But some days are different.

I am a student – a regular student. I go to college every day, attend classes, crack a few jokes and hang out with my friends. I go through the week day after day doing the same things, sleeping late, pulling myself out of bed in the morning. 

But some days are different.
On those days, I wake up happier and much more alive than normal. These are the days I visit our community in Nekpur. The place is far off and the journey is long and even though I promise myself that I'll sleep soundly on the way, I usually stay up. And that's not because the sun usually shines very brightly on most Nekpur visits. It's just because I have such great company on the way.

On reaching the centre that has been set up in Nekpur, we are greeted with the smiling faces of the women. I like to believe that these women smile because they know that we are trying to impact their lives. Most of the time that I've spent with the community is during the training. Teaching them numbers and counting. When you try to make them understand something and they get it, you can see their confidence soar. That makes us feel optimistic and ecstatic at the same time. It makes us realize that if they had the opportunity to live up to their full potential, they could have achieved a lot. And being able to be a part of a project that gives them that opportunity feels really good. And then we teach them some more and crack a few jokes with them. We test whether they remember our names and think that we are too cool if they do. And then it's time to leave. We say our goodbyes and take their blessings. We sit in the car and head back. Even though we are mostly hungry by this time, yet we feel full and satisfied. The journey back is a little quiet. It's hard to talk when all everyone's doing is yawning. We do make plans of visits to come sometimes. And then the visit is done and the classes and tutorials start again until another one of these lucky days comes up.

-Ojas Sharma