my first trip to wazapur..

I strongly believe that cinema has the ability to change societies...or for that matter revolutionize human establishments and vice versa.And it is not a belief that I have cultivated of late but dates back to the day I watched the film 'Swades'.It feel it is one of the most thought provoking movies of all time because the day I saw it,I realized that I was unknowingly swaying away from my social responsiblity into the consumerist culture living a self satisfying life.Little did I realize before, that as an Indian I am falling short of being one.

Months went by and the thought remained just a thought until my good friend Arvind Shanbhag told me about a Maitree initiative that has adopted a small school in a remote village near Panvel in Raigad district of Maharashtra.The initiative is to teach the small kids aged 5 to 11 "Conversational English" on Saturdays through a group of 4-5 volunteers .I thought it was high time that I devote some time of my life to help the cause.

Still I could not make a Saturday to Panvel for the next six months,partly due to me getting busy on Saturdays or me not finding a place in the already occupied troupe and largely but sadly due to my laziness.

But I do not know what kicked me last Monday morning and the first thing I did was to mail the troupe leader that I am in for this Saturdays Panvel trip.I felt a sense of immense satisfaction on my act and that kept me excited for the rest of the week.
Come Saturday and we started early morning at around 7.We were four of us,me,Arvind,Sujai and Anuradha in a Tata Sumo.Arvind's presence was kind of vital as it helped me gel with the others in the group.We reached Wazapur after a hour and half of journey in the scorching sun but it was not at all tiring for me as one would expect.This being my first time,everything was new for me.A loud greeting of "Good Morning Sir" and "Good Morning Madam" by the kids was a pleasant surprise as well as a testimonial to the efforts of Maitree and its volunteers.

There is a syllabus designed for the students and that is what each group of volunteers tries to ahere to.The first on the agenda for this week was creating awareness about a few National Leaders(read Freedom Fighters).But before we could start on that it was important for us to make sure that the kids understood the meaning of the word "independence".I think our effort to make them understand the significance of that word was the highlight of the day.In the process we helped them learn a new word "independence" and also the date 15/08/1947.Few students already new about Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru but the rest did not.Helping them recognize who they are and what did they do for our nation was the task cut out for us.I think we did pretty ok at the end of our effort.I hope these kids remember for the rest of their lives whatever we tried to teach them.Later on in the day,we played the game "Marble and Spoon".Volunteers coming here always try to bring some playfulness in their teaching so that the kids do not get bored and look forward to learn more and more.In this game, a lemon substituted for the marble and thus they learnt a few more words namely 'lemon','yellow' and 'spoon'.The race was won by Mamta, a 4th standard girl.After we were through with the game,the kids marched around the village chanting slogans of "Aple Gav,Swacha Theva".This definitely helped them in understanding the importance of social responsibility early in their life.Proud parents smiling all the way as they watched their kids trotting around the village was a satisfying picture for me.Before we left Wazapur,we had a small chat with the villagers trying to understand their problems in their quest for a decent livlihood.We hoped that we could do much better for them.

Overall it was a truly eriching experience for me as I tried to refect on my past, searching for memoirs if any,where I have felt so good and satisfying about doing something for others.Frankly I did not find any.I hope to continue this endevor in the coming years.

cheerio...