As a working professional, time management has been a key driver in my life helping me meet many deadlines at work. Yet sadly when I look at the innumerable things I have wanted to do on the personal front, I always seem to fall short on it. Thus of the many promises made to myself that never saw the light of the day, one such promise was to get involved in charity and social service, in particular working with animals and underprivileged children.

While I did work in spurts designing a newsletter for an NGO working with mentally challenged kids, or promoting animal welfare agressively, my efforts were often half-baked. They would begin to dwindle, the minute other things took priority in my life. After countless excuses to myself on paucity of time, I finally decided it was time to get my priorities right and thats when teaching happened.

Its been a few months now, since I started teaching at SDA. I go every week on Saturdays to teach underprivileged children. I teach children ranging from grade 2 to grade 7. Teaching them has been such a pleasurable experience for me. Not only does my stress accumulated over the week miraculously disappear when greeted by eager, welcoming, cheery faces, but I am also enveloped with such warmth and affection that it makes me feel special and blessed that I can be a part of their wonderful lives.

I still remember vividly the anxiety and nervousness I felt on my very first day; nervous at the prospect of meeting impressionable young children. Children whose minds I would be responsible in shaping. Children whose life I could possibly bring about a change in. My words mattered. Words, children at that age cling on to. Shouldering all that responsibility scared me. However, all of those fears dissipated the minute I set foot in the little pavilion at the park; greeted by such merriment left me wondering if it really was my first day. And it is that merriment that still greets me each Saturday, a feature I have grown to expect now at each class.

Today, I feel privileged at not only being empowered with the task of bringing about a difference in the children’s lives , but also for being given the gift of bringing about a difference in mine, thanks to their unlimited supply of love.

Arti is a Marketing Manager at Religare Broking.