Of Dreams and Cotton Candy

                 St Patricks volunteers had a sleepless Saturday night this week. The jitters of organising the biggest MAD carnival Bangalore had ever seen were getting to them! Would it rain? Would people turn up? Would the children have fun? These questions plagued the mind of the organisers and all those involved. They should have been worried, because the events that unfolded the next day took even the staunchest believers by surprise!

                MADsters filtered into St Patricks on a bright Sunday morning, hesitantly, expecting to see a small collection of stalls, and maybe even a few games. They were greeted by the sight of balloons, streamers and bright bits decoration. It was an explosion of colour! They also saw grinning volunteers, confident that the day would be a resounding success!

                It would be an exercise in futility to enumerate the various activities that were conducted at the Carnival. The sheer numbers of games and activities took everyone by surprise. Beat boxing, singing, dancing, glass painting and fashion shows; just a few among the many activities.

                The life size snake and ladders set was the centre of attraction, but by no means the only one. Instead of the traditional stalls, the organisers decided to create workshops. Thus participants could participate and get trained in whichever aspect they chose.

                Also popular with volunteers and children alike was the screening of animated movies in a classroom. The volunteers had taken extra pains to modify the classroom so that it felt like an actual theatre. All that was missing was the popcorn and soft drinks, but that was more than compensated by the excited gathering.

                Towards the end of the day, all the participants put on a show on what they had learnt from the workshop. Budding singers, beat boxers and artists took to the stage, proudly showing off their skills.

All of a sudden, the day was over. People drifted away to their homes and hostels, albeit reluctantly. The Carnival had been a resounding success. What was more important however the fact that the kids had fun, and learnt something that was both new and useful. It was a day of dreams, cotton candy and much much more!