On Tuesday, I went to Parivartan for the first time this year. School hasn't begun yet. However the kids come at noon regardless. And for the first time I see how true the adage "money can't buy happiness" is. These children are so happy; they laugh and smile - their eyes twinkle with a kind of joy that is often absent in the eyes of those with money. While waiting for their other classmates, they twist their dupattas (cover cloths) into jump ropes and play a game of blindfold tag, which everyone soon joins in on - even I. And I must confess, I have never had so much fun in my life. I look at these kids and wonder at their determination to make the best of what they have. They are wiser than me, so much wiser than me. And for a while I believe I have nothing more to offer them than just another perspective of the world. But then I realize, that it is perspective that I'm receiving from them too.

Parivartan provides for informal education. Though limited resources and lack of volunteers prevents Parivartan from having formal education, it is not something that the organization wants for its kids. The school practices a non-textbook philosophy and hopes to act as the bridge between formal and non-formal education. For an organization situated in such a conservative are, Parivartan has incredibly progressive ideas - which is quite impressive.

Here, kids come to school because they have a passion for learning (most parents are indifferent to their education- though Parivartan is working very hard to change this). They come to school because they want to. A majority of the students are girls, who would never have the opportunity to pursue a formal education. And it is those girls that voice so openly that they love to learn, to study, to dream of their futures. It kills me to know that there is nothing I can do to give them what they want - a complete education. Their parents wouldn't allow it. However, I am consoled by the thought that perhaps when these girls are mothers of a new generation of children, they might be more willing to invest in an education for their kids.

At the end of the school-day, I hop onto a stuffed 2nd class carriage of a train to make my way back home. On the way I see immense poverty and immense wealth. I find myself staring at the reflection of blue and black plastic tarps sheltering young mothers and unclothed children in the shiny, glass windows of a Mumbai high-rise building. I look and I feel that I will never be able to cure this. This poverty which runs rampant like a raging disease in India is what feeds the wealthy, the politicians, and everyone else lucky enough to be far enough above on the totem pole. I am disgusted. Yet I am also impassioned to give what little I have to offer to make a change - however infinitesimal that change may be. And it is then that I feel empowered - empowered to empower others.