving part of yourself to others is not in any way self-sacrificing; it is, rather, a realignment of your own resources. Cultivating altruism in oneself breaks down the divisive barriers between people and relieves the feeling of loneliness and urban isolation which I, personally, think is the worst part of modern living. This lesson gave me a desire to be more generous with people, to open up to people more. As I went back to my normal life, exhausted yet exhilarated, I found myself putting more effort into social relationships, and trying to be warmer to people in general.

Mark (Spike) Stevens, AID-Boston