Time with Kids

Time with Kids

There were 26 of them all, their age ranging from 7 to 14 years. They do not live as comfortably as I used to in my childhood. Most of them sleep in cramped rooms of size 8' X 8' with questionable hygiene. They do not go to the best schools of the town. Neither their parents are over-eager to have them educated nor do they care about taking them to extra-curricular classes. They were children from a slum dwelling in South Kolkata, yet they had the same innocence on their faces as any child from a well-to-do family. I was very thankful to Kajaldi (Kajal Nag) for asking me to come over to that area to take a Bal Chetna Shibir (roughly translates into "Awareness camp for children"). It was my first Bal Chetna Shibur, and though I was happy, I had no idea who would it turn out to be. Bal Chetna Shibir is a beautiful course of Art of Living which teaches children very core human values through games, stories , processes and some pranayams and meditation.

I was in for a surprise , even on the first day. After teaching them a particular type of pranayam, when I asked them to open their eyes, they were not ready to open their for a good 2/3 minutes. Gradually the other days progressed, and I was delighted to see there was hardly any drop-outs - only 2 out of 26. Every morning, my heart knew no bounds of joy, when I saw a group of eagerly awaiting young faces. Their retention power was impressive and they did all the home-tasks with such enthusiasm that I was really bowled over. Over the last couple of days, even the most laziest of the kids used to fight for any extra-responsibility that they can take up !

I really felt that this class was a two way channel. I was learning from them as much they were learning from me. When I asked them to plant a sapling each in their home and give it a name, I found myself doing the same thing back home It was a treat to the eyes to watch these young people meditate. I really felt, the kids are the future of our country and the world. If we can nurture them , help them to have a good eduation and help them live the core human values, then our future would indeed be bright and shining !

Please do see some photos that I clicked

It is very very easy to influence little kids, you just need a little love. They are very receptive to gestures of love and affection, and they return that almost instantaneously. Once their hearts are won, they consider every word uttered by you etched in stone. That is why it is so very very important to be with the kids of the disadvantageous sections of the society so that they are shielded from the negative influences .