“We live in a wonderful world that is full of beauty, charm and adventure. There is no end to the adventures that we can have if only we seek them with our eyes open”. This famous quote by our beloved Jawahar Lal Nehru, was brought to realisation at AID, when the ever enthusiastic kids of Aashaiyen and Jaagriti, were taken to the Nehru Planetarium, on the 8th of November, 2009.
The journey began early in the morning on a Sunday, when the kids, gleaming with radiance and filled with excitement boarded the bus en route to the planetarium. The entire journey echoed with cheery voices and a small antakshri session between the kids and the volunteers. Getting off at the Teenmurti house, the kids were assembled and taken in. All went mum when we entered the planetarium. While we lay back on the flexible seats, the dome shaped roof, projected a beautiful display of the solar system, wooing our kids and scaring some. A Well informative session of our solar system followed, projecting different planets and their surrounding environment with excellent visualisations.
Our young astronauts further quenched their curiosity by visiting the museum, where different systems existing outside earth surface were explained in detail, with model replicas and pictures. An understanding of the basic concepts of science was considered crucial for children by Nehru, and his endeavour proved to be a success amongst the kids of Aasheyin and Jaagriti.
The kids were then given refreshments consisting of tasty patties, samosa’s, chips and cake. A small gaming session followed where a boy’s v/s girl’s team was made to play, what is popularly known as, ‘Dog in the bone’. The entire atmosphere was tense, as the girls and boys cheered and sneered at each other. In the end, the boys tasted victory! Next, was a fun game of ‘Passing the parcel’, where kids caught with the parcel were made to sing and dance.
The whole day left the entire team tired and exhausted but with a sense of achievement, as the kids walked back to board the bus, screaming for more!
Kudos to the team of Aashayein and Jaagriti , namely, Prachi, Zulaikha, Vipra, Deboshree, Anandita, Pinky, Nikita, Srishti, Navya, Vandita, Ritu, Anchit, Ankit, Mohit, Pallavi, Saurabh, Vivek, Chandan for making this day another memorable addition to the list of initiatives working towards the cause.
Zulaikha Rahman
