Dear Save a Mother,
Forgive me for these words were meant to be only seen by me. Correction, not seen, just thought about guiltily in some dark moments of my life. I am sorry for not being completely truthful before but here goes: I did not get involved with you to do any good whatsoever. I didn’t mean to be part of a new chapter for Los Angeles, and I especially didn’t want to do any work. Truth be told, you kind of snuck up on me, but before I get even more confusing, let me try to explain. Please be patient through my ramblings. This is about me not you.
(Think flashback music from the 90s). It was 1994, and I was ready to graduate from UCLA yet I had no plans to begin my future well, at least, none that involved getting a steady job. You see, I wanted to save the world, and somehow going somewhere corporate from 9 to 5 in an ill fitting suit just didn’t really jazz me up. So I followed my community service streak and signed up for Americorps, a program designed to educate low income high risk students using their peers and suddenly I was on my way to Lexington, Kentucky.
Before you further get confused, let’s just say it was an interesting year where I met a friend who I am still friends with. Flash forward 15 years later, and although I still don’t wear a suit to work or work 9 to 5, I no longer want to save the world or heck even be helpful. Instead, first came a Sanjay who was a promoter of South Asian events and wanted to start a record label, then stumbled through law school and became a lawyer who didn’t want to practice and then finally saved from becoming completely irrelevant thanks to the family business. And the years sped and blurred into one and next thing I knew I was part of chain of beauty salons (yes you read that right!) that specialized in the 2000 year old art of Threading
And so I sat behind that desk not wanting to do anything for anyone else, and it is there you found me through my Kentuckian friend. I didn’t realize it at the time but 15 years ago, I planted a seed that the younger idealistic me perhaps knew I would forget about And that seed came in the form of a friend who introduced me to Rahul Singhal and then Dr. Ganju (2 strangers who perhaps have no idea how much they have made my life better), and next thing I knew suddenly YOU became the help I denied others. You made me see that helping isn’t always about others, its about yourself. You didn’t need me, I needed you.
That’s the truth. You helped me. And it wasn’t work, and it wasn’t charity. It was just the right thing to do. You made it easy to see that sometimes all we really have to do is pick up the phone or email and simply just say to others: come. This is how 60 people came to Los Angeles at Bombay Palace one evening in March 2010 and pledged not to work but to be helped by your organization. $2000 was raised in an hour, and now it makes me wonder, what would 1000 hours accomplish? Now that’s something I plan on finding out and you know it won’t take much work. It will just take me being me.
Thank you Save a Mother.
Sincerely,
Sanjay Sabarwal
P.S Think you can have it in you to do the same? Join us at: save-a-mother.org
Sanjay Sabarwal is the General Counsel as well as co-owner of Ziba Beauty, a chain of brow lounges in Southern California that specializes in The Art of Threading ® and The Art of Mehndi.
