17 Dec 2021

Dear all,

मैं अकेला ही चला था जानिब-ए-मंज़िल मगर

लोग साथ आते गये और कारवां बनता गया

- मजरूह सुलतानपुरी

Nothing summarises our feelings better than this poetry. With a lot of happiness and warmth in our hearts we welcome the new entrants to the LC family. Vyom who is 10, his sister Pearl who is 8 years, along with their parents Rinkal and Tejas have joined us from this week. Also joining us this week is Keshinika who is 12 years old along with her mother Amu. You joining us not only makes us bigger but also makes us believe in ourselves. Welcome!

We wanted to share a different kind of newsletter this week. This is not going to be a sum total of all activities we did this week but is going to be snippets of moments when we have felt humbled, surprised and shocked by our children.

Broken Heart

An 8 year old came to me crying, she hugged me and declared that my best friend doesn’t want to be friends with me anymore. No one is playing with me. I don’t know what to do, she said. While I took her and hugged I realised how tiny and feeble she is. I let her cry and later took her to her friend, who looked at her friend’s state and cried too. They hugged each other and conveniently forgot me.

Ownership

The youngest kid was perturbed by an older one. She felt like she was being ruled over. She started asking me, why is this boy coming to LC? I don’t want him here, she complained. Upon hearing this the boy shouted, “you go away”. She turned back to him and told him, “ये मेरा LC है तुम जाओ”। She had tears in her eyes and her hands on her chest, feeling proud of where she belonged, she said once again loud and clear, “ये मेरा LC है”

Concern

One of our 8 year old came late one day. When we asked him what made you so late, he said, “हर रोज देर होने वाली है”. My father is sick, both my grandmothers are sick, my mumma is also not feeling well, who is there to help her? She has to do this and that, she has to make food, take care of others. So it's okay if I am going to be late.

One of our 10 year olds went to play a match and took a holiday from LC. When he came the next day, everyone gathered to receive him at the gate. When he announced his team had won, everybody celebrated and called him the hero.

Gymnastics

We heard claps and shouts from the play zone, when we realised it was an applause. Everyone was cheering an 8 yr old for doing cartwheel, backwalker, front walkover all in one go.

Service to others

Movies and popcorn go together, isn’t it? So this time two of our food ministers decided they will make popcorn not prior but during the movie so others can eat it hot while they watch the movie. Diligently and willingly they made and served all the others, while missing watching the movie themselves.

Hugger

The movie we saw was not really that scary but there were scenes that can make an 8 year old jump and hide. So this child was constantly hugging everyone who she could lay her hands on. Hugging people on her left or right, sometimes even hugging someone’s feet. Looked hilarious to all of us.

देशभक्ति

It was interesting to see how kids react when it comes to any talks about India and Pakistan. Emotions are always very high. So we were debating about the Kashmir conflict and there were two teams. One which was pro plebiscite and the other opposing the view. Strangely all the members of the opposing team switched sides towards the end except for only one, who argued that Jammu and Kashmir is an “integral part of India and is in our blood”.

Meditation

We have a meditation routine everyday before our first session. We decided to start with 3-5 mins and slowly increase the time. It’s like taming a wild bull, getting them to sit in a place and be still is a supreme challenge. But we decided to stick with it, nevertheless. Few observations are that, some of them immediately start yawning after a min into the meditation, some close but still don’t close their eyes and are curious to look at their friends with their not-so-closed eyelids. Some twist their upper bodies and make faces. Some sleep on the floor. Some of them giggle. But we still intend to stay put with this routine..:)

Religion

“मैं अपने देश के लिए अपनी जान नहीं दूंगा”, proclaimed one of our older kids during a session when we were talking about religion. Supporting him another one said, “मैं अपने देश के लिए नहीं बल्कि धर्म के लिए अपनी जान दूंगा” this was the right amount of dynamite for all others to pounce on the them. Finally we settled for “कोई किसी और के लिए जान नहीं देगा”.

Sometimes small is big

A 4yr old won the race against 10 yr old this week during the game of knock knock.

Padharo mare Desh!

One of the facilitators did a mind blowing project presentation. Her topic was to show a snapshot of the complete culture of the place where she comes from. She wore a traditional saree with jewellery, spoke its language and danced to its folk music. She explained the food, people, culture and architecture of the place.

That’s all from us…until next time!

Take care and stay safe!