Just picture the scene.
The night of August 3rd. Around 8:30 PM.
Perhaps you had finished dinner and were dimming the lights in your room.
Straightening your bedsheets.
Preparing to sleep after the day's fatigue.
At that very moment, in a lane in the Tapeda neighborhood of Nanakmatta, learners from Nanakmatta Public School were packing up a white cloth screen.
Just a short while earlier, the neighborhood had sat together to watch two films on that very screen. Now, one person held the projector, another was packing up the sound system, and someone else was untangling wires. The white screen, which had recently displayed stories, was now being carefully folded.
All the equipment was loaded onto a *tuk-tuk*. Then, some set off on bicycles, others on foot. Older children held the hands of the younger ones as they made their way home through the dark lanes.
And then...
The morning of August 4th. Around 5:30 AM.
When many people were likely just thinking about waking up, or deciding to catch a little more sleep on a holiday morning...
At that very time, a group of over fifty children, accompanied by their seniors, was cycling towards the Nanakmatta Dam.
Binoculars slung over shoulders. Water bottles in hand. Ahead lay our 'Extended Classroom'—the shade of Peepal and Banyan trees.
Upon arrival, the children formed their own groups. Some took charge of bird-watching, while others set out to find mushrooms. Some were noting down identifications, while others were explaining to their peers where and how to look.
The most beautiful part is that this wasn't part of any timetable.
No attendance was being marked.
There was no exam.
No one had forced them to come.
The children had come of their own accord.
And the children themselves were acting as mentors to one another.
Outcomes : Such moments remind us that learning does not happen only within the four walls of a classroom. Leadership does not come from a position. And community is built on trust.
Gradually... holding hands... trusting one another.
