She may not wake up even once at night feeling uncomfortable if peas were kept under her mattress yet she is no less than a princess.
All the little boy needs is a horse and you’d be reminded of ‘the prince from a faraway land’ just as you know from the fairy tales read as a kid.
Yes , this place reminds me of the magical kingdom like those of fairy tales. With many princes and princesses, god-mothers and fairies.with the air imbibed in a happy tune of a beautiful symphony…a wonderland where you’d forget all about the worries of life and be completely a part of it once you step into it.
You may wonder what I am talking about.Where this land from the back of beyond comes to your notice all of a sudden without your ever hearing of it before. Well you may find it weird when I disclose the name of the place and who the fairy characters I am talking about are…I am talking about ‘Bal Mandir’, an orphanage where hundreds of children live.
The children are looked after by ladies whom they refer to as their mothers calling them ‘mum’ and I call them god-mothers for with the way they look after those children not giving them a chance to feel the absence of the much needed ‘mothers-love’, they deserve to be called nothing else but that. The place is somewhat like the way the world was before Pandora opened the box for it is full of children with glowing faces that reflect nothing but sheer happiness. The truth remains that they have had a horrible past or that they know that they have missed out a lot of things in life but they keep all the pain tucked inside them and have learned to live like that.
The group consists of children of all ages, shapes, sizes and family background..it even comprises of mentally slow ones and even deaf-and-dumbs yet inspite of all the differences they have learnt to accept one another exactly the way they are. They may have missed out many things in life or not gotten chances to bring out the best in them but the group consists of excellent singers , wonderful painters, prolific writers you name it , there are all sorts of talents.
Not getting as much chance to become couch potatoes or net bugs has not stopped them from being sports fans or music freaks, you’ll find them singing songs by Queen or writing names like ‘Iverson’ or ‘Beckham’ at the back of their t-shirts. There are master-minds in the group too, with boys engrossed in a chess match or trying to make a spoilt motor of an old toy work. They are so disciplined, you’d be surprised to see them cooperate with each other and help with the work there be it washing the plates they used for dinner or helping take care of a younger one. The place is simply amazing and its as if it is full of personifications of words like ‘enthusiasm’, ‘vigor’, ‘love’, ‘acceptance’.
I know a lot about this place as I have been volunteering as a teacher. It hasn’t been long since I joined, just a couple of days but it feels as though I have known the children since a long time now and as if I have always been there. Maybe it is because of the way the kids treat me, the way they lovingly call me ‘Mim or Miss or Ma’am’ or because of the way they always welcome me, maybe it is because of the happy hours we have spent together talking or the time I ate dinner with them, of the genuine pleasure I felt when I was able to teach a student to subtract, maybe it’s because of the way a few are little gentlemen who walk me to the gate when I return or because of the sweetness shown by the slow kid who let me hold her hand while trying to make her walk.
maybe it is because of all these reasons and more that I feel so blessed to be a part of that ‘home’. Once I enter, I feel so much at peace and forget all about the outside world, I lose track with time and simply try to savor every single second of my stay there..from day one they made me feel at home and now it already feels like home when I am there.
It is hats off to the people who are associated with Bal Mandir, the people who run the place and those who sponsor the children…they definitely have their hearts at the right place and deserve to be thanked for what they do. This place has given a roof to the children and not made hunger a part of their lives, it has given them a ‘family’, it has taught the children to smile when they could have been going through ordeals of dreadful poverty. It has helped them forget wounds of the past if they have any and nurtured them with unconditional love. When they wouldn’t have known their alphabets otherwise, this place has given the children to dream of being doctors and scientists. If this isn’t the work of an angel, tell me what is?
As a ‘miss or a mim’, I must say I have been truly touched and I know that this experience has been the most beautiful one in my life…one where I realized that life’s beauties come in the form of shining eyes and shy smiles, where resilient figures know how to move on inspite of all the odds, where there is never a room for complaining but always the space for laughter and excitement…and most importantly one where I went to teach but was taught instead.
