“Pujor aage aashbo”, Will come again before the pujas.
That is what the auntie from Anavi promised the little one from Topsia Creche.

The month of August this year has been a busy one for the ladies at Anavi. Apart from the monthly meeting to chart out the activities for the upcoming festive season and beyond, another memorable visit to Ramola bhavan was a part of the itinerary. The ladies’ old age home on Elliot road in central kolkata has been associated with Anavi since the last five years. It is therefore no surprise to see the smile break on the oldies faces when the members of Anavi go to meet them. That is what is important, we are told, because time is the most valuable commodity nowadays that is not available. They do not have much demands- simple dal and rice would do. But someone with time to talk to them is what they cherish most. That we are complete strangers is of no consequence.

The kids from slums do not have much to look forward to as the day begins. They do not even know whether they will get their dinner that night. They are children whose parents are mostly hand to mouth laborers who cannot be sure to feed themselves or their families.Anavi has been helping these children in their effort for education. But during durga puja they receive gifts and this time a set of new clothes for each one of them has been promised. A small thing that we would take for granted in our lives is an event for them.

In its effort to help the underprivileged kids in their quest for decent education, Anavi has started computer classes at Nabneer Non formal school in Chetla. Regular classes have started with a teacher appointed by Anavi. Members regularly visit the classes to make sure that the seventeen odd kids are making good progress.

In its sixth year already, another month gone by, a small step taken towards a kinder world.