“What began as a ‘project’ for me with an opportunity for learning more about myself through younger minds, while being able to guide them, soon got attention from many others in this college and is still a point of inquiry for many today. Even today I get asked, ‘What is Jwalamukhi?’ or ‘Who are these kids in our college?’ With more than three and a half months behind me now, I find it appropriate to bring before you a glimpse of what ‘Jwalamukhi’ is all about.
The following is a report on the 13th week’s session of Jwalamukhi written by me. I hope it will give you a feel of the very interactive and educative sessions that I have been fortunate to be a part of.”
What a joy it is when fun and frolic come right at the beginning of the session! The kids at Jwalamukhi were delighted at the manner in which the 13th week’s session began on the 9th of October, 2010 in a classroom of MES Degree College.
The session began with an innovative memory game where one had to add an adjective to one’s own name, beginning with the first letter of one’s own name. As each one did this, the list of names only grew longer for the next person to spell out. So, Joy Jyothi, Brave Bharath, Pranky Prajwal, Yoga Pandyan (he preferred that prefix!), Pretty Preeti, Peaceful Priyal, Lovely Lavanya, etc... off went the list!
As each one of them spelt out the names with unique prefixes, peals of laughter flowed out in abundance. What was even more interesting was that the first ones to get eliminated from the game were not the young minds but their mentors! The list of names, thereafter, grew so long that one could seemingly go on forever or abandon the game for something more ‘result-oriented’. With a change in the game, and the ever-popular ‘7-up game’ being played, both mentees and their mentors began falling like nine pins! 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6,7up!.....1,2,3,4,....wrong move there and yet another gets eliminated and the small classroom echoed the uncontrollable laughter of them all!
The second part of the session saw Ranjitha kick off the group discussion on ‘Why did we have holidays on the 29th and 30th of September?’ It was simply ‘unbelievable’ that kids of the 7th standard followed national issues like The ‘Ramjanmabhoomi’ issue so closely! The understanding of such ‘serious’ issues is hardly found amongst many teenagers today, but the Jwalamukhi kids surprised us all! With Vasudha and Lalitha pitching in with their views and offering some ‘food for thought’, the kids openly came out with their views on the issue.
Further, the topic turned towards ‘What is it that we could do to root out religious-clashes?’ Srilakshmi gave a befitting prelude to the discussion in Kannada and the kids were rearing to go. The message of unity came out as the prime message of that discussion!
What really charged up the environment was the teacher from the Kannada medium school singing a Kannada song which deliberated upon the need for religions. After which, Ranjitha came up with another song in Hindi which emphasized the need to recognize that we are Indians first, then Hindus, Muslims, Jains, Sikhs, etc. Thereafter, began the very interesting session where many mentees shared how they celebrate Dussehra in their own ways. This brought out the ‘Unity in Diversity’ that we all share!
With this, the 13th week’s session of Jwalamukhi came to an end even as one looked back to the first session on the 26th of June and gauged how far we all had come today. Whether, the programme made any noticeable difference in many lives, only time will show through the kids of Jwalamukhi.
Visit: www.blog.jwalamukhi.org for week by week reports of Jwalamukhi sessions.
ARTICLE BY : PANKAJ A. DESAI
3RD SEMESTER,
B.A. [PJOE]
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