You don’t need to be a “declared philanthropist” in order to contribute for the welfare of anyone who’s a part of this world. But rather just a person with a mere sense of realisation of your individual responsibilities and acceptance of the fact that “anyone can make a change for good”. This time we unravel the true success story of Mr. Ashish Joshi who isn’t a celebrity, an influencer or a digital creator but a real hero. Who has been working without any expectations but just trying to give his best.
Mr. Ashish Joshi is an architect from Sambhajinagar who is also a dog rescuer and a conservationist. His journey started when he was on the brim of teenage. We are not able to handle the fluctuating hormonal levels when we are teenagers, yet this man (at that point himself a teenager) decided to become a rescuer of ‘man’s best friend’. One day in his 10th grade, he was on his was home from his tuition. Mid-way he saw a female dog was scavenging for some food for her puppies. At one time she went beneath a parked car in search of food for her kids and while coming out from there, she was hit by another car and it marked the death of that dog on spot! All of this happened in front of a 10th grade student whose main motive was just to return home from his tuition. Her puppies were still waiting for her mother to bring them food. Even though many at times their mother would have returned empty-handed, but this time none of it returned. Neither the food and nor their mother. Mr. Joshi carried all the puppies home that day and right there, it all started.
All this while, it wasn’t ‘for the sake of doing good’ that kept him going, rather the recoveries of majority of the dogs that he used to rescue. He realised his responsibility towards nature, all that encompasses and the society. There was this one dog named Champ (15 days old at that time) which he had rescued once who was suffering from a deadly accident. When taken to a veteran, they were suggested to opt for a mercy killing injection for Champ’s deadly accident. But Mr. Joshi refused and decided to look after him personally with more inclination towards love and familiarity. It is rather truly said, ‘where there is true love, there are miracles’. Gradually, Champ started healing.
There never was a plan for all of this to fall in place, but rather an emotion which kept him going and even till date Mr. Joshi tries his level best for all those dogs who deserve it more than anyone else. He started on a very minute scale but wants to convert it into a large-scale operation. He started from 1 dog and it moved on to taking care of 60 rescued dogs. At present, he shelters 200 extricated dogs in his society. He wishes to make a happy place for all the dogs in need of help. Moreover, he has a vision of a place replicating a sanctuary for dogs, where all of them can stroll happily and freely.
He started as a student and majority of his journey has been as a student. As a student, there are unstated existing limitations yet those limitations never stopped him or even brought him to halt. Mr. Joshi says, “limitations always leads to development”. He never had an income source as a student, had his society issues with so many dogs and land issues for his plantation projects. But day by day, all the issues turned in his favor. He used to deliver newspapers from door to door every day before going to school before the rise in his 10th grade to make some money to feed the dogs. Amidst these limitations, he discovered that there is nothing like a saturation point for something that you love and gives you peace at the end of the day.
There was one time when he lost 3 dogs back to back. That point was an emotional drenching phase for him. He almost had thoughts that he lost the dogs because he was not able to get them justified treatment. But the maximum one can do is try their best as the ability to be a breathing organism always rests in the hands of god almighty. He realized there so many dogs still out there who are worth an attempt to be saved and worth a try to be given a normal life.
He is grateful for his two friends Chinmay and Adinath and expresses his gratitude for two of his advisors, who have helped him from the beginning. These people were there to guide him, help him overcome his stress and calm his mind down whenever needed. At present, he is working on 2-3 plantation projects which almost houses the roots of 400 trees. He has been in talks with the government too for more plantation projects. Mr. Joshi craves to witness the increasing green line and depleting negligence of all for mother nature. He carries on feeding for 200-250 dogs per day. Who said one cannot take the authority in his/her hands to enforce the change, here’s a living example!
Not always it is about the profits you make in monetarily terms; rather the yields you receive for sensitivity, the warmth that it reflects and the sentiments that gets fastened to it. That is the quality of work which is seen as rather influencing!
A personal message from Mr. Ashish Joshi, “Take care of animals around you. Be alert. Even if it is a sapling or a bug or a dog, it has a life just like yours. Everyone has their own struggle and it involves all living organisms. Start somewhere, don’t litter and accept your responsibility.”
- Team Satyavachan