Samhita: Recently, I had the absolute privilege of meeting the wonderful children at Ananda School of Happiness in Amguri, Assam.

It was my pleasure to conduct a music and drama workshop for the students, communicating with them in the native language, Assamese. This has been the most rewarding experience, and Ivy and I are so grateful to each and every student who poured their heart into everything we did together.

Using the framework of musical theatre, I explored creative expression by translating a song that has inspired me into Assamese. It was inspiring to see how performance can act as a bridge for language and community building. I am very passionate about musical theatre, and it was a privilege to have the opportunity to share this love with younger minds. We even integrated local culture by warming up to Zubeen Garg’s ‘Mayabini’. The energy in the room was absolutely electric!

I cannot express my gratitude towards Ananda enough. To have had the opportunity to teach in Assamese has been beyond anything I could’ve imagined, and truly an experience I will treasure forever. These kids are honestly phenomenal, and I can’t wait to come back. So much love for them all. I see my younger self in these students. The song I chose for the workshop is a song very close to my heart. Since a very young age, I’ve listened to it and reflected on how far I have come, how much older I am!

Ananda has provided a pressure-free learning environment for over 150 children for the past 5 years. Thanks to the generosity of selfless donors, children have been able to learn technology, art, music, and more, entirely free of charge. An opportunity many could not otherwise avail.

Thank you to the Ananda team for the incredible work you do. I am proud to have contributed to this journey. And a huge thank you to Ivy, who despite not knowing the language, came along and supported this project with such love and passion.  

Ivy: I had the pleasure of volunteering at Ananda School in Amguri, Assam. It was truly wonderful to meet such an incredible group of children, who were the most genuine, enthusiastic, and appreciative individuals we could have hoped to work with. Samhita and I spent valuable time at the school.

Within the classroom, I aimed to support the children as much as possible, assisting with teaching, and offering encouragement whenever I could. I found it a challenging experience seeking ways to communicate and engage with the children, as I don't speak Assamese aside from a couple of very
basic words, but an experience that came with such reward, seeing how the work, and perseverance
they'd put in could translate to a wonderful, and accomplished final performance.

Despite not speaking the same language as the children, they had a profound impact on me. The atmosphere within the class was filled with such joy and enthusiasm. Every single one of the children truly immersed themselves in the sessions, displaying so much strength, and resilience, and it was such a joy for me to see. Witnessing their engagement and growth was an incredibly moving experience.

Thank you so much, it has been such a privilege to be able to be involved in something so meaningful
this, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity, and have loved it so much. We brought the classroom
together beautifully.

Thank you to Samhita who led the entire session in Assamese with so much compassion, care, and
enthusiasm. She really brought the whole classroom together, and very successfully brought to life
her creative vision, both within the classroom, and later on when editing the video.