A Day with the Sukrupa Gang

Through Helen’s membership in the Overseas Women’s Club here in Bangalore, she volunteers at a non-government organization (NGO) called Sukrupa. Sukrupa, founded in 2000 by mother Sugana and daughter Krupa, is dedicated to helping underprivileged slum children escape poverty, illiteracy, and ignorance. Sukrupa provides these children a future filled with hope and bright expectations. Each day 230 children visit Sukrupa for before and after school services, a meal and a chance to see a world filled with love, care and a dedication to their future. For eleven of these children, home is with Krupa and brother Sathya.

This past weekend, we inched forward our involvement in this noble effort and hosted nine of the 11 residential children for a day of fun, frolicking and another home filled with love, care and a budding dedication to their future. We also wanted to give Su, Krupa and Sathya a gift of a day off from… a small reward for the outpouring of their generous hearts.

We arrived at Sukrupa Saturday morning to the bustle and cacophony of the center filled with young minds and bodies in motion. Su and Sathya assembled our young wards for the day. At our request, a small name tag was pinned to each child with our mobile phone number. We had the enormous help of Sony with this passel of youngsters from 3 to 12 years old. Sony is seventeen, articulate, smart and poised, and carries the enormous responsibility of caring for her three younger siblings and the other residential children with grace.

Our first adventure was to fit the Sukrupa gang, ourselves and driver into our midsized Qualis SUV-like car. Amazingly, six wiggling bodies fit easily into the four seat rear compartment. Sony and Helen sat with two others in the backseat and 3 year old Anna Marie sat in Jay’s lap in the front seat with our driver.

Our first stop was Bal Bhavan Children’s Playground at Cubbon Park. The playground is filled with swings, monkey bars, seesaws and just open space where kids can run.

Next was the park’s boat ride around a smallish green water pond. For kids just three feet tall, however, the pond was an ocean and the small pontoon-pulled raft an ocean liner.

More small rides and a ride on the park’s train closed our day at Cubbon Park.

Our next stop was lunch at KFC on busy Brigade Road.

From lunch it was back into the Qualis for the trip to the upscale Forum shopping mall. At the Forum, there was window shopping, cookies from the Cookie Man and marveling at the mall’s Christmas decorations.

Back at our apartment, we put The Little Mermaid DVD in our player. Some watched, others dozed. Then it was dinner followed by the hour long ride back home to Sukrupa.

It was a small gesture to keep hope alive and well amid the sea of want here in India.