By Haridev Dadhich

It was one of those bustling and fast paced days in Tushita Office in Delhi, when Dheeraj mentioned that Jan and Rosenda are taking the kids from Tushita Foundation for an excursion to the step-wells at Abhaneri. He asked me if I wanted to go and I couldn’t resist saying Yes right away.

I was born and brought up in Jaipur and went to school close to where Tushita Foundation is located today. Everytime I think about the work that foundation does for the children in Amber (a village located right next to Jaipur), I feel a great deal of gratitude towards the founders, teachers and volunteers. Its a brilliant place for co-curricular learning and children embrace it as their second home.

So when there was a chance of visiting the step-wells at Abhaneri and that too in the company of the brilliant people from the Foundation, I took my father’s old bike and rode to the Foundation. Everybody had left and it was locked already when I reached, leading to a momentary gloom. I noticed a car turning around the corner and decided to follow it, hoping that I may find somebody. To my pleasant surprise I saw Veena Ji sitting inside the car and even though we haven’t met before I decided to call her to stop. Suddenly I felt excited knowing that I haven’t missed the trip and everybody is still in the buses parked outside.

I received a warm welcome from Jan, Gajju Bana, Ankita and Rosenda; and there was a palpable excitement as soon as I entered the bus. This excursion was all the more special, because this was the first time when younger ones were being taken for a trip. When I entered the bus, I saw the most adorable and joyous looking faces I have ever seen. I thought for a while what I would have missed had I not met Veena Ji a few moments ago.

I sat with the grown-ups, looking back at the entourage of happy faces. Rosenda introduced me to Isabelle, an associate with the Foundation and Tristan, volunteer from the United States. Soon Foundation itself became the topic of the conversation. At the end of it I realized how foundation is a second home for all the children; and that the founders, teachers and volunteers are dedicated towards the cause of empowering children. The entire conversation left me wondering if there’s anything I can do to contribute to the foundation.

As we continued on our two hours road trip in Rajasthani countryside, the scenery inside the bus was nothing short of a festive celebrations. I could never figure out how all the little kids managed to perfectly dance inside a moving bus. The performances were stunning, with gestures and expressions that you could not take your eyes off. I distinctly remember an adorable little girl, named Falak. The way she played, danced and carried herself made me realize that kids know how to rejoice at every opportunity and their company is certainly delightful. Even though this was the first time we were bringing the youngest ones from the foundation on a trip, they were all well mannered and there was never any ruckus.

Upon reaching the destination, we did a head count and then entered into the 1100 years old architectural landmark. Gajju Bana was kind enough to tell us about this step-well, famously known as Chand Baori. The step-well is located opposite to Harshat Mata Temple and is part of an ancient city called Abhaneri, which translates to “City of Brightness”. Chand Baori consists of 3,500 narrow steps over 13 stories. It extends approximately 30 meters into the ground, making it one of the deepest and largest step-wells in India. Most fascinating was the legend that Chand Baori is a vertical maze of sorts, implying that one can never come up tracing the same set of steps that were used while going down.

All the legends and stories fail to do justice to the beauty of this architectural setup and the age old sculptures placed there. One really has to be there to understand the degree of engineering and elegance of architecture that is embodied in this piece of history. Obviously there were about thousands of pictures taken by all of us (I may have exaggerated to make a point).

When we finally moved to the garden outside, Gajju Bana talked about the relevance of such a structure in an ancient city. He went on to tell us the importance of Rain Water Harvesting and how the architects designed the step-well to measure the scale of rain throughout the year. It was like stepping into a time machine and experiencing the point of view of those who lived here thousand years ago.

Followed which we all enjoyed a magic show by a rather talented kid from the village. His act was funny and astonishing; and it compelled me to think about the lottery of birth, where you are born makes a monumental difference in your life. The kids who are part of the foundation are given exposure to different disciplines of co-curricular learning and on the other hand there is a kid who earns his living by performing. The fact that many children in rural India do not get an opportunity to go to school and learn, makes the work of Foundation all the more essential. I truly wish that in future Tushita Foundation expands to other places in India and provides an opportunity to learn to even greater number of children.

On our way back to Jaipur we stopped at the Umaid Lake Palace, Kalakha. It was a splendid heritage hotel and they hosted us for a delicious lunch. I would never forget their mouth watering ‘Gajar Ka Halwa'(sweet dish made with carrot). It was so flavorsome that I got few extra bowls for Jan, Gajju Bana and myself, after we had finished our meals. I would go back to Umaid Lake Palace, just to have some more of that appetizing Gajar Ka Halwa.

While I was lazing around after the lunch, I could see that nothing dampens the enthusiasm or tire the kids. While many took turns at the swings, there was a gang of children who started an innings of cricket. Tristan joined and hit the ball out of the field several times. Later Jan decided to bowl and did a pretty good job at that. It was quite a feeling when Jan told us about the time he used to play cricket in college, it felt as though nostalgia is contagious.

Lastly we took a tour of the organic garden at the Umaid Lake Palace and it was the first time I saw the plants of onion, cauliflower and carrot. We all gathered up for a group photo and after counting up all the kids again, we headed back to Jaipur. I remember the long tunnel on our way back to Jaipur, because of the loud woo-wooing by kids, unlike anything I have ever heard before. This just goes on to prove that the kids from the foundation always have high spirit, regardless of how tiring the journey is.

As I said goodbye to the children and everybody else, I thought of what Fyodor Dostoyevsky said, “The soul is healed by being with Children”. When I look back at that journey, I remember of my own childhood and the innocence of a child. I’m glad that I went to Abhaneri with the children from foundation.