Namaste!
Welcome to our blog! This is our first blog post and we want to share a few heartwarming and yet simple stories of our volunteers and participants, who have one way or the other participated in our projects.
People travel to get exposure to different cultures, diversity. Some travel to relax and have their own leisure time while some travel to get learn and experience more about life. During this time, they collect and treasure some amazing memories which they cherish all their life because at the end of the day what really warms our heart and brings true meaning are memories and profound stories that we can share with friends and family. In the same way, our participants shared some of their stories from their stay in India with us.
Fill your life with experience, not things. Have stories to tell, not stuff to show off!!
- How a participant learnt more about listening and understanding, even about the minute things in life – I stayed in a host family where the host of the house welcomed me with an open heart. She was a fun person to be around. When she gave me a tour of the house, we came across the bathroom where she showed me how to use a geyser. For me, it was something fascinating, as we don’t have that back at home. It’s an electric item making water warm. Every time I used to forget to turn the geyser off after using it and my host-mother used to constantly patiently remind me to turn it off. One day I again forgot to turn the geyser off and it boomed with smoke and spark. This was a good lesson for me not to take remarks of others lightly and this is one of the crazies stories I will always remember as my host didn’t even get angry.
- The importance of awareness and punctuality – Have you ever missed your flight and later got to know that the flight you were supposed to take departed the previous day!! Well something like that was encountered by me. I and my sister had a flight to catch from Pune to Goa. We were at the airport waiting for the check-in, we showed our tickets at the entrance and the person standing there looking at us puzzled, we couldn’t understand what was happening when he share the “big news” about the flight being departed the previous day. It was a jaw-dropping moment for both of us and then taking a night bus from Pune to Goa was another adventure to remember.
- Little Joys of Life – We had a fun-loving participant from Spain. She made sure everyone listened to the Baila Conmigo song which basically means “dance with me” and made everyone dance on this. Gradually everyone loved the song and our participants used to make the DJ play the song in every club we’d go to. A song united all the participants and staff members and soon was played for every celebration, danced at and laughed at how this started and now it’s a precious memory for all, this song will always be heard in the same spirit by all of us and will transcend all of us across time and space.
- Most importantly, enjoying good humour and innocence – I did my internship at a nursery school teaching kindergarten kids. It’s always a great and fun experience to be around kids. One of the funny moments I remember is a 5 years old girl coming up to me every morning to ask if I had a baby in my stomach. I used to laugh silently every time but one day I replied, “No, I have no baby!”, and the little kid asked, “Then why is your belly so big, are you so chubby?” I couldn’t help laughing and sharing this story with some of my friends.
Stay tuned for more of our stories, projects and events!