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An evening with the slum kids — By ucreate team
People at ucreate, Chandigarh (an IT firm with the head office in London) organised a healthy endeavour to provide school uniforms for slum kids. Each of us happily volunteered to donate and spread happiness on the faces of young slum kids. We were equally excited to see those young kids smile when we surprise them with pleasantries.
The Start
Government school Mohali was the place where we were supposed to meet those lovely kids and exchange the pleasantries. Since the team got late from office we literally had to rush to the school. We thought that the kids would have gone home by now since it was so late in the day. But, to our liking, we got a surprise ourselves, seeing those young ones at school. Then, we got to know that the school has 2 shifts — one in the morning and next in the evening. As some kids help their parents at work so the shifts were designed to accommodate school time accordingly.
What did we saw? Our interactions!
Children of different age groups were gathered outside the school in a public park. Few were gossiping, others were fighting while the teachers tried desperately to handle them. Spotting us, they all stood up and wished just as they were taught. The excitement was there to be seen on the cute little faces. As the kids were getting late for home, we quickly coordinated with teachers & staff to distribute all the uniforms.
Two girls, Shabita and Pooja stood in the corner talking about the boys quarrelling with each other. I asked, what was wrong, to which they replied that these boys are too naughty for their age. They both seemed to me like the best friends. So, I asked what you would want to become in life:
§ Pooja said she is very eager to get into the military. She wants to serve this nation and even though her parents want her to be a doctor or teacher, she would stand by her decision and won’t do anything other than be in the military.
§ Shabita quickly jumped in and said that she likes studying and will become a teacher when she gets old. She wants to share whatever she knows.
It was a pleasure knowing how clear they see their future and have set the goals for life. Pallavi, one of my colleagues, then went on to the two boys Anil and Abdesh, fighting with each other. She was curious about their well-being and asked why they were fighting. The boys said they liked to fight and this was just a play.
§ Anil, the naughtiest one among the two, didn’t give any straightforward answer to Pallavi during the entire conversation. He replied that he would just like to get chappal from all when he gets old. He is naïve of all the struggles and his innocence was rare to find elsewhere.
§ Abdesh was the more studious one who said he liked studying and building things. He once made a car decorated with lights, now that’s creativity! The entire Ucreate team enjoyed spending time with them.
Pintu, my other colleague, clicked a selfie with Neha, very cute looking girl. He had a conversation with her and found that these kids do not get the right level of exposure at school. This was maybe because the school doesn’t have enough resources or well-educated staff. So, we thought that our attention, guidance and time might make a difference here. Mr. Vishal Shahi — CEO/Co-founder, ucreate.it quickly nodded in favour and suggested that we could teach them computer lessons in our free time. Some of us were interested in the same too!
Till next time.
Time passed like a bullet train and before we knew it was time to bid adieu. The kids were happy carrying their pleasantries along as they thanked and waved at us while leaving. They left us with glimpses of laughter and smiles which will stay in our hearts forever, as we promise to be a part of this again.
Thank you ucreate team for helping me to get this done with your collaborations. #ucreate #culturematters #culture #humanity #education
