For all those who didn't know it is or who just took it to be just another holiday, here is some gyaan on children's day- while 20th November is universally celebrated as Children’s Day, in India this day is celebrated on 14th November,
This year we decided to spend it with the children @snehasadan and try and bring out the little child in ourselves :).
Simple as it may sound, we were really excited and nervous about this event as it was the biggest event we were planning till date. Everyone tried to contribute in his/her sweet way to make it a success. We were planning to get a little cheer in the lives of the kids and ourselves. So we planned an event filled day games, music along with
lunch and photo session.
We all reached Snehasadan at 11.00 am, first time punctuality for a lot of us. We were a little disappointed to see just half of the kids there, as few had schools ( holidays cancelled to compensate the loss of school work due to swine flu scare). Disappointed we may have been but we were very happy and thrilled to know that the caretakers had located a few families of the children and the children were sent back to them. Looking at our enthusiasm the caretakers called in kids from other Snehasadan homes and arrival of those kids was a big surprise for us. More the merrier was the funda here and we were all happy to have them be a part of hoopla.
We divided them into 2 groups younger boys and older boys... for the younger ones we started with the spoon and ball race coupled with balancing a book on their head. It was quite a sight to see, the kids balancing their books yet running to win the game, dropping their spoons in between. For the older gang we decided to make it a little difficult by making them walk backwards. The small kids would often try and trip them or get them to drop the spoons. Next up was ball in the basket game. The kids had to throw a crazy ball in the basket from a
certain distance. Crazy ball for those who don't know is a ball which bounces in different directions like its been given a spin. This was more fun that we thought, the kids still managed to basket a few balls, some even 4 out of the 6 balls given, we on the other hand couldn't basket any. It was hilarious as they thought we had practiced the game before giving it to them. We then played a game of darts.
By now most of us were getting hungry, so we decided to break for lunch. Lunch was delicious spread of biryani, vegetable, raita, sweets and cold drinks to end up with. We along with the caretakers and kids had a nice sit down lunch, offered a small prayer and began eating. It was quite a humbling experience being amongst them, being a part of them.
While we were rounding up our lunch, Mrugesh, our official photographer for the day, had found a spot for group picture and had set up his camera, tripod etc. In the meanwhile Arnav had decided to hand over little gift bags to all the kids. He was very excited about it, being just 2 years old he is crazy about giving and receiving gifts. So as he was giving away little bags he was also getting anxious to get one for himself. We then huddled down in the playground for the group photo. Arranging everyone so that all faces could be seen was a task but end result, awesome.
Next it was time for a game of housie. housie is something that all age groups enjoy. kids were asked to pull out numbers and Yogesh and Divyesh were carefully calling out numbers and checking the tickets. After a nice round of housie, it was time to distribute prizes for the games played. We were as excited as the kids about the gifts. we ensured that every kid got atleast one gift.
Vishruti thoughtfully got a cooking gas stove for Snehasadan to help the caretakers. Vel, his sister Laxmi and her friend Mayra brought in about 5 kilos of dryfruits for the kids to snack on. Arnav had given school stationary for all the school going kids.
Overall it has been a humbling experience for all of us.
We thank everyone for the continued support to the group without which this wouldn't have been possible. Our ultimate aim for Snehasadan is to help move kids from a muncipality school to english or semi-english medium school for better education. We are always open to ideas, suggestions and contributions in form of cash and kind. We are also looking for volunteers who could spend some time each month to teach the kids basic english and mathematics to help them cope up.
Next up is Christmas and New Years day combined get together. Gear up people we need more volunteers this time around. We also need ideas and suggestions for this event.
For all the funfilled event photographs visit here
