Coimbatore, where to start and where to end? Just stepping off the plane itself, I felt such a big difference from Mumbai and Coimbatore. Whereas it was congested and ever so polluted in Mumbai, Coimbatore was serene and covered from top to bottom in lush green. Coimbatore has an abundance of coconut trees and these majestic mountains as a backdrop. Breathtakingly beautiful, I felt as if I had stepped into another realm that was beyond this world.
The two main themes of our visit in Coimbatore consisted of NGOs and interacting with students through the Pongal Festival; an occasion celebrated by Hindus on the 14th of January. We visited two NGOs, one with the objective of educating slum children titled Akansha. The other was one that involves a variety of tasks, ranging from women development and youth leadership to community health and poverty alleviation. Sitting in with the children as they learned about the solar system, I tried with some difficulty to not cry. Knowing that these children had much harder lives than I could ever imagine, I felt guilty to some extent for having so much. Contrary to my emotions, Akansha as an organization does not propagate pity, nor does it feel sorry for these children. It instead feels that each child is just as capable as any other child in being able to succeed.
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Sorry for my mistake, but we had actually only visisted Shanti Ashram in Coimbatore,and had actually visited Akansha in Mumbai, since it relates mainly to the slums of Mumbai.
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