Life, surprises and positivity.

(The past few months of volunteering Saturdays at Samiksha Foundation- Caring for children with cancer)

You see a lot of pain, a lot of suffering. You often get jolted by how harsh life is, and realise how petty your complaints are when you put things in perspective. But you also see so much positivity brimming around you, so much strength and resolve in accepting the unfairness of their situation, you see people who have enough problems in life even without having a small child diagnosed with cancer, and yet, they deal with the situation and go about the new routine without forgetting how to laugh. You see each child, unique, demanding and fun, leaving an impact. You encounter many incidents that leave you saddened and touched at the same time.

A  bubbly 8 year old girl solemnly gives me advice in the middle of an English Lesson- you have dandruff in your hair, you should use Chic shampoo. It will vanish in one day. This coming from a girl who has lost her hair because of chemotherapy makes one feel oddly guilty for being so privileged. Her mother one day sat with us for a Fourth Standard lesson telling us she had to drop out of school in Fourth Standard and she might as well sit and learn what she can now. And she read the book with concentration, asking us why the K in knife isn't the same as the K in kite, leaving us answerless.  Another girl, who was bored and listless the first few times I saw her underwent a sudden transformation and started enthusiastically solving fractions, and was so confident with her answers that that she insisted that textbook was wrong when one of the answers didn't match, telling me that it happens often.

Little things make them happy and eager- on shifting the older kids to a different room downstairs in the ward, suddenly they began feeling privileged. The younger ones fought to come downstairs while the older ones refused to be downgraded to sitting upstairs with the babies doing alphabets while they had more important lessons to deal with. One day we got out a whiteboard and one of the girls got so motivated with this little change, she briskly set about making it as classroom-like as possible, writing the date, subject, heading and drawing little margins.

The kids have their own groups and even a union leader of sorts. The oldest boy among them drives them around like a responsible elder brother and yells at them if they are too unruly. All of them help in putting away things without being asked, in fact, they fight over who folds the carpets and who carries the books back. One hyperactive seven  year old takes charge of even the lock and key to the library, sternly instructing me to switch off all the lights before locking the door.

The acceptance these children show is often unbelievable- once I came across a chapter in which  there was a boy who had cancer. The two tenth standard boys listening nudge each other and laughingly tell me they are like the boy in the lesson.

The teachers, Mrs.Parvathi and Mrs,Vidhyawati are models in dedication and generosity themselves. They are both stern and loving with the children, keeping them occupied and happy. I hurriedly had packed a bun for my lunch one day since the food wasn't ready, and the two of them seeing this quietly put half of their lunches into my box for me to eat.

The birthday events of course are tremendous fun for the kids- all the pent up energy comes tearing out, they laugh with abandon at the magic show, and Suresh the magician is amazing with the kids, hitting on just the right things to cheer them up and make them laugh. One of the events included an impromptu fashion show by the little girls, who walked up and down the 'stage' content with their everyday clothes and accessorised with their mothers' handbags.

Despite the moments that make you question the unfairness of life, it is usually positivity that I take back with me each time I leave Kidwai. Life's surprises may not always be pleasant, but with a little hope and dedication, we can try and make a small difference. 

Samiksha Foundation is a non-profit organisation founded by Sandhya Sharad in 2009. The foundation aims at providing quality non-medical support for children suffering from cancer and their care-givers, by organising educational and creative recreational activities for the resident patients at Kidwai Memorial Institite of Oncology , Bangalore.

You can visit the website http://www.samikshafoundation.org/ for more details, and do contact us if you are interested in extending your support towards this programme. Together, we can make a difference.