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New Kids in the Family | 1st Little Twinkle Children Fair
1st Little Twinkle Children Fair
It’s a warm, winter morning in Bhubaneswar, India. As our car heads towards the village of Kalan, I am excited to be a part of the 1st Annual Children Fair – a gathering of children from all the Little Twinkle Schools. Mom insists I wear a saree (traditional Indian attire) to look more presentable to the elders of the village who will be gathered there. I have long given up the fight to dissociate who I am with what I wear.
Anyway, as we get closer, I hear the buzz from the local “hatha” (bazaar) where villagers gather to sell their merchandise – vegetables, fruits, fish, dhotis (clothes) etc. Women sweep the area right outside their front doors and draw beautiful patterns on the ground to welcome the guests. The air is filled with the aroma of freshly cooked rice.
As we reach the local playground, we are greeted by a makeshift gate wrapped around with colorful cloth – pink, green, yellow –in Oriya (local language in Orissa, India) it says – “Welcome to the 1st Annual Children Fair – Little Twinkle Schools”.
The rest of the day is beyond words. Children are transported from remote villages in a van – one school after another. They are dressed in their best and are excited when they see the colorful makeshift hall. They have been up since early morning and are hungry. All of them are first fed and then the event starts. In the traditional Indian style, a lamp is lit and the conch is blown to mark the opening of the event. The kids then start their sporting events. I thought managing an angry set of Executives is the most difficult job – try managing 200 children in a play ground trying to run from one end to another. One goes left, the other right and some stand right there. The are many sporting events - children run for 50 meters, then write 1-10 and run back; they balance a marble on a spoon holding the spoon in their mouth, etc. The energy in the air is infectious. Children, teachers and the locals of the village cheer their lungs out. Sometimes I think there is a healthy competitive spirit amongst the teachers – they take pride when their kids win a prize and are in tears when they don’t do that well.
The sporting events are followed by elocution, story telling and music contest. I can’t even express the emotion when I see the kids on the stage, up on their toes trying to reach the microphone -singing a song and telling a story I had heard 30 years ago from my mom. Prizes are given out to all the merit holders and mementos of the day given out to every child.
One child asks," Do the leaves move when the wind blows or does the wind blow when the leaves moves?"
Its 3 p.m. – all of us are starving. The kids sitdown in a single file …they are served hot rice, dal (lentil soup), vegetable curry and dessert. Up to this point every moment has been precious to me but this one moment where I see all my children eating out of banana leaves (used as a plate), at a feverish pace…not even bothering about the temperature of the food or that somebody has forgotten to serve them ‘dal’ is, by far the moment that makes me cry!!
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Some pictures from the Children Fair:Click here to hear Ranju's song and story - a star in the making
