It was a bright sunny August morning, crisp with the hint of approaching Autumn when I set off for Christ University. Everything was as it had always been. Ordinary. Little did I know that today would turn out to be one of those days, those days that remain etched in your mind for years to come.
On the morning of August 31st, my friends, Zurwan and Sreepa, and I set off to the slums near Gopalan Mall in BTM Layout, Bangalore.
We were working in collaboration with SCEAD(Space for Children in Education Art and Development.) SCEAD foundation is all about trying to do their bit to make this world a better place. They have various functional facets such as spreading knowledge and education in rural India, empowering the visually impaired, disabled and underprivileged people and creating an inclusive society which provides equal opportunities for them.
We circled around the bustling streets of BTM searching in vain for this place but repeatedly failed in our endeavour. But just as we were on the cusp of accepting defeat, we noticed a small winding dirt pathway that led to what looked like a maze of clustered little shacks. The entry was unpretentious and so easily missable . we were previously anxious as to whether would be hostile instead they came across they extremely jovial and enthusiastic.
We soon started clicking away. The children were highly cooperative. We roamed the maze of houses and clicked away at their denizens who were more than willing to cooperate. Soon we had covered most of the case as well as psyche-something.
We then parted for lunch and then got back to the routine. This time, in addition, we also noted the statistics of the number of girl children, the number of them that regularly attended class, the school grades etc
We left the slums at 5 PM. Highly uncommon as it was, we three fell silent. We have never had such a profound experience in our lives. We realised exactly how privileged we are to live lives in comfort and luxury.
