Finally, I traveled to Pune today. I was accompanied by my colleague, Rajesh Panicker. We drove down from Navi Mumbai where he met me. It took us 2 hours to reach Navi Mumbai from our respective homes and 1 hour 45 minutes to reach Pune from Navi Mumbai!

Reached the Yepre school at around 12:30 pm. The children were all waiting for us. We first distributed sweets for them and then met the school teachers and authorities. Mr. Bhalke was present with the local corporator, who incidentally is Mr. Yepre's (the farmer who has donated the land for the school) son.

We had a small puja to officially start the plastering work. The contractor who had been employed to do the plastering was also present. Later I spent some time with the children, took some group photos and bid them goodbye as they were leaving for home. They were all enthusiastically waving to Mr. Bhalke repeatedly. He is extremely popular with the kids. Rajesh was clicking away and capturing the moments with his sophisticated camera.

After the kids had left, we all sat down to discuss the next year, plan for the same, and talked about the urgency of the toilet. I accepted my inadequacy in terms of getting the funds on time. They were very kind and did not say anything. I promised them that as soon as the plastering was completed, I would make the arrangements for the funds pertaining to the toilet.

Mr. Yepre gave a small speech appreciating us, our work and then gave the example of the selfless service of Shri. Vinoba Bhave. I concluded the meeting thanking all of them, for their kind words, their hospitality and reminded them that we were doing nothing. They were doing the actual work. The teachers, the people from the trust, Mr. Bhalke, Mr. Yepre et al. I mentioned about the generosity of my anonymous friend who had contributed the entire amount without any desire of credit or acknowledgement. We were merely mediums of HIS will and were acting like pipes that transported water from the reservoir to the farms. The pipes do not deserve any credit.

The plastering will start from tomorrow, the 4^th of Feb; will update you with the photos and details. We left the school feeling extremely satisfied and contended.