Another Day in the Life at Morning Star!
After the stormy rains that enveloped Bangalore during the middle of October
2005, and a few days break of no rain. 'Sunshine', a word much sought after,
finally sprinkled the horizon. Ah!, but the large dark and gloomy clouds
always hovered around as a reminder 'I'll Be Back'!!
Venturing out to Morning Star was quite an event, since the main road
leading to them from the Outer Ring Road (ORR) was cut off during the rains,
and the detour wasn't very encouraging, especially if one did not know the
route, and the 'pot holes' and 'speed breakers' that Bangalore is now so
famous for, added to one's Blessings!!
Arriving at the orphanage is always a joy, and the greeting one gets is
so 'Royal'. This particular time I did arrive at the same time as Mr. and
Mrs. Almitra Patel whose Maruti Alto
you can see entering the drive in from the road, so the greetings were
split, they being the senior couple, and some of the boys were in the fields,
some watching a video, and a few just around, after all, it's 'holiday time'.
I had come with pre-defined motions as to what I was going
to do. Armed with a Kodak DX3900 digital camera borrowed fro, my cousin Reubin,
I immediately went into the fields
where the children were having a great time plucking out the
groundnuts
that they had planted a month earlier, and also de-weeding, as other
crops were being grown side by side.
Three weeks earlier, my daughter Joanne organized through the Management
of her Fashion Design college, ALT, Bangalore, a German Shepherd puppy. Now
was the time to catch up with the new companion for the children, and so
I set off to locate 'REX
', (as the pup was named), and what joy to meet the little rascal. He did
recognize me and I got all the muddy paws and licks of love!!
As the weather was good and holding, Mr.
and Mrs. Almitra Patel
were invited to plant a tree on the grounds, and so you can see all the
angles of the 'ceremony
', with Rex getting in the first look too.
Taking a trip around the boundary of Morning Star, many
flowers and trees
can be seen, and some were very pretty. I liked the large trees (South
Eastern side ), ideal for a picnic spot as I remarked to Joy who accompanied
me. Going still further South, at the end of the field, was a
stream running
along the border of the property and one can see the main block from the
Southern and Western sides.
Looking around, everything looked green, and a glimpse of the
fruit trees
and their flowers caught my attention. Sometimes you pass by all the beauty
and just do not see it because there is so much to see in so little time.
Going up to the roof of the main building, it was quite a sight, seeing
the clouds all around, with expectancy of rain to come. It was indeed a
great panorama
view as unlike the city, there are no buildings blocking the skyline and
the air so clean and fresh. One can see the 'solar panels' and
'water tanks' that
were gifted for the children to get hot water.
Looking over the balcony, one could have a view of the challenged children's
proposed block foundations
, with glimpses of the puddles of rain water left, but the foundation seemed
to be intact.
The silent air was shattered buy the joyous shouts from the children as
the 'Group
' of Software Professionals who come every
Sunday
to teach the children ad arrived. Today however, the children were keen
to play and not study as they were on holiday, and so a football game went
into action, and some basic dribbling training was given by the 'group'.
While all the bustling was going on outside the main building, it was
the time that challenged children had their own schedule. Some
watched a video movie
on their DVD player, while others felt that the
warm sunlight
was what they wanted, Some wanted to play
with the ' medicine ball
', and that activity
was in progress. This is an area that visitors and you all are invited
to join in. So many children, so few arms to hug them! A
baby's pram
was given to Morning Star by equipment@vsnl through the Patel couple.
Walking around the garden, reaching the 'painted' wall, one can turn a
full clockwise
and nothing greets you except greenery and the
Park
. There were some 'old Macdonald
' essence scattered around like rabbits, pigeons, chickens, cats, dogs,
turkeys, a farm? a home? it has a little of everything, as the children
are encouraged to look after the birds and animals as part of their growing
up.
After a relaxing day, fully recharged with the compressed energy rubbed
off from the children, I reluctantly left for home. I did have to leave
earlier than I wanted to to, because the roads were full of pot holes and
I wasn't taking my changes of surprises!!
It was a great day. Wish you were there, it's holiday season.. Why don't
you take a trip and spend a few hours if not the day. Because of the simplicity
of Morning Star, they may not be i a position to offer you much or anything,
but their love will fill you. Come on a picnic and enjoy yourselves.
Morning Star have some T-Shirts
for SALE
, you could contribute by buying some.
Write for details
.
Cheers
Ronnie
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