By Sweta Singhal, Volunteer FHI Guwahati
Some days leave you with the profound feeling of solace, satisfaction and the silent understanding that comes from reaching out and making an impact on another person’s life. One such day, for me, was my first experience with children as a volunteer for Fly Higher India. The bright morning of 17th November, 2019, was a really exciting one for me. I looked forward to my first event as a FHI volunteer. I had never had the courage to sign up for something like this, to go ahead and put myself out until I came across FHI. All it asked for was one Sunday and that first Sunday turned out to be one of the most memorable days of my life.
The peace that we were greeted with at Jyoti Snehalaya, Guwahati was rejuvenating. The children on the other hand were sparkling with curiosity and energy. The excitement on their part was definitely more than us and was that amazing to see! The children greeted us with enthusiasm and made us feel so welcomed and thus, we began our little program. We had to follow on the theme “Art-Music-Theatre” for the month of November. And what better way to start it off then by playing a fun game of Antakshari as introductions took place? The game opened up the kids and made their vibrant sides visible. Loud, cheery and joyous, the kids sang songs and made us sing with them. The euphoria of that one moment is undeniably memorable. We carried on with the game until we had to move on to cover the other two topics. Kongkana di, our amazing city coordinator, had this brilliant idea of bringing art and theatre together.
We decided on enacting the story, “The Golden Touch” based on the story of Midas. Kongkana Di recited the story for the kids, who not only listened with rapt attention but also, later on, came with great ideas of their own as to how to enact it. So, we settled down to bring our art factor into play and pulled out our colours and chart papers to make our props for the drama. The kids put in their creativity to make pretty crowns and dramatic masks and wands and trees and some others who weren’t working on them sat down to put their imagination on paper in the brightest colours.
Once the tasks were completed, we got to acting out the drama. The kids put in their own twists and it turned out to be hilarious and imaginative. The kids and the volunteers alike were brimming with joy. Our program might have came to an end with the checking off of the theatre part of the program but our bonding with the kids didn’t. We bode fond goodbyes to the children. The caretaker of the place was just as grateful but looking back, I am more grateful for the opportunity to be a part of such an invigorating experience that enriches minds and fills the heart with the zeal to reach out. I look back to that one moment of us stepping out of the gate while the little girls bid us loud goodbyes with utter fondness and happiness. And now? Now, I can’t wait for more such experiences.
Here’s to many more enriching events as an FHI volunteer.
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