Jambo, my friends! Yesterday, I had the pleasure of spending the day with a group of 21 from Nairobi, Kenya. Visiting India for a short program over 9 days, the students had a day off before they went back to Kenya. Sr. Maria Sheila (my primary school Headmistress), who is now based in Kenya told me about their trip and I was eager to show them around Bangalore.
The Carmel Blossoms Group at Lal Bagh
The Tour:
I picked the group up from my school campus and we headed straight to LalBagh Botanical Gardens. It was a warm, sunny day (a little too hot for some of the children, all of whom are between 11 and 13 years of age). After a quick tour of the KempeGowda tower on the hill which has a nice view, the glasshouse, the snow white clock and the topiary garden, we headed towards the center of the city. We picked up lunch at Ice & Spice on St. Mark's road and enjoyed it leisurely in the gardens of Cubbon Park under the shade of the tall trees. My friend Asha joined us and we chatted with Sr. Winifred and Sr. Maria Villa who are leading the group on this tour. I enjoyed the conversation very much as they talked to us about life in Kenya. I remembered my trip to Kenya last year fondly and remembered some of my favourite Swahili words too!
At the Kempegowda Tower on the hill at Lal Bagh
After lunch we walked into the beautiful Sheshadri Iyer public library (which is almost a 100 years old) to gawk at the giant collection of books and periodicals. Our next stop was UB City Mall where we went to see another side of Bangalore and of course, to use their luxurious bathrooms! Next stop was the Visveswaraiah science museum which was fascinating - it even had a 3D show which I hadn't heard of! After driving past the Vidhana Soudha and High Court Building, we went to Commercial Street and Jayanagar 4th block where the girls had fun shopping for gifts, shoes and clothes. We managed to drink some fresh sugarcane juice too! It was a long and fun day. It was also my first time as a tour guide and I enjoyed it, especially because of the good company. :)
Just after lunch, in the shade of the trees at Cubbon Park
Some Special Moments:
One of the girls lost her money (about Rs.2000) at the museum, as her bag was open and with such a big crowd there, I am not surprised that it was stolen. She seemed quite dejected but wait! As soon as we got into the bus, Sr. Winifred said a magic word "Harambey!". Immediately, 100 rupee notes appeared and within a minute or two, funds were pooled together and the girl got her money back. I was amazed. "What is Harambe?", I asked. Harambe is Swahili for "working together in unity" or "let's pull together". Following Kenya's independence in 1963, the first Prime Minister of Kenya, Jomo Kenyatta adopted "Harambee" as a concept of pulling the country together to build a new nation. He encouraged communities to work together to raise funds for all sorts of local projects. This is still a strong and widely used concept in Kenya. What a beautiful idea! We should use it too, no?
Towards the end of the day as we headed back home on the bus, a few of the guests came forward to say a few words. They were very kind and I felt happy to hear that they had enjoyed the day. But the best part was when they decided that they would send blessings my way and all of a sudden, in unison, they burst into song, "Ubarikiwe! Ubarikiwe!" (May you be blessed). All their strong voices blended together in beautiful harmonies and I was touched. A truly memorable moment.
I got big hugs from the children at the end of the day! :) I feel lucky to have had such a wonderful opportunity - to have spent the day with such a warm, genuine and caring group of people. I hope the children went back with happy memories from India.
Ubarikiwe!
