A big Thanks to our friend Dr. Shilpa Kulkarni, for inviting us to the NSS camp, at Borai – a village nearly 15 kilometers from Bhilai. The NSS camp of Shri Shankaracharya Mahavidyalaya is an annual event being held for five days when the NSS students get to station in a chosen village, and associate with a local primary government school in the village, and the whole village participates in various activities organised by the NSS students. As the NSS Program officer of the College, Dr. Shilpa Kulkarni, starts organizing this mammoth task by visiting schools in nearby villages for its feasibility to hold this function as per the College and University norms. The village Sarpanch and the local bodies has to give their consent to conduct this camp. The school principal has to permit the use of the classrooms, school premises, electricity, water necessary for next few days for the camp… phew!! The list of tasks that needs to be done is further long and arduous.

Few of us really didn’t know what to expect when we accepted this invite to the Camp. On the way, we slowed down our car and asked for directions and a small girl asked “Jahan dance ho raha h?” 😀 That was a kilometer away…

So we reached the camp, around 6.30 pm, and we were amazed by the crowd – looked like the whole village was there !!! Around 70-80 school children sat on the mat, parents and elders too sat around. The program had already begun with few warm blankets being distributed by the College Principal Dr. Archana Jha and team to the elders.

Dr. Archana Jha and team, Village Sarpanch Shri Yadav

Then we had village team singing a Bhajan with such enthusiasm, they enthralled us with their native instruments which touched our hearts…

Then came the acts by the children… it was our OMG moment! The fun we had … we just looked at each other and said “Kya baat hai!” One has to witness the energy, style, ingenuity, and grasp of the art by these talented young kids. Everyone so eager to perform… none of their parents helped them/stood by to give support. A set of three boys performed an impromptu skit which had all of us laughing out loud… it was very amateurish but they didn’t miss the punch anywhere – bang on – so well coordinated.

Then we saw so many dance performances – each better than the previous once. Most of them danced on the local Chattisgarhi movie songs which has great tempo, or the folk songs.

Uploading few videos, enjoy the show, and the atmosphere at the camp… the audience so live ! Such a spirited bunch of young talented kids … we saw how proud the Village Sarpanch was… his smile would not stop. We could not stop from applauding the kids and appreciate them with small prizes for the fantastic show.

We came back thankful to have travelled to this village as per the invite from our friend Shilpa and wondering how much talent exists in this soil of Chattisgarh, given a direction they can do wonders . .. as gymnasts, as athletes and bring many laurels for the country. NSS camp gives a platform for these local kids to shine and for the actual NSS students an unforgettable experience.

I couldn’t stop myself from sharing this for you all … 😀