A day at the roots
Friday, the 14thof December marked a special day in the lives of 19 lucky Ambassadors from the People to People Foundation as they graced Deepalaya Gram at Gusbethi. The Ambassadors, all college students from the United States of America had taken the initiative to change society one good deed at a time.
Friday, the 14thof December marked a special day in the lives of 19 lucky Ambassadors from the People to People Foundation as they graced Deepalaya Gram at Gusbethi. The Ambassadors, all college students from the United States of America had taken the initiative to change society one good deed at a time.
After a quick introduction to Deepalaya’s efforts, the Ambassadors were divided into two groups, a teaching group and a painting group. The teaching group took a class each and got down to business. The linguistic barrier was a problem but the teachers from Deepalaya simplified the process. The students were in awe of the Americans but what they didn’t know was that the feeling was mutual. Ice breaking games like Simon says soon had both groups well settled and a mutual education began for both groups of students.
Meanwhile, the painting group took to their task and started work on the base coat for a classroom. At first it was a bit of a chalenge but gradually it became second nature as bucket after bucket of paint flooded the walls and the room brightned up in a sky blue and a vibrant pink tone.
As mid-day drew closer the Ambassadors were whisked away to the Deepalaya Childrens Home where they learnt to prepare mixed vegetables in the Indian style and also cook chappatis. The Deepalaya students too learnt that cooking pasta was indeed fun.
A delicious platter of Rajma Chawal, Pulao, Pasta, etc… was laid out for lunch. Following this they proceeded outside to indulge in India’s biggest religion, Cricket, as they took on the Gusbethi School Cricket team. The Ambassadors, put on a fight but at the end just couldn’t deal with the pedigree of Indian cricket asthey fell to the opposition with an over to spare.
The day eneded on a musical note with the Deepalaya Choral ringing in the Christmas Carrols such as “have you heard the story of the Baby Boy” and other popular numbers followed by “Que Sara Sara”. Patriotism was in the air as the choral group preformed their rendition of the Star Spangled Banner and Jana Gana Mana. After this the students and the ambassadors came together one last time for a group photo before parting ways with a gift in the form of a donation from People for People towards the Deepalaya effort. 
About the Author
Ravi Pahuja
Noida
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