FIRST SESSION

           The wonderful collection of my thoughts, learnings and experiences of the most memorable day of my life includes the very first memory -  The hearty welcome from the staff and children which created an accommodative environment which made me feel comfortable and happy. As I entered in, I stepped into a large playground with some playing aids like see-saw, swings and much more scattered around. I found some of the kids playing and they ran towards me immediately after watching me enter. They held my hand, smiled and sweetly asked my name. I smiled at them too, and walked along with them. On the way, I found a sheltered place where few kids were having their lunch. There was a maintenance staff who accompanied those kids and helped those kids to eat without spilling and also asked them to share their food with friends next to them. These kids too said " hi " to me by waving their hands. I asked her to guide me the way to office as I wanted to meet the Head Master of the school. As she guided, I entered the office, it had portraits of many spiritual achievers and freedom fighters like Dr B.R Ambedkar, Vivekananda, Mahatma Gandhi, Abdul kalam along with the portrait of goddess Saraswathi. I introduced myself to the Head Master and spoke to him about my idea to motivate children about various personality development aspects which are essentially required and make them understand the importance of goal for life, studies, good manners, health and hygiene. Since my idea was to serve the kids in a small way by educating them, the Head Master accepted and permitted me to take sessions to influence and inspire the kids.
          Firstly, I got a chance to address 25 children belonging to fourth standard. A girl from that class came to me, held my hand and both of us, with at most excitement, got into the class. I was very excited as this was my very first session of my life. In fact, the children were also equally excited as they had not experienced a student addressing them till then. The class was noisy, kids were talking among themselves as there was no teacher in the class. and now, when I stepped in, there was pin drop silence for the next 3 to 5 seconds as it was not obvious for the children to listen to a person who was not their regular teacher. The best part was, they all started calling me "ma'am". I gave them a small introduction about myself and began the session with a small story. Children love stories and therefore they were all happy and found the session interesting. After I finished narrating, I asked the kids to list out the morals of the story which they had just heard. As kids these days are very intelligent, each of them listed out many different morals which even I didn't know!
            I was surprised and at the same time was proud to address such kids who overtook the normal cognitive skills. I told them how awesome it feels when they learn, follow and teach their friends about good manners. I also gave examples and proved that being good at heart directly adds on to the growth of a person, leads us towards success. And then when I paused, there was again silence. This time it was not out of curiosity, but it was because of the motivation that I could manage to create in all of their minds. It cultivated a sense of responsibility and dedication which put them all into the right path.
           Now I started to talk to them about health and hygiene. I first asked them how many of them, that day had actually taken bath, and very few raised their hands. So, I said how important it is to take bath everyday and keep ourselves clean. I emphasized on basic cleanliness and healthy habits which were very essential. I made them repeat after me, every important thing so that they don't forget it easily. During the session, I asked them a lot of questions and made them answer which made the session a lot more interactive.
           I concluded the session by another story and also told them about a lot of scholarships available and NGO's which have come forward to help every government school kid which not only helps them to study but also helps in their overall development. When I was about to leave, the children asked me to keep visiting them and motivate them more and more. I was happy to experience such welcoming and supportive nature the kids had towards me.
          Now I got a chance to enter the fifth standard class. They looked more responsible compared to the fourth, as they are more elder. They seemed to grasp my words more efficiently and at a faster rate. They all promised me that they would all remember and follow my teachings. When I checked their nails to see if its cut, one of the kid asked me if I had cut my nails, so I showed them my nails which were neatly cut and proved that we must walk our talks. The children didn't want me to stop but however, I had to stop the session after 45 minutes and leave the class.
          I was sent to the computer lab to meet one of the teaching staff, it was really surprising and wonderful to see E - teaching happening. The teachers took initiative to download certain topics and play it over the computer and teach. This helped the children to understand and remember the topics better. I felt good to see government schools advancing at a faster rate towards digitalization. Teachers told me how things go about in government schools as I spoke to them.
         Finally, it was time for me to leave the school, all the children in the school gathered around me, and requested me to keep visiting them often. It was good to see them play kabaddi, ko - ko , etc. I feel blessed when some of the kids held my hand and walked along with me till the gate. They all said bye. My eyes were filled with tears and I cried out of happiness and satisfaction. I was satisfied because I could do something for those little kids who always had an urge to learn. In fact, in the process of teaching them, I too learnt a lot of things. I learnt - how amazing it is to interact with small children, how advanced are the minds of children, about teaching methods in government schools, to understand the fact that life is all about spreading and sharing joy, happiness and knowledge, how valuable was the applause for my talks, last but not the least, the children made me realize how much does a small little service meant to me.

         A small message I would like to convey is,

   School is not just a place to learn, it is a place of worship because, that's where actually true leaders and achievers for our country are created. Therefore, respecting children's views and educating them about various things apart from academics would serve as a very important way to make India soon a developed country.