A Day With School Children

a-day-with-school-children

How to celebrate 15th August this year? This idea crossed the minds of many of us Bondhus many a times. Different ideas were discussed but we did not reach a conclusion. In one of the meetings one the Bondhus asked why do not we distribute free note books and pencils among poor children in some government school.

The response was greeted with a deafening silence. No one spoke for a minute, but a sense of approval was in the air – and in the next minute the meeting room was filled with cacophony of excitement that endorsed the suggestion.

The next big question was where the money will come from?

“No problem, we will contribute from our pockets,” said Himanshu Acharya, secretary of Bondhu Mahal. Then Daya Shankar Patwa, our mentor, came to our rescue.

But where to find poor children? Sudhir Sehgal and Ravi P Sharma solved this problem. They suggested we could hold this function at Government Primary School, Juggaur, near Chinhat in Lucknow. Once the initial hurdle was crossed we decided to celebrate India’s 66th birthday with school children of the state-run school.

The school identified 300 students – 200 of them were in primary section and 100 in junior section. The primary students were given three note books, one colour book, two pencils with an eraser and a box of crayon while the students in junior section got two registers, one science exercise book and two pens.

On August 15, after Tri Colour hoisting, Bondhu Mahal took charge. Children presented a cultural programme and then there was commotion when Chief Guest the local legislator Gomti Yadav came. Children knew what they could expect now. And once the distribution of note books started there was chaos. Children climbed on the stage to get their packet and teachers had a tough time to control them.

Those who got their packets triumphantly showed it to their fellow friends – a prized possession that will help them in writing their future.

P.S.: Special thanks to Chandan Das and his wife Rakhi for single handedly packing these notebooks. Thank you. God Bless!