In this month’s article, I want to pay homage to a Meliorist, my good friend Pratima who does a yeowoman job of social service with an organization (Bring a Smile Foundation, an NGO from my hometown – Hyderabad) in India. She occasionally pings us for our modest contributions when one of her causes in India has a short fall in meeting the target.
Meliorism: the doctrine that the world tends to become better or may be made better by human effort.
Optimism: hopefulness and confidence about the future or the success of something.
Pessimism: a tendency to see the worst aspect of things or believe that the worst will happen.
When I came across the word meliorism, around the same time my good friend Pratima shared with us the following which was very heartwarming.
I am absolutely thrilled to share some wonderful news regarding Priyanka, the student we collectively supported for her 12th-standard tuition and coaching fees in May and June 2025 (academic year 2025-26).
The results for the 12th standard public exams are out today, and Priyanka has performed exceptionally well, securing a Distinction with a total of 573/600 (95.5%). Her dedication is evident in her scores, particularly her perfect 100 in Biology and high marks across all subjects
Priyanka’s journey this past year was incredibly challenging. Following a major surgery that left her father partially paralyzed and unable to work, the family’s financial stability was shattered. Despite her mother’s tireless efforts working as a domestic help, covering college and coaching fees was an impossible mountain to climb.
In a year where she could have been forced to pause her education, the generosity of many enabled her to remain focused and driven. We didn’t just pay for fees; we provided her with the stability to achieve these remarkable results.
To the Contributors: Thank you for believing in her potential when the odds were stacked against her. Your kindness has paved a clear path for her future in higher education.
Special Thanks to Pratima Ponnuru, Treasurer, BaSmile (based in the US): A huge shout-out to Pratima for coordinating the fund transfers. Her diligent support behind the scenes ensured the beneficiary received the help exactly when it was needed.
We set out to “Bring a Smile,” and today, thanks to this community, Priyanka and her family have every reason to celebrate.
I asked about the next steps for Priyanka, and it seemed like she is on a path forward with potential scholarships available to her. But then, Pratima shared this piece of information.
Almost closing Rs.90K fees request (for 3 visually challenged MBA students) in less than 2 days. We raised and paid for them last semester too.
Lo and behold, they were very close to raising that money. When I asked how much shortfall they are facing, Pratima said that they are close to filling the gap but there is another student who is facing financial difficulties due to familial compulsions.
Yeah, I would say we got this (waiting for some confirmation) but if you’d like to help we have another fees request (in Dignity Drive Foundation) for a B Tech III rd year girl whose mother is going thru cancer treatment. The mom is more worried about the girl dropping out of college for non-payment of pending fees than her cancer.
Pending fees Rs.73K
Got 20K so far.
The reason I have attached the above exchanges is that her efforts are relentless. I have come to conclusion that both optimism and pessimism are two sides of the same coin. They both stand at the opposite end of the point of view spectrum but they both have one thing in common. The optimist believes that there is a bright future brought about by someone doing something and therefore does not do anything. The pessimist believes that things are going to be worse (anyway), so there is no point in doing anything. They both DO NOT do anything, albeit for different reasons. As a numismatist would say, they both have ridges that prevent them from doing anything. Only a meliorist who is like a edge of a coin (the thin part of the coin) who combines both pessimistic point of view (there is despair all around) and optimistic point of view (there can be good in the world) and decide to DO something about it.
I found these to be the perfect examples of the point I am belaboring to make: three examples of the same view of the world. The first one is that of a pessimist. All dark and gloomy. The second one is that of an optimist where everything is bright and cheerful.
Pessimist View of the world
Optimist view of the world. All bright and cheerful.
A meliorist point of the view which acknowledges the despair of the pessimist while taking inspiration from the optimist and does something about it.
To me the most interesting point of view is the outcome from a Meliorist action. The action taken by a meliorist which is a good mixture of pessimism, optimism and pragmatism, the results are usually better as shown in the example below, which is an HDR image of the above three.
Epilog: It is meliorists like Pratima who bring about change, perhaps one instance at a time, and make a difference to an individual, nay provide a nobler effect – give hope to a family that there is bright future. To many of my friends and readers of this blog who do provide financial assistance and volunteer to various causes, and those who chose a profession that helps downtrodden (healthcare and education are two I readily recall), I acknowledge your meliorism in bringing about changes for better, in this world. You all had a choice of not doing anything, but you chose to do something. That is human effort, how thin the edge of the coin is, it is still human effort. I bow to you with my eternal gratitude and respect.
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Great perspective here! It reminds me of videos of folks who help those across marathon finish lines when they are faltering – it’s about chosing to believe in the good things in the world (like hope and joy) when things feel difficult.
Thank you Kinnera. So true. When your actions are altruistic, the rewards are many fold.
I echo Tinnewa’s comment and applaud Pratima’s efforts. And yours to highlight P’s efforts and the parallel to your photography (LightRoom) mastery! 🙂
Thank you VM for those kind sentiments. It means a lot to me. There are quite a few of you who contribute to the causes quitely too, who enable Pratimas of the world to carry on their noble work.