A day well spent...

It's Children's Day today, and I just knew I had to do something different.

So often I see too many children languishing on the roads, in slums and at traffic signals : begging at your car window, as you sit cocooned in your comfortable car, in moderated temperatures...

I feel and I know that it is our responsibility to something for all of these children; whose only fault is that they were not born in to homes like ours.

For whom the basics that we seem to take for granted like food, clothing, shelter, and eduction is a distant dream. Add to that the basic hygeine factors like a bath and toilet and clean drinking water.

I decided to do something special this Children's Day. I often volunteer with Sofosh and Akanksha : the lovely lovely children there fill me with joy and hope : and so today, I decided to spend some time with them...

When I asked Arjun, he immediately went along with the programme. I set up a collection centre at home and reached out to friends and family via email and Facebook, to send in books, toys, clothes and anything they could spare to share with these lovely people.

I was overwhlemed by the response and so we set out this morning at 9am to share the goodies and to spend the most precious commodity we had : time : with the children...

I have learnt that doing volunteer work requires you to just go there and 'be'.

I marvel the patience and grit of all the volunteers and facilatators.

I am in awe of their simplicity and passion.

I realise also that you don't need to go with any particular skill set.

All you need to do is make time, have compassion, and a willingness in your heart to do anything that comes your way.

So here's what I did : I made bunches of wool hair for the dolls the kids were happily painting and making. Then I took all of them to wash their hands and get cleaned up for the snack. Distributed the snack and clicked many many photos of all the sunshine happy kids and then got to be part of a mini drum circle and even got rewarded a cup of hot steaming 'chai' for all of this.

What I came back with is a smiling heart, happy in the knowledge that my son loves to be with me when I'm doing my thing like this : even on a Saturday [ which means sacrificing a late sleep-in! which mind you - for a teenager is a 'big' thing!] , and I came back with a bag full of rich and vibrant stories to tell and share at home...

Tell me your story!

~ a