Door Step School caters to the education of underprivileged children across Pune and PCMC with the focus being migrant labour typically at construction sites. We have one of our centers in Bavdhan where children between 3 to 14 years of age come every day. Door Step School teachers teach them Marathi alphabet, numbers, reading, writing, various games as well as undertake other activities and projects. Bavdhan also houses a school for small children – ‘Sri Sri Ravishankar Bal Mandir’. The teachers and children from this school, recently visited Door Step School’s class at the construction site. The children from Bal mandir presented a story with help of puppets. Jyotsna Tai, the teacher from Bal Mandir, conducted games involving children from both the groups. Children sang and danced together and all were visibly delighted to have made new friends.
Sayali Kulkarni, Director, Sri Sri Ravishankar Bal Mandir, penned down the experience of this visit wonderfully and shared the same with us.
“We got this opportunity to visit the Bavdhan center of Door Step School. And we got to meet and know a young little friend, Hari. Harihar Yadav, son of a construction worker is around 10-12 years old. ‘Hari’ – a smart and charming personality. Many of the children of this age are such. But, Hari grabbed our attention due to some other reason. And that was his involvement in all the activities. He did not lose his concentration even though there were loud noises around, other children’s restlessness, the photos being clicked, etc. He was 100% engrossed in singing, dancing, etc. Hari also means God. I felt as if I am seeing a Yogi, with no considerations of past and future, immersed in spirituality and then the whole day, I could feel the spirituality in my mind. Do we really get so engrossed in whatever we do? Do we really give our 100%? We forget to live in the present, get bothered with unwanted burdens from past and unnecessary worries of future…
We restrict our natural movements, thinking about thoughts and reactions of others. We pick up little problems around us, and on our own, create mountains of hurdles before us. Looking at Hari, I got opportunity to know myself, to be close to myself. I planned this visit to give something to the children, but, it so happened, that I got a lot and that too very special, from the children. Today, Hari helped me meet the God within me."
-Sayali Kulkarni.
(Translated by Volunteer - Gauri Joglekar)
No comments:
Post a Comment