"Children are the living messages we send to a time we will not see" - John W. Whitehead

~ The beginning

Sitting idly on a sunny September day during an office break, I was scrolling through social media when I chanced upon a page called DU updates. It smelled like college, so I pressed 'like'.
What followed was a slew of information - updates and all things associated with late teens.

A specific winter internship caught my eye and I tried to read further. It talked about spending time in remote villages of north India to inculcate reading habit among school children.

I had already done a couple of trips and treks in 2017. How about ending the year with an educational trip ?
Interesting! I thought.

Two essays and a brief interview later, I found myself sitting amidst younger, bright faces in an orientation session at a Hauz Khas cafe.

The orientation session in progress for winter internship under progress
Picture Courtesy : Kitaab Club 

Hauz Khas (Hauz-I-Alai) was constructed in Siri - the second city of Delhi by Alauddin Khilji(A.D. 1296-1316). Cafes in the modern Hauz Khas village dot the narrow streets and form meeting places with beautiful interiors.

Kitaab club is an NGO that aims to spread the magic of books among children. The differentiating factor is that the work of Kitaab has spread to far-flung places that are outside the comfort zone of many other NGOs. With active support from volunteers abroad, Kitaab is bound to grow much more.

I had my own reasons to go for this internship. Having graduated seven years back, I longed to see how does the younger generation think and work. It's one of my endeavors to work with all possible age groups. I am one of the youngest people in my office, but here, at the orientation session, I was the eldest !
What I saw was exemplary organization right from the interview stage and a level of maturity I sometimes fail to see even in much older people!

I, along with few others, was assigned Chaubattakhal - a village in Pauri Garwhal, Uttarakhand.
Few meetings, instructions and ice breaking sessions later, I started getting to know my team.

Fast forward to the chilly December, I could sense excitement building up within me. Packed up essentials and boarded the Delhi Metro to reach ISBT station. ISBT has become different from what it was earlier. Now one can see groups of young adults waiting for their buses almost every time. Right outside the metro station, I saw few familiar faces. I exchanged pleasantries while still looking for my group that appeared to be invisible!

Nostalgia ensued as I remembered myself standing here nine months ago, when my destination was Kasol, Himachal Pradesh. I was still adjusting to the weight of my luggage when the whatsapp group started buzzing.

"I've reached" said one.
"I'm outside Gate no.1", said another.

Few moments later, we all united and got to know that the groups assigned Devikhet and Chaubattakhal villages will travel together till Kotdwar and will separate thereon.

~ The bus journey

Sixteen young people sitting together in a bus. What does one expect !? Noise, to say the least !!!

We played games and, we played so much that other passengers had to request us to make less noise.
We all made some attempts at sleeping too, but as I say, sleep is a virtue of the old !!. All those honest attempts were unsuccessful.

We reached Kotdwar bus stand at 0330 hours and surprisingly, many shops were open even at this hour. From snacks to utensils, one could've bought almost anything. We bought tickets to Chaubattakhal (INR 125 per person) and were told to wait for an hour.

 As soon as the bus left Kotdwar for another four hour uphill journey, there was a drop in both the temperature and interaction. This rickety bus was a far cry from the Volvo we were travelling in from Delhi and with every hairpin bend the bus encountered, my concern for the luggage, which the bus conductor had nonchalantly put on the top of the bus, kept increasing.

A brief stop at Satpuli

I felt an easy laziness in the atmosphere as our bus stopped two times en route. Our team leader chose a window seat for the journey. Was this a brave decision or a bad one, I still don't know ! She was woken up by a call that informed her that our destination had changed. We now had to alight at Gawani, a hamlet 7-8 kms. further from Chaubattakhal.

I tried to befriend the bus conductor for two reasons. One, so that we don't miss our stop just because we all were semi-conscious and secondly, to work on the possibility of travelling the extra distance for free. Optimist I am, am I ?

As soon as we reached Chaubattakhal, the oh-so-friendly bus conductor stood up and asked all eight of us for fare till Gawani.

" 15 rupees each " he told us. We payed the money and in my mind, I cribbed about the soft skills I was trained on, in corporate life (pun intended).

What happened next ? Read on part -2 !!


Disclaimer :
All views expressed in this blog are those of the author. All images used are publicly available.