Chistmas with the kids

Yes…it is that time of the year when you and I are actively involved in planning for the gala Christmas and New Years celebrations. Some of us have already done our reservations, some still waiting for that elusive pass for the 31st night party, and some would celebrate it quietly in their bedrooms watching the SRKs and whos who of the Bollywood perform on screen.

However, some of us at Impetus, under the banner of iCare [the CSR initiative] planned to celebrate Christmas a little early, and in a slightly different way than usual. Instead of the Christmas carols, the cake cutting and the wining & dining, we thought of celebrating the day with a few who actually never did that before. We planned to share our evening with the kids at the Rajkiya Bal Sanrakshan Ashram – a government run orphanage at Indore that has kids from the age of 3 months up to 14 years. The plan was simple – do what the kids would like the most; and it turned out that the entire iCare team agreed on one thing – A MOVIE [animation of course] followed by a snacks party. N oops…did I forget to mention that there would also be a Santa Clause [in fact two of 'em], doing what he does the best – doling out goodies to the kids!!

After seeing through a very successful fund raising event on Friday [thanks to all impros], the enthusiastic iCare volunteers reached the orphanage at about 2:30pm on Saturday giving themselves enough time to pack all the Santa goodies which included drawing books, colors, and chocolates for everyone. Pictures courtesy ace photographer Arjun [a kid at the orphanage]

Even before we could wrap all the goodies, we saw the kids entering the hall, obviously quite excited by the event. The big screen, the jumbo speakers, the projector, the laptop... kids seemed so curious about everything at that moment. More so about the movie... FINDING NEMO!! [though later i learned that most of these guys had seen the movie before; but nonetheless animation never fail to amuse the kids]

While the kids, and some iCare volunteers :o), were busy watching the flick, some of us started preparing for the snack treat these kids were to get during the 'intermission'. Fruits, sweets, biscuits, flavored milk...it was all there, waiting to be gobbled up :o). Quite a sight to see the kids enjoy the treat. Everything was gone in a flash, and soon the search for Nemo resumed. All throughout the movie, I could hear the ooo's and the aah's as Nemo struggled to get back to his dad, and the dad with his new found friend Dolly, fraught with the dangers of open sea, to get to his son. [Felt like I was in a theater watching SRK in a Yash Raj production]

As soon as the search ended, it was time for the Santas to make an entry. "Merry Christmas" and "Jingle Bells, Jingle Bells" were what our cute Santas were saying as they started distributing the gifts. The excitement was reaching its peak, and the kids were having a blast. The volunteers were happy, the care-takers were happy and the kids...well they were ecstatic. The pics here says it all...




We all left the place by 6:00pm, sharing the same feeling, the same sense of accomplishment. We all knew we did make those 35 kids a lot happier than they were until four hours before. We all knew we would return to share more, play more, learn more, teach more....we all knew it's just the beginning.

And I cannot end this post without mentioning the efforts put in by the admin guys from our company - Santosh, Kishore & Kamalesh. They made sure at all times, that we had all the props we needed for the show to go on flawlessly.

A big thanks to one and all who contributed towards this cause and lend a helping hand. I hope with the continuous support, there will be many more such evenings and many more days when we can do something for these kids.

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If you have an idea/suggestion about what we can do for these kids, please leave your comments here or mail it to me.