It's been almost a year that I have blogged about my travels.
Not much traveled this year, except for a place or two which I was just procrastinating to put it down here. Thanks to my senior who reminded me about the long gap in the date.
Sometimes, a friend meets after several decades and it leads to more friends who are now retired from their professions and have made way for their sons and grandsons. They actively start some social service for the benefit of those who the society has labelled 'Backward Class'. I am not talking about me. I am still 33. I am talking about my mother and her school group.
My mother's school group reunited after some 3 decades, each successful in their own business or profession such as a lawyer, a judge, a businessman, a school teacher, etc. One of them, Mr. Samrat Parihar, a kind and industrious gentleman has took it upon himself to provide support to the locals in the Shivrajpur Village near Pavagadh-Vadodara. He funds education for the kids living there and provides books for the same.
This year, he invited us all to visit his adopted village and distribute notebooks for the kids. I was asked to join the group and it proved to be a great day well spent.
The kids waiting to receive the notebooks.
Kids Enjoying
Kids Impatient to go and Play
Shivrajpur is situated at the foothills of the famous Pavagadh Hill in Vadodara District and town. When I reached the village, it dawned on me how people live a simple worry-free life without any tension of 'Money Greed'. They are thankful and grateful for what they have received in life. Even we who live in cities and are supposed to be happy because of 'money' in our lives, are not as contended as they are. Why?
- They live amongst nature.
- They are happy and contended (Yea, as noted above)
- They are hardworking and do labor- sweat through the day.Hence, no modern diseases
- They live in the moment
It was raining as the monsoon had set in. So, you can imagine the greenery in and nearby the hills. Birds and peacocks were happily calling out to the nature.
The locals welcomed us all-smiling and were perfect hosts for the day. Great welcome dances by the kids coupled with some of us joining in and followed by games and then delicious but healthy food served out in the open.
Kids Dancing
Tribal Girls Dance
Forming a Pyramid
First, we took the advantage of distributing books to the kids followed by serving food to the kids and adults. It was a lesson of being humble. Of course, they did not lag behind. We than took turns to plan a sapling each in the school and pledged to plant one on our birthday.
I love photography, so It was a ball of a time for me as peacocks were dancing and calling out to the rain, with one taking all the labor to impress his female peahen.
The female is looking the other way. Hmm...
At the end of the day, it seems that it is not the way how you earn money and spend it, but how you live, earn money and sleep peacefully.
