I was standing at a sweet shop, Chatpatalal snacks and sweets in Whitefield. It was a Saturday noon. I was meeting a friend after 7 years. Since the time we last met I had completed my Bachelors in Engineering, and have already worked in 3 different companies. In the same time he has become a doctor, served under the Hippocratic oath and is currently continuing his post graduation. The two hour window between his travel was the only chance to catch up a little with my old friend. There I was, standing at a sweet shop, waiting for my friend to collect his box of sweets. This is about those five minutes of thought work.
The roads kept busy, the dust never settled, and I was fed up of too many first world problems. There was a tea shop with the 40-ish looking vendor, eagerly scanning the people for some business. I wonder what story he must be having, what keeps him going. There were some couples on the road too. Some looked too bored of each other, and the love they wore resembled your old favorite shirt, washed, rinsed and tumbled over a million times. People kept moving in and out of the shop, some with their family, some with friends. A dad and a son caught my attention.
The son was young, around 5-6 years old. He was like any other kid of that age, wearing bright colors all over, touching, looking, dreaming, play acting and in a world that only he knew. I am sure, he would have his own superheroes who with all their superpowers teach kids some very basic lessons of life. His dad was waiting for his box of sweets too. The kid looked at anything fancy, asking his dad so many questions, adding and updating his real-time wish list. Sometimes he would stick against the glass wall watching away, and sometimes he would loose a sneaker while running around. The dad, let him wander a little, and yet kept a close watch to ensure the kid doesn't hurt himself. For the kid the Dad had changed his old life of careless wanderings to a nurturing loving family man. The world that he provides the kid, the way he manages the kid's wish and will, the things that he teaches from the real world, will be the valuable lessons the kid will remember throughout his life.
I had been a kid, and I could relate to these beautiful moments. No wonder how big I grow or how old I get, I'll always have my dad nudging me in the path when I go too wary. I was lucky, unlike 176 million children in India, who need urgent care.
That afternoon was going to be my first class of my second year at Make a Difference. I had four new kids to teach, guide, nudge and make a difference too. These kids are unlike me, you or anyone who have had a controlled stimulating world while growing up. These kids have faced the hard truths of life at such a tender age. Many are orphans, with no one to guide them, many disabled with no one to even bat a flashing eye, forget a smile, as if they didn't even exist. I was going to meet them, spend time with them every week, until the end of the session. I realized, I had to give these kids the inspiration, the belief, that they too belong and are equally a part of the world like us. They too deserve the choices we had while growing up, and that they can become anyone they wished too. But then I get worried, whether I can change any of their situation, by spending only 2-3 hours a week with four 11 year-old kids trying to make a difference.
In the five minutes of deep observation at a sweet shop on a Saturday noon, the realization came uninvited, that the task at hand was stupendous. I am scared since I know this challenge is too big and overwhelming to overcome by one person or one organisation alone. Yet I would still try I would try to make a difference every time that I knew.
Later that afternoon I met my four kids, Shanmukha, Gautam, Shashank and Ashok. I am supposed to teach English, as the current shelter needs vernacular teachers for Maths and Science. Shanmukha loves drawing, understands and speaks English well, and shows incredible amount of maturity. He is my go to person when I have to make sure the other three kids follow. I consider myself wise, but I had half his wisdom when I was his age.
Gautam, Shashank and Ashok, are yet to make the first few English sentences all by themselves. These are the new kids to join the shelter. Gautam loves running, Ashok loves Kabaddi, and Shashank wants to run more sprint relays. All of them want to join the military when they want to grow up.
So I taught them one little insignificant thing from our lives. I taught them how to introduce themselves when they meet someone new in English. As per my introduction, I am Partha, an Ed Support Volunteer at Make a Difference, and I want to make one difference everyday.
Wandered-Lost-Crazy
The roads kept busy, the dust never settled, and I was fed up of too many first world problems. There was a tea shop with the 40-ish looking vendor, eagerly scanning the people for some business. I wonder what story he must be having, what keeps him going. There were some couples on the road too. Some looked too bored of each other, and the love they wore resembled your old favorite shirt, washed, rinsed and tumbled over a million times. People kept moving in and out of the shop, some with their family, some with friends. A dad and a son caught my attention.
The son was young, around 5-6 years old. He was like any other kid of that age, wearing bright colors all over, touching, looking, dreaming, play acting and in a world that only he knew. I am sure, he would have his own superheroes who with all their superpowers teach kids some very basic lessons of life. His dad was waiting for his box of sweets too. The kid looked at anything fancy, asking his dad so many questions, adding and updating his real-time wish list. Sometimes he would stick against the glass wall watching away, and sometimes he would loose a sneaker while running around. The dad, let him wander a little, and yet kept a close watch to ensure the kid doesn't hurt himself. For the kid the Dad had changed his old life of careless wanderings to a nurturing loving family man. The world that he provides the kid, the way he manages the kid's wish and will, the things that he teaches from the real world, will be the valuable lessons the kid will remember throughout his life.
I had been a kid, and I could relate to these beautiful moments. No wonder how big I grow or how old I get, I'll always have my dad nudging me in the path when I go too wary. I was lucky, unlike 176 million children in India, who need urgent care.
That afternoon was going to be my first class of my second year at Make a Difference. I had four new kids to teach, guide, nudge and make a difference too. These kids are unlike me, you or anyone who have had a controlled stimulating world while growing up. These kids have faced the hard truths of life at such a tender age. Many are orphans, with no one to guide them, many disabled with no one to even bat a flashing eye, forget a smile, as if they didn't even exist. I was going to meet them, spend time with them every week, until the end of the session. I realized, I had to give these kids the inspiration, the belief, that they too belong and are equally a part of the world like us. They too deserve the choices we had while growing up, and that they can become anyone they wished too. But then I get worried, whether I can change any of their situation, by spending only 2-3 hours a week with four 11 year-old kids trying to make a difference.
In the five minutes of deep observation at a sweet shop on a Saturday noon, the realization came uninvited, that the task at hand was stupendous. I am scared since I know this challenge is too big and overwhelming to overcome by one person or one organisation alone. Yet I would still try I would try to make a difference every time that I knew.
Later that afternoon I met my four kids, Shanmukha, Gautam, Shashank and Ashok. I am supposed to teach English, as the current shelter needs vernacular teachers for Maths and Science. Shanmukha loves drawing, understands and speaks English well, and shows incredible amount of maturity. He is my go to person when I have to make sure the other three kids follow. I consider myself wise, but I had half his wisdom when I was his age.
Gautam, Shashank and Ashok, are yet to make the first few English sentences all by themselves. These are the new kids to join the shelter. Gautam loves running, Ashok loves Kabaddi, and Shashank wants to run more sprint relays. All of them want to join the military when they want to grow up.
So I taught them one little insignificant thing from our lives. I taught them how to introduce themselves when they meet someone new in English. As per my introduction, I am Partha, an Ed Support Volunteer at Make a Difference, and I want to make one difference everyday.
Wandered-Lost-Crazy
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