Gleaming
eyes, captivating innocent smiles and warm hugs of the tiny tots imprisoned us,
the moment we stepped into the realms of SOS Children camp. Being ideally located
amidst the lush green environment of Raipur with sparkling clean premises makes
the SOS Children camp a paradise on earth, a paradise in which the purest of the
hearts resides. A very wise
person once said that children are the greatest teachers, and one can learn a
lot from them. We the members of "Kartavya" discovered the truth in
those words, here in SOS Village on our visit during the occasion of Eid. Their courage and attitude towards life is
something that all of us should emulate, the
sacred grounds of SOS held a lot in store for us than what we anticipated.
The
activities began by segregating the kids into three categories. The first group
consisted of nursery and 1st standard kids, and the activities
planned for them were rhymes reciting, singing and drawing. Being flocked by
little toddlers was a unique thrill, which made us oblige to any command of
theirs readily, such as carrying them piggy backs and giving them pony rides
etc., they clung on to us happily and
wanted to be carried around everywhere. Listening to the
little ones recite rhymes in their mesmerising voices made us wonder if we had
discovered the sweetest of music in god’s creation. The decibels in the room
rocketed sky high when the kids started singing movie songs and it got even
higher when we danced to their tunes. The last activity was drawing, in which
the little fingers wrapped around crayons and worked furiously on the charts
for nearly 1.30 hours. The kids made us literally speechless by producing
quality art in place of scribbles which we actually expected.
The other two groups consisted of
students from middle school and high school, and they were subjected to intense
quizzing sessions of varying difficulty levels. The energy and
enthusiasm of the children as they participated in the activities was truly inspiring. The children entertained us with special
dance performances and Antakshari. Be it in the quiz competitions, the dancing and
singing competitions, the puzzles or the drawing competitions - these kids
excelled at everything. We felt very honoured and privileged to spend time with
them and hear what they had to say. It was an incredible experience for all of
us, and a rare chance to relive our childhood. The
memories of this day will remain fresh and will be a one that we will
cherish all through our lives.
