Off to a Bright Start!

Off to a Bright Start!

There are few blessings in life which motivate you, encourage you & just a thought of them bring a smile on your face. One such blessing is being a Mother. I am proud of many things in life but nothing beats being a Mother. Bringing a smile on your Child’s face, taking care of her & above all growing with her is what motivates you. It is the most difficult job in the whole wide world & at the same time gives you most satisfaction & phenomenal growth as a human being.

And when you are getting an opportunity to spend time with not just one but over 100 children, wisdom is in to grab it with both hands. I got a similar opportunity as part of ‘Bright Start’ program from my organisation to be a part of the Bright Start. I was to spend time with children directly impacted by the initiatives jointly undertaken by Kellogg’s & the Partner NGO.

So, on a lovely Friday morning, after dropping my 5 year old angel, Romisah to her school bus with lots of kisses, I started off to Mumbai’s  in arguably the biggest slum in Asia to meet over 100 little Angels. I got into an Ola cab & was greeted by driver Dhawan with a smile. On finding out my destination, he got a little skeptical as he had preconceived notions about the area, not being a safest of all the places to go. But my excitement to meet these little Angels paid no heed to his discouraging arguments.  

I got off on the main road where I was met by Rubina, a sweet girl in her early twenties who was there to receive me. I started off by walking into the narrow lanes of the establishment where I witnessed the other side of Mumbai. There was a drain flowing underneath the pavement I was walking on. On either side of it were the houses which were barely 10 by 10 feet in size. The doors of most of the houses were open with curtains flying to & fro giving a glimpse of the entire household. The ladies of the houses were washing clothes outside the house on the pavement, frequently chatting to their fellow neighborhood ladies doing the same chores. A vegetable vendor with a small basket over his head was busy bargaining on the tomato rates with some of the housewives. Cacophony of the Cricket enthusiasts watching a cricket match and sharing their expert opinions is something that resonates with every Indian, could also be heard from a distance.

A smile covered my face. It was an ironic moment for me to see that while the life of the slum dwellers is hard, yet their content & happy faces made me realize how we take our lives for granted. We harp on things that we don’t have and don’t have gratitude about people & things that we have. It was moment of a harsh reminder & reaffirming a resolution of having gratitude for what we have. I thanked God for my blessings.  I walked rest of the path humming the song “When upon life’s billows you are tempest-tossed, when you are discouraged, thinking all is lost, Count your many blessings, name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

I was finally led into a church in a 40X40 feet room which was a makeshift crèche from Monday to Saturday. Run for the last 40 years, the crèche is run by 5 adept teachers. Sheela Naidu, a wonderful lady is there for over 20 years taking care of the kids. Rubina’ s teaching prowess deceived or rather surpassed her age by many years in the way she was managing the children.  Nitesh, there supervisor knew every child by name and shared so many heart touching stories with me. Indeed, the children were in company of awesome men and women who I feel had a heart of gold. They were bathed in depth, devotion & dedication in their service to these Little Angels.

Hardly had I started counting my blessings of the wonderful life that God has given me when I was greeted by over 100 smiles of the little Angels. Dressed in their chequered Red uniforms, the children were enthralled to see a new face among st them. I was overwhelmed to see so many children beaming with excitement coming towards to me to wish me good morning. Some smiled, some shook hands with me. Without saying a word, their smile and the love that they started to shower on me had lit up all & even the darkest corners of my heart. My heart was full of love for them & I could feel an instant bond with them. Indeed such is the power of love.

In a city like Mumbai, it is difficult for the lower income group to make both ends meet. However, this crèche which does not charge anything from the parents (whatever they can give willfully) is a blessing in disguise. The crèche provide free meal to the tiny tots and is run by the organisation’s funds and donations that it receives from philanthropy.

The Children’s day started with an assembly which included exercises & prayer songs in God’s praise. It was absolutely euphonious hearing children singing & dancing to various rhymes & songs repeating after their teachers. One thing that fascinated me the most that how the creche teachers were also focused on the Children’s all round development (emotional & social development) in addition to taking care of their basic needs (eating & sleeping).

Next what followed was the breakfast which all the children were looking forward to. Soon the chattering sound was dimmed as the children sat down to have their favorite Chocos with milk, ‘Chaukas is how they pronounced it which sounded too cute. They relished their breakfast. Some children walked up to me and insisted that I feed them which I did with lot of love and care. My daughter’s face flashed in front of me & made me pine for her in that very moment.  It is said that ‘Kids go where there is excitement, they stay where there is love’. It was really heartening to witness it in the Creche.

The four hours that I spent there were full of fun & frolic, where I danced & sang with kids, clicked pics, got my hair combed by little princesses, did Hi Five infinite times. The more I did it, the more happiness it gave me. The little girl Sanskriti’s parents were also once students of the creche which really moved me. The littlest feet made the biggest footprints in my heart.

I was told that these 115 children belonged to the under- privileged from the slum area. But it was wrong, for these children had all that they needed & that was unconditional love that they got in the creche from each other & their wonderful teachers.  The 40 by 40 feet creche is in fact a palace housing 115 children where the metamorphosis of these tiny toddlers is taking place into young & responsible citizens. 

Paul Coelho once said, “There are three things that a child can teach an adult: To be happy for no reason; to be always busy doing something; To always be curious, to fight tirelessly for something; And to know how to demand – with all one’s might – what one wants.”

I surely learnt so much today & returned with a promise to go back again & wished to be a child again. I came back home and realized that I am living my childhood with my 5 year old daughter & I smiled again. # Bright Start, #Kellogg's # love my organisation, #great place.