A colorful Monday!

01/29/2018.

I gazed around the vast expanse of the gallery, children everywhere. Some little, some not so little. Knees bent, torso strained, heads dipping downwards, each kid strained their ever wondering eyes to the canvas on the floor. A couple of them held brushes, the others crayons or color pencils. They needed no guidance, no prompts, and no disciplining.

I walked around the gallery, my attention shifting from one kid to another, marveling how even the most interesting lesson couldn't hook them as much as colors did.

Nandini, Uma Rani, Venkat and Supradeep, four of my 6th graders whom I had accompanied to the Telangana State Art Gallery for Children's Art Fest 2018 were hopping from one workshop to another gaily. I let them explore, watching them converse with Artists, Poets and Volunteers. Fearless.

Would this world provide them with opportunities to foster when I wasn't their teacher anymore? Or would they toil as their parents do? Would the cycle of poverty ever break?

One needn't look closely for the difference was beyond stark. Children from all kinds of schools in Hyderabad were attending the fest and the least presentable ones were mine. Clothes barely holding together, with no socks or ties on they were easily recognizable.

I kicked aside the conglomeration of questions and proceeded to check their work. Each kid was special in their own way, and I had learnt the hard truth in the span of the last 18 months. Supradeep had drawn a car, it wasn't the art that impressed but his dedication in his work. A kid who would never ever settle down for more than thirty seconds was entirely immersed in a very simple activity. Uma and Nandini had got their faces painted. Butterflies. Venkat was learning pottery.

And just like that, my Monday wasn't blue anymore!