Crowdfunding has helped many people start up business or shoot an indie film. But, here's a heart-warming example of crowdfunding that can prove how technology strengthens friendship, even when a friend is gone.
When Md Shamim, a construction materials supplier in Hazaribagh, died after a yearlong battle with cancer at age 39 this April-end, he left behind a young widow, two school-going children and nearly empty bank accounts due to expensive chemotherapy.
On Sunday, around 40 days after his death, Shamim's school friends met his brother Md Hassan and other family members at their Ansari Road home.
The friends came bearing unusual gifts, a fixed deposit at the post office worth Rs 1.6 lakh and the information they had paid six months' worth of school fees for Shamim's son and daughter.
Shamim's school friends - scattered across India and abroad, including this correspondent - were a part of a 46-member group on WhatsApp, Proud Xaverians 92 Batch. The Class of 1992 at St Xavier's School, Hazaribagh, was shell-shocked to know that one among their own, Shamim, had lost his life so early.
A few in Hazaribagh knew Shamim's long illness had drained the family economically. In May, the friends on WhatsApp decided to chip in and help the best way they could.
Forty-six of Shamim's former classmates collected Rs 1,77,240, said Nitesh Tiwary, a private intermediate college owner in Hazaribagh.
"We fixed Rs 1.6 lakh in the post office in Shamim's daughter's name for 10 years. Hope it will help her when she is old enough for marriage," said friend Manish Thakur.
Businessman Amresh Rana and hotelier Ahmed Zakaria said at a time of crisis, it was heartening how everyone came together. "When it's a friend from school, it's a different bonding, even if many had not met each other for years," Zakaria said.
"Our Proud Xaverians 92 Batch has been active since January 2014. When we got the news of Shamin's death, it was a shock. One of our friends who knew the family's straitened economical condition due to Shamim's long illness suddenly asked everyone to donate in the name of our departed friend," said Rana. "Everyone responded quickly."
"Between May 7 and May 25, our WhatsApp group had decided on donations," added another friend Shreekar Choudhary.
Like his father, Shamim's son studies in St Xavier's School while his daughter is a student of Mount Carmel School.
"St Xavier's principal Father P.J. James has been very kind. He waived 50 per cent of the monthly fee from Rs 2,080 to Rs 1,040 for Shamim's son," Tiwary added.
Shamim's brother Hassan said this was a miracle. "Shamim was busy with business and family. Then, the fatal disease struck. We did not know much about his school friends. But, at a time when no one wants to give even Rs 10 to anyone else, his friends have done this. I'm feeling bad Shamim is not here to see how much his friends loved him."
Have you done a good deed using WhatsApp or Facebook? Tell ttkhand@abpmail.com
