How often have we complained about our surroundings and the problems we face in our daily life? I know that I do, quite often whether it is about the traffic or power cuts or…the list seems endless. Sometimes though, we get a reality check and realize that our lives are truly abundant.
January 26 of this year was one such opportunity. A chance conversation with a friend revealed that she has been invited to attend the Rebublic Day parade at a school in a village called Surana, 30 kilometers from Jaipur. It seemed like a chance to not just visit this school but also visit a village, which I confess was a first for me.
Accordingly, we had set off around 7:30 am from Gurgaon. Unfortunately, the fog and terrible traffic jams meant we reached around noon. The function was over but the children were still hanging about the school. We were immediately surrounded by hordes of children, the teachers, some parents, and even the village goats. With a visible sense of pride, they took us to see their classrooms (a grand total of nine small rooms) and their computer centre. My friend, who runs an NGO, had taken an old PC and that was installed in the centre and some of the children proceeded to sit around just staring at it, while the rest followed us around. Getting photographed was pretty popular and so was being able to see their image on the camera screen.
While the rooms were small and most of them sit on the floor and study struggling with the limited resources of their life, their ambitions are unlimited. “Kuch achcha karna hai,” and “Adhayapak banna hai bade hoke” were the two most popular refrains.
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