Something good.....

NOTEBOOK DISTRIBUTION, MAGADI.

The “Notebook distribution” programme organized by the “Notebook Drive”, an IISc students’ initiative, was in its second last day today (Friday the 21^st of June, 2013) and we were supposed to cover 6 Govt. primary schools in Magadi, Karnataka. Today’s area coordinator was Himani Galagali, a final year UG student.

 We had earlier decided on starting  at 8.30 am sharp but loading of notebooks and stationeries, arranging for vehicles, gathering of all the volunteers took some time and finally it was almost 9.30 am when we started rolling. I, Gaurav, Omkar, Abhay and Himani made ourselves comfortable in an Alto , Deepak decided to stick with the tempo carrying books and stationeries driven by Karthick. Mahesh and Arventh followed us in bikes.

When we reached the first school we were greeted with cheerful “good morning” from the kids. That rhythmic and musical “good morning” reminded me of my very own childhood days. There is an inexpressible joy in spending time with kids, seeing them laugh to their heart’s content, seeing happiness sipping through their souls when they lay their hands on something new and you get every bit of all that when you are part of the “Notebook distribution”.

Every time we went to a new school the happiness kept on growing. The happy faces of the kids, their ear-to-ear grins, their glittering eyes were a sight so fulfilling. The schools kept on changing and I while writing this article could not quite recall their names, but the atmosphere invariably remained the same. And as wise men say, “Happiness has no language”, though I could not understand what the kids tried to convey in Kannada, I knew that they were happy and that is all that matters.

The teachers were warm and inviting. They did all they could to make us feel at home. They were very appreciative of our efforts and it really made everything worth it. Their humble efforts touched our hearts.

With the efforts of all and sundry the distribution was carried out in a very orderly manner. Everything was almost perfect. Yeah, we took a little longer than planned but who cares as long as we enjoyed every bit of the experience. Good things after all should be relished slowly.

We were back by 5 pm and by that time I was feeling exhausted and liberated at the same time. It was not the first event of “Notebook drive” that I participated in, but the fervor invariably remains unaltered. Every time I spend time with these kids I realize how I miss my childhood. I feel a little grown up. I feel a little innocence lost. I feel how I take simple joys of life for granted and how I can be a little better person. Hats off to all the members of NBD who have taken the responsibility (I can raise my collars, I being one) for organizing such a gala event.