On 9th of July 2011, a fine Saturday morning at around 7am we started on this trip to Topslip from Coimbatore. Two days prior to the journey I was asked to join the team. Initially I hesitated as I had to spare my plans with my family but later the coordinator briefed me about the trip and the specialty of it. As it was associated with kids and social responsibility I was ready for it. If I hadn’t accepected his invite, there is no wonder that I would have missed an awesomely beautiful weekend.
We were four of us Ashwin, Kiran,Tamilarasan and I (Kaushik). Kiran was the organizer who invited us for the trip and he had a better reception from all the little ones, which we envied a bit in the beginning and was very curious to know why? But as time passed on all the little ones started getting along very well with us too. Later we learnt that Kiran had an upper hand because he visits them regularly and he had organized a similar visit the previous week too. We had a touch of compassion, a heart throbbing happiness something which we don’t experience every day.
We were racing through the highways and I was eagerly waiting to know about my cousins counseling results. I received a message from him that he got admission in his dream college, which was the last time I used my phone and we were phone free for the next two days, probably due to the signal strength there. It gave us a bright new start to the journey, helped us orient ourselves more with the scenic there and we enjoyed our journey getting ourselves prepared for our mission to motivate the younger minds, inspire them and help them dream big. Our journey through the woods lasted around two hours which gave us a refreshing break. Finally we reached our destination "TOPSLIP".
We had a great beginning we started by introducing and getting ourselves introduced which also gave us a power packed refreshment after our journey. We learnt about their daily routine, their educational curriculum and the major role that CTS plays in their life. We felt really proud on being a part of such a wonderful organization which attends to its social responsibilities equally. With that bright start we focused on our agenda, we began with a general knowledge and motivational class which lasted for around two hours from 11am, we helped them imbibe the importance of general knowledge and their duties to keep themselves updated.
After an hour of lunch, we screened the footage of the movie ‘Taare Zameen Par’ with our own Tamil translation. We emphasized on the importance of being kind, being unique and excelling in education which was a playback of the motivation. We then addressed them about the importance of communication through English, playing a vital role in day to day’s life. We encouraged them to develop the habit of communication through English.
Then we broke for tea after which we engaged ourselves in keeping the environment clean aspects. We enlightened them about global warming, air pollution and soil biodegradability. We also appreciated them on their part in keeping top slip clean and pollution free.
Then came the most entertaining part of all, the screening of a tamil movie. It was real fun when we asked the kid’s choice, with no surprise all girls voted for Paiya and boys for Singam. The slight higher attendance of girls made us all watch the romance of Karthi and Tamannaah. The movie lasted till 9:30pm and in between which we had our dinner with the kids. At the end of the day, we all retired to our beds with a great satisfaction and plans for the Sunday.
Sunrise at hill stations are really beautiful, it looks completely green everywhere we turn around, especially the little droplets of dew in the green grass blades when touched gives us happiness like bliss. So was the beginning of the second day, we enjoyed the coldness in the air, we also got a chance to inspect around the school’s kitchen and the other facilities. After a steaming bath and a hot breakfast we started our day with an early morning journey to Parambikulam. It was a real beauty to see the reflection of the huge Western ghats on a silent undisturbed lake. The journey covered various places through the forest and they were all awesome. This was the only time during the trip, we parted the kids to enjoy the nature.
After around 3 hours, we were back to address the kids about the importance of unity and coordination. We spoke to them on the importance of team work and how it works in planning and organizing things. We taught them how to plan up their daily work. The importance of time management and planning which would help them survive any hardship. We also spoke about the examples on self-confidence, motivation, determination and the spirit of leadership which will make them great personalities of tomorrow. We didn’t want to keep them bored so we kept narrating short stories then and there.
Then it was learning time for us. The kids really have lots of fun in store. I have never played such games even in my childhood. The last 2 hours was like PT period of my primary school. Except that we were not asked to do the exercises 1, 2, 3, etc., After all of the mutual sharing we bid adieu to the future of India with a snap to remember.
Things that I personally learned from those little ones were lessons for my lifetime. Their interest in learning new things were amazing, their way of sharing whatever that was given, adaptation to the difficulties, narrowing down their requirements and still excelling in their tasks were honestly great lessons. After all these we had to start on our journey back with a heavy heart. The two days were beyond awesomeness in my life, gave me a new energy to work and a great experience.
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