The First Weekend
One Sunday in June, a very generous and kind man, Paul from the US and his family, and Sharath, Shemi and Saraswati from the Ashtanga yoga shala in Mysore, sponsored a shopping spree for the kids!
Paul wanted to take our kids shopping to buy whatever clothes and toys that they wanted! Sharath suggested Big Bazaar, a mega-store in the heart of the city. And even though our kids have come a long way in terms of good study habits, cleanliness, and overall excellent behavior, you have to remember that--just a couple of years ago--our kids were the kids who stood outside these stores, begging and selling their trinkets. They could never have imagined stepping into a store like this.
But this particular Sunday, all 43 kids at Karunya Mane went shopping! Words can't begin to describe their day, which began with a visit to KM, then a drive to the store...
... getting organized into groups outside ...
... and then, after figuring out how to get on the escalator for the very first time in their lives and then staring forever at the incredible quantity of toys and dolls and cricket bats and cute clothes and more, buying stuff...
... if that wasn't enough, afterwards there was chocolate for everyone!
Jeevan: mmm, yum
Before parting ways, Paul and Sharath had a few words for the kids...
... telling the kids that they got some great gifts today, and that everyone must ...
... share their presents with each others, because that is what we do, we share what we have.
Big Bazaar graciously offered lunch to all of our kids in their employee lunchroom.
bye!
We wonder what Prema was thinking as we drove away...
The Second Weekend
During the second weekend, our kids decided to give some toys--four big bags full--to another children's shelter, since their kids had no toys.
And Asha, our oldest girl, donated the 50 rupees she had in her pocket to help buy some snacks for them.
Asha, Lokesh, Amita, and Sharath came along to deliver the toys and visit with the other kids.
We hope your June was as full of fun and sharing as ours.
third photo courtesy Mysore Mitra.
