On the chilly evening of 24 December, as I scribbled my endless list of wishes to Santa and New Year resolutions destined to crumble by 2 January, something within me paused. For the first time, the impulse was not to ask the Divine for more, but to offer something back. And so, I chose to give to His most vulnerable creation: the four-legged Brajwasis of Vrindavan.
In the fog-draped evening of Delhi, I set my course towards Shri Dham Vrindavan for an entire week. Little did I know that I was not the only one stirred by this quiet whisper. A whole assembly of god-sisters and god-brothers had arrived with the same calling in their hearts. Together, we were ready to trade warmth and comfort for something far more meaningful.
From 25 to 30 December, we rose each day at 9.30 am to greet our four-legged friends. Their tails wagged in recognition. Our days moved in a rhythm that felt almost sacred: feeding, caring, playing. Cold hands, tired bodies, and muddy shoes became part of the offering. Every moment became seva.
Throughout this time, the divine katha of the Shrimad Bhagwatam echoed within us, reminding us that all living beings carry a spark of the Divine. Here in Vrindavan, serving those without a voice, we were not merely performing acts of compassion. We were living our dharma.
We arrived to serve the animals, yet we left transformed. What we carried back was not fatigue, but a quiet fullness. We came with expectations of what we might offer, but received something far deeper in return: a resurrection of the heart.
The volunteers of Braj Animal Care embody the spirit of Alfred Lord Tennyson’s timeless words:
"Ring out the old, ring in the new,
Ring, happy bells, across the snow:
The year is going, let him go;
Ring out the false, ring in the true."
As we stepped into 2026, we did not ring in resolutions destined to fade. Instead, we rang in compassion. We rang in the sacred responsibility of caring for those society has forgotten. In doing so, we discovered that the true resurrection of the new year was not about personal transformation alone, but about choosing, again and again, to show up for the voiceless ones who wait quietly on our streets.