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A Visit to the Future

If given a chance to be a time traveller, what will you choose, Past or Future?

I was given such a chance last Friday and I saw the future and believe me it was very pleasing. I thank the hard-working team of Tredence CSR and Samridhdhi Trust for allowing me to play a vital role in building our nation.

For those who don’t know what Samridhdhi Trust does, let me quote in brief its vision “to enable every underprivileged child get access to equal opportunity of holistic education leading to enrichment”. The trust runs a few bridge schools. Most certainly, you will ask, “What are bridge schools?” So again, allow me to quote the aims and objectives of such schools:

To provide an opportunity for migrant out-of-school children so that they get access to basic education
To help them get admitted in mainstream English medium schools in age-appropriate classes
To monitor their studies through evening tuition and guiding them to higher studies and ultimately establish them in life in their chosen field.
On a macro note, the aim is to dent the vicious circle of poverty through education and employment

This is the time machine on which I travelled. I volunteered for Level – 3 students (Age: 9+ years). These kids are gems. From whatever backgrounds they come, they have a passion for learning. I was flabbergasted to see such enthusiasm, ability to learn and comprehend the information. It was very satisfying for me to be one of the pillars of the bridge. I believe my fellow partner, the other volunteer who accompanied me has the same view. The best part was that we didn’t realise when an hour slipped.

From a teacher’s POV, I found these students highly intelligent. They clearly surpassed my expectations, and that filled me with more energy to pass them the knowledge I bear. If these kids sometime later in their life remember any information I gave them, that will be my biggest achievement. As our former president, Dr Kalam said once, “Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, calibre, and future of an individual. If the people remember me as a good teacher, that will be the biggest honour for me.”

The best part of this experience was to be in present, feeling like the past and impacting the future. I saw myself sitting on the other side learning from my present self and at the same time bringing a change to the future. It was an awesome experience. From the farrago of the QTD and YTD business numbers, the addition of two-digit numbers on a blackboard gave me the tranquillity of life.

Children are the purest form of life. Indulging in discussions with them allows us to think basic (the instinctive way) which we tend to forget in our lives. This visit helped me regain that natural way of dealing with life. Being in the world of harsh realities and inhumane circumstances, we sometimes overlook the fundamental choices and decisions which these smart kids might take.

One good thing I feel after this session is pride and confidence. I feel proud that I helped in the betterment and upliftment of some life/lives. This gives me confidence that I am bringing a change in the society that I want to be a part of. This visit helped me get close to my idea of utopia.

PS: Please take a few minutes of your schedule and experience this winsome emotion being a time traveller.

The Girl in the Green

Going home is always exciting. Isn’t it? It is like a bee flying back to its hive after collecting all the juice and nectar from the flowers. I have a story of this flying, where I met this Green Girl.

“Who is the author of this book” she asked, holding a green colour trekking jacket. A gentle, matured voice with the tone which made me feel that I know her since a long time. Long hair and cold skinned she was. Her open hair had that natural feeling of life. Black threads embedded with whites and browns, a few coming on me. She was on 24B in the flight SG-768 flying from Bengaluru to Patna. Fortunately, I was on 24C and we had a good flying time.

“Neena Gopal” I answered undiverting myself from reading. “Have you read this book?”, “No!” she smiled back.

The safety announcement of the flight started. “Ladies and Gentlemen! Welcome to SpiceJet 768 Bangalore to Patna. Kindly fasten your seatbelts. Lower the flap of the belt and … ” She kept looking and probably reading the lines of my book. I was reading “The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi by Neena Gopal” and I was totally into the story how LTTE operative Sivaresan was playing hide & seek with the Bangalore Police and the Black Commandos, completely ignoring the beautiful crew members of my flight. “We are ready for the take off”, the captain announced. The Boeing 737 roared and ran like a monster. I was looking outside the window thinking about the technology used in manufacturing this marvellous creation of humankind.

It was 6:20PM, ten minutes post take-off. The sunset sky looked alluring. The blue and yellow shade above the clouds made it look like some kind of divine window. She picked her phone and tried to click the picture of this without disturbing the sleeping man on the window seat. I won’t say she succeeded in clicking the good ones but I think she was satisfied with them. I have a thing for photography and that too SKY, I just love them. I picked out my phone and tried to click but sitting on aisle and expecting a photograph of outside the window is like finding needle in the hay. She saw my attempts and looked at me. I handed my phone to her and asked if she can click some for me as well. Well, She Said Yes. She clicked this:

I will not qualify this for an awesome photograph, but I appreciate the attempt she did it for me. “Thank You” I said taking back the phone. In a while, she asked me a question “Why do the clouds do not burst when the flights go through inside them” and smiled. I smiled back and we started discussing this weird problem. “Bursting of clouds is just a phrase, it means vapours starts turning into water at a faster rate than usual. Clouds are not balloons that get popped by sticking the aircraft” I said. She laughed. This conversation was the beginning of a happy journey. We talked about everything. The seasons, sunsets, books and life. Probably she liked talking to me. I won’t deny I didn’t. I liked her voice and the aroma she wore. The two hours fled faster than the flight. After landing, she asked me to check her train’s running status. She had to catch a train after this. “13484, Please check” she said. “It’s 2 hours and 22 minutes late” I replied after checking the status on the railways website getting down the flight stairs. We walked for a few more moments together when she had to turn to the baggage belt for her luggage and I didn’t had any checked-in stuff. “Good Bye, Merry Christmas and Happy Journey” I said and she replied the same. I came outside the airport gate and waited for my cab when I realised I forgot to ask her name. She was beautiful.

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