BENGALURU: For 31-year-old Sampadha Prakash, investment banking is not the only thing that she is passionate about. Once, when she was returning from Delhi to her hometown in Bengaluru, she came across a little girl at a station, who was inquisitively turning pages of a torn story book. The child’s mother was begging in the same area.
As a Rushdie and Rowling fan and the owner of a huge collection of books, she realised that she wanted to do something for such underprivileged children and decided to start her own book club for them. She started Pandora’s Box in 2017 and since then, there has been no looking back for her. “I wanted to do something for children who do not get an opportunity to listen to stories or expose themselves to the habit of reading. I always knew that if they are groomed in the right way, they can be good readers and storytellers.
That was the thought behind starting my club,” says Prakash, who adds that she was unsure about how to go ahead with it in the beginning. “But as they say, passion wins over everything, and soon, the club started seeing new faces. I started with two children and now the club has grown. It’s amazing to see these little ones speak fluent English. They come during the weekends and share so many stories. I am grateful to their parents for having faith in me,” she adds.
Today, Pandora’s Box has 22 members between the age of five and 13, who read out stories from books and socialise among themselves. “In most cases, we see these children loitering around. But the club has made them interested in books and positive thinking. They go home and share what they learn here with their family,” Prakash says. Coming from a family of avid readers, Prakash is helping these kids mostly with her collection of books. Prathima, mother of Vishnu and Vaidehi, who attend the club every weekend, says she is thankful to Prakash.
“If not for her, my son and daughter would not be studying in an English-medium school. We do not know English but I am glad my children learnt the language at the book club and got through the school admission process,” adds Prathima, who works as a domestic help. Anita Moudghouli’s seven-year-old son, Raja, was never interested in books. “But ever since he started going to the book club, he has been hooked on to story books. After coming home from school every day, he gets the story book that Prathima gives him to prepare for the story that he has to tell at the club the coming weekend,” says Moudghouli, who also works as a house maid. “Nothing is more satisfying than seeing these children’s reading habits grow with time,” asserts Prakash.