“Roshan, Sahyog’s library in Goregaon East, was a brilliant place to volunteer. I saw it grow from one small room behind a meat shop with few irregular children to an organised library in a building with regular, determined children. It gave me great pride to teach these children because of their enthusiasm and fervour to learn and succeed. I was very impressed and inspired by the library’s efforts to cultivate the children’s open-mindedness by holding discussions about gender and income equality. I was especially impressed with the number of girls who used to come to the library, and very happy that I was helping improve India’s female literacy rate. The excited children, and welcoming and helpful teachers really made my long journey from Bandra worth it. I was very sad to learn that the centre had closed down because I was really looking forward to work with the children after my exams, however I am very happy that Sahyog is taking great efforts to continue supporting these children with their mobile library. As my first experience with Service, I had made many mistakes, especially in terms of punctuality, but I have learned that Service is only meaningful when done with compassion and altruism. This lesson has helped me get immersed in my other Service opportunities and will remain with me in the years to come.”