Children's Day special: The gift of giving

The children of Sankalpa Society, a gated community of 400 apartments, were excited about the Children’s Day celebrations their building had planned.

The Resident Welfare Association (RWA) had allotted a large sum of money for the Children’s Day party. With a few days left, the children were meeting regularly in the clubhouse to plan the event, organise the games, decide the menu and design the invites. 

Nitara, one of the most active members, looked out of the window of the clubhouse. Her housekeeper Suman didi was walking past. Suman didi had been on leave for the past few days, as her entire family had fallen sick and inspite of being unwell herself, she had nursed her family. 

“Suman didi,” Nitara said.

Suman didi turned around and walked back towards the club house.

“What is it?” Suman asked. Worry lines creased her pleasant face.

“How are you feeling now?” Nitara responded. She was extremely fond of Suman Didi.“Much better now Nitara baby,”
Suman said.

Nitara’s friends laughed. At 12, Nitara was almost a teenager and was still being called a baby. 

Turning to the children, Nitara smiled, “Suman didi has looked after me from the time I was six months old. For her I’ll always be a baby.”

“How is Keshu?” Nitara asked. Keshu was Suman didi’s son.

“He is very upset as he and all the children missed the Diwali celebrations because of their illness.”

“All the children of the neighbourhood fell sick at the same time?” Nitara asked.

“Yes, for some strange reason most of the people in the area fell sick. The doctor said it was either due to contaminated water or a nasty virus. So, we all spent our entire Diwali nursing sick people back to health. Most of our savings went in doctors’ bills and medicines.”

“So sad,” Shiven said. He was also one of the most active members of the children’s group,  making one crazy plan after another, on a daily basis.

All the children knew Suman didi, she
was a fabulous cook and whenever any meeting was held in Nitara’s house, she served delicious snacks. Waving to the children, she walked towards Tower T, where Nitara lived.

“I have an idea,” Shiven said. Everyone looked at him in surprise, wondering which weird idea had popped up in his mind. 

“It better be a good idea,” Nitara groaned. 

“It’s out of this world,” Shiven smiled. “Instead of spending the money on a Children’s Day party for ourselves, why don’t we get a goodie bag for each child living in Suman didi’s neighbourhood?” 

“What a fabulous idea,” Nitara said. “Why didn’t I think of it?”The other children were equally excited. 

“We can ask Suman didi to give us a list of all the children living in her area,” Nitara said.

“Wait, we are forgetting the most important aspect,” Ravita said.

Everyone stared at her with puzzled eyes.

“We need the permission of the RWA before we go ahead with our plans. The money was allotted for the children of the residents, not for anything else,” Ravita said. 

“Let’s write a letter to Rao uncle, the president of the RWA of Sankalpa society. I’m sure he will support us,” Shiven said. 

“Shiven, what did you have for breakfast today? You are coming up with one good idea after another,” Nakul said.

Vivaan tore a page from his notebook and started writing a letter to the president and members of the RWA. The children signed their names. Tucking the letter inside an envelope, they dropped it into the society’s mail box.

The next day, the children were surprised to see a letter waiting for them in the clubhouse. It was Rao uncle’s reply.  The RWA members had signed it.

“It’s a lovely idea, children. Go ahead and make a list of the number of children from the area and their ages. Make a list of the items you all want to put in the goodie bag. A few members will take you all shopping over the weekend.

Sincerely,

Raman Rao and members of the RWA of Sankalpa Society.”

The children jumped in joy.  “I’m so excited,” Shiven said. “Let’s make a list of items we need,” Neeva said.

The children spent the next hour in the clubhouse, adding and deleting items from the list. Rao uncle and a few members dropped into the clubhouse by tea time. They looked at the excited children and smiled.

Over the next few days, the clubhouse was filled with bags of cookies, chips, chocolates, soft toys, crayons, cupcakes, notebooks, pens, tetra packs of juice, scrunchies for the girls and caps for the boys. The adults accompanying them had sourced them from the wholesalers at a big discount.

The goodie bags were packed. On Children’s Day, the children from Suman didi’s area walked into the clubhouse to receive their special goodie bag. All the faces sported a huge smile. What a special day it was for all the children.