Prarambh: Weekly updates- 23rd & 26th January
Ashish Shrivastava
Hi All,
Last week brought in a flurry of activities at Prarambh with a double whammy. The celebrations began with Prarambh’s fifth Birthday last Sunday and ended with the Republic Day celebrations in the Infosys campus.
Completing 5 years was a big milestone for the kids as well as volunteers and we brought it in with a bang. Since we wanted to do something different this time, we zeroed in on a mask making session. The kids initially were a bit confused about the process, but once they got started there was no stopping themJ. In no time we had a huge variety of masks, each one vying for our attention. From mythological characters like Ganesha and Hanuman to cartoon characters like Mickey mouse, Donald Duck etc. the kids left us flabbergasted with their creativity. We had a hung jury while deciding the prize winners, as each mask was unique and there was no way we could do justice to everyone. After a lot of contemplation, we gave away 10 prizes based on the use of colors, neatness etc. We then had the customary cake cutting & snacks session, which was a fitting end to the early morning creative chaos. We informed the kids about the Infosys campus visit on 26th and called it a day.
The cold misty morning of the Republic Day only added to the kids excitement and they could hardly wait to reach the campus. Once we reached the campus, as we made our way to the ECC, the kids were awestruck to see the state-of-art architecture and wanted to know where the cricket ground wasJ
The march past at the ECC brought out the patriot in all of us and we were really proud to see the Indian flag being hoisted in the Infosys campus. Next came the 3 km Marathon, for which the kids were fully geared up and raring to go. While some younger kids needed a lot of encouragement to complete 1 lap, most of them completed the entire length, albeit at a slower pace. Shyam, who is quite a handful in class, as most of the volunteers would vouch for, came in second in the 3 km Marathon. It came as a pleasant surprise to everyone and next time we would ensure that he runs a lap before coming to the Prarambh classes, to give a vent to his excess energyJ
The snacks distributed after the Marathon, brought a smile on the kid’s faces, since the strenuous running had made them ravenous. Later we all assembled in ECC CR-8 for the felicitation of the Facilities team and the Marathon participants. The kids too were given gifts, while they proudly posed for photographs. The day ended with a tour of the campus, wherein the kids took in the landscaped lawns, abundant greenery, as well as the huge variety of our feathered friends, giving it a “nature trail” kind of a feel. We reached home listening to the kids belt out the latest chartbusters as well as some patriotic songs.
Thus an eventful week at Prarambh came to an end.
You can contact me at kranti_k...@infosys.com to join us.
On behalf of Prarambh
Ashish
Co-Founder- AwakIND (www.AwakIND.com )