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Living in the moment!
Anupama felt cheated! She had just broken up with her boyfriend. He was her batchmate at work and they had known each other for the last 3 years, since the time both of them started their first job together. It was such a trivial incident that happened but it had been enough to open up all differences between them and they were convinced they had to separate.
On top of it, she had been bypassed for promotion at work, as well. As part of their company’s Corporate Social Responsibility program, she had volunteered to put in a specific number of hours at the nearby government school. She had planned to do it today, just to take a break from all the chaos going on in her life.
The school was a dilapidated old building situated in the poorer section of the district. The tiled roof had so many broken tiles that with every rain, all the class rooms would get flooded. The teachers had a tough time coaxing students to come to school and not go to work with their parents. It was into this school that Anupama walked in at 9 in the morning, trying to distract herself. Soon, she was shown the class V that she was supposed to mentor. She was immediately flocked by all the class children who called her “Akka”, “Miss“ and “Madam”, all of them demanding her attention. They were curious to know more about her, what was her name, the company she worked for, which place she was from, and the girls wanted to know if she liked pink colour as she was wearing a pink dress that day. Anupama had to answer all these questions and then had to get a few students ready for fancy dress and story-telling competitions as they were going to take part in an inter-school competition. The next 1.5 hours found her just soaked in the school atmosphere! It was as though she had gone back to her school days! She laughed and laughed so much, looking at the antics of those children. Most of them came from economically difficult backgrounds and many were being raised by a single parent, but that hardly seemed to have any impact on their personality. They were having fun, smiling, laughing, running, acting, drawing and even pushing each other!
It was only when she came out of the school that she remembered her present situation. But she now felt lighter at heart and clearer in the mind, and she smiled to herself. It was a confident smile, telling the world that she could handle her life. She felt at peace, having lived in the moment. She felt very energized and positive after the interaction with the school kids. She felt very good after several days, and she reminded herself that she should continue to do such things that she felt so passionate about. That way, she would connect more often with the Architect of her life – herself!
On top of it, she had been bypassed for promotion at work, as well. As part of their company’s Corporate Social Responsibility program, she had volunteered to put in a specific number of hours at the nearby government school. She had planned to do it today, just to take a break from all the chaos going on in her life.
The school was a dilapidated old building situated in the poorer section of the district. The tiled roof had so many broken tiles that with every rain, all the class rooms would get flooded. The teachers had a tough time coaxing students to come to school and not go to work with their parents. It was into this school that Anupama walked in at 9 in the morning, trying to distract herself. Soon, she was shown the class V that she was supposed to mentor. She was immediately flocked by all the class children who called her “Akka”, “Miss“ and “Madam”, all of them demanding her attention. They were curious to know more about her, what was her name, the company she worked for, which place she was from, and the girls wanted to know if she liked pink colour as she was wearing a pink dress that day. Anupama had to answer all these questions and then had to get a few students ready for fancy dress and story-telling competitions as they were going to take part in an inter-school competition. The next 1.5 hours found her just soaked in the school atmosphere! It was as though she had gone back to her school days! She laughed and laughed so much, looking at the antics of those children. Most of them came from economically difficult backgrounds and many were being raised by a single parent, but that hardly seemed to have any impact on their personality. They were having fun, smiling, laughing, running, acting, drawing and even pushing each other!
It was only when she came out of the school that she remembered her present situation. But she now felt lighter at heart and clearer in the mind, and she smiled to herself. It was a confident smile, telling the world that she could handle her life. She felt at peace, having lived in the moment. She felt very energized and positive after the interaction with the school kids. She felt very good after several days, and she reminded herself that she should continue to do such things that she felt so passionate about. That way, she would connect more often with the Architect of her life – herself!
