The sun & fate lost the battle against the brave participants of ST-29!!! Despite being faced with an unexpected backing out from the taxi operators & the sun smiling cruelly on ECR & Mahabalipuram, the group had a fun-filled day.
The first stop was Mahabalipuram, where the group enjoyed a spicy breakfast of chapattis and tomato thokku. Sudhir added to the enjoyment by sponsoring piping hot masala vadas. Saravanan’s & Thangam’s benevolence was obvious in the number of ice creams they sponsored for the kids and the not-so-small kids (read volunteers)…
The kids had a whale of a time jumping off a rock into the strong arms of the volunteers. A slightly grownup kid, Thilak also leapt off the rock into the safe hands of Sudhir (Sudhir, how long did the ortho say it will take to heal?? – just kidding)
This was followed by a valiant climb up to the Mahishi caves and the light house where the group took innumerable photos on the sculptures, rocks and trees (!!) And quite predictably, when we were at the top, the monkeys were quietly sitting on the branches looking quite shocked! They even felt that their space was invaded by cultured monkeys that one of our volunteers' water bottle was snatched away by one of the monkeys. Encounter with the ancestors - I suppose.
The kids, by then were thristy. Aravind and Ganesh managed to get some bottles of water but the kids just gulped them down quickly and wanted more. Aravind and Ganesh then got a whole can of water and quenched the kids' thirst.
What followed was a riot of fun with games like kho-kho, kabaddi, tug of war, dog & the bone which were played enthusiastically in the shade of the massive trees and umpired by a "corrupt" referee. Some of the kind volunteers kept the team going with ice creams (again!) and cool cucumbers.
Tired, covered in mud and hungry, the group piled into the A2B restaurant for refueling (lunch sponsored by Leena) and a relaxed game of Antakshari in the lawn. Apart from the clash of the titans in this session, we witnessed super singers in Jisha, Ajay, Rashi and some of the kids from the home.
Ours was probably the only group that braved the sun and leapt into the waters at pristine beach front (courtesy Rakesh) at 3:00 in the afternoon. Two hours were spent playing in the water and ensuring that no one went home dry!
The day came to a close with hot cups of tea, coffee and loads of chips (Agatha), Frooti (Geetha), toffees (Rashi), chocolates & biscuits.
Thanks to
Sudhir Oberoi for sponsoring hot vadas
Saravanan and Thangam for sponsoring the ice-creams
Leena for sponsoring the lunch
Geetha for sponsoring the frooti
Agatha for sponsoring the chips and bringing the car
Rashi for the toffees
Manu Iyer for sponsoring T-shirts for the kids
Rakesh for the private beach entry
Aravind and Thangam for limitlessly capturing the moments of happiness
Ganesh for bringing a car
And all the volunteers who sponsored a wonderful day and a big smile on everyone’s faces
We would like to thank all the volunteers for having participated and made the day memorable for the New Life Vision kids despite the venue being changed from Nagala to ECR!!! You put the kids happiness ahead of yours. Thank you all.
Special thanks to Thilak for organising the trip.
Please upload the moments of happiness captured on your cameras and your views/comments at:http://chennai-trekking-club.
Regards
Krishnan
+91-9841018602
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