Yelläks /ˈyæl•eks/

There are many activities and clubs in and around IISc in which students can be involved. However one of my most memorable experience was with an activity called Notebook Drive (NBD). Once in a year volunteers collect money from the students to support government schools in and around Bangalore. The support is not in money but in useful items such as notebooks (hence the name), pens, utilities for drawing etc, given to the pupils of those schools. This year the donation caused a surplus in the cash register of NBD. So members of the NBD thought about a useful way to spend and to support the local schools again.

In the end they had the idea to give prices to those students who are overall the best in his or her year. A good student was not only the best in reading, writing, maths, etc, but in e.g. discipline and behavior. This time Amrish, a member of NBD asked me, if I would like to join.

So we left IISc on bikes and loaded backpacks full of prices at 8AM on Saturday, 14th November 2009 (which was also celebrated as Children’s Day). We went to 3 different schools, all of different sizes and grades. It was that time when I learned that all the money in the world is nothing and worthless compared to the happiness expressed in the face of a child.

Useful links:

• NBD in Voices, the student’s magazine of IISc
• bhOndOO’s blog entry

It might be interesting to see, how children learn in government schools. There are quite a few differences compared to the schools in Germany. Starting from the missing tables and chairs. All kids sit on the floor. A separate class room for each and every class seems to be beyond luxury.

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