My visit to TOPSLIP

 Top Slip. When I visited the school in Top Slip, it was a school that tribal students attended in a remote area on the Top Slip hill, which is said to be 800 ft high, in the Anamalai Tiger Reserve. I was told there would be a lot of elephants, and there were 3 tribal hamlets there. This was the school I had fundraised for, and the donors contributed to. There’s nothing wrong with this description, but something is missing in it. The real connection. All that changed the moment I actually went there. By the end of a single day, it became a place of joy and eagerness — a place with contentment but high aspiration, a thirst for knowledge, curiosity, great potential and a future. The students were kind, sweet and expressive once we interacted a little, and I have learnt a great deal from this visit.

The parents of these students raise elephants and they can identify each one, they showed me two of them with their unique names like “Chinna Tambi”, and they told me about how they bathe in the fresh cold water in streams and catch fish, keeping them alive in water so that they can have them fresh. They play fun games such as hide and seek during the weekends with their friends in their hamlets in the forest. We were welcomed by a herd of deer frolicking in the grass, pretty peacocks, cute monkeys and baby monkeys. On reaching the school, we were received so sweetly with two small bouquets made with natural flowers and Vanaja maam, the headmistress, who enthusiastically introduced the school to us. Did you know that the school was originally opened in the 1960s, visited by none other than India’s then Prime Minister, Jawaharlal Nehru and visited alongside his daughter…Indira Gandhi! We met Nishanti Akka too, sharp and awesome, the class assistant who also graduated from the Top Slip school, batch of 2015! The talented students even put up a beautiful and fun dance performance that I truly enjoyed.

As a student from Bangalore city, this lifestyle was just an imagination for me; visiting it felt almost surreal and beautiful. Every single word I have used to describe this place is no exaggeration. Some of my highlighting experiences compel me to use them, and I would love to share these stories with you.

A thirst for knowledge and high aspiration : 

“Everything. I want to learn everything, I like learning everything .” This was Nandish, a 6th grader’s response when asked which subject he liked and what he wanted to learn.

As a class when I asked all of them if they liked school, I was met with an enthusiastic ‘Yes!’, something that I have never heard from my schoolmates and at a lot of times myself.

Each student had a unique liking and interest towards subjects like math, science, English, Tamil, etc.

Joy and contentment:

The noise of the bell ringing was heard at 3:30 for a couple of seconds only to be drowned out by shouts and screams of pure joy and excitement. It was time for games! The students get a half hour of games period every day and play simple games with a ball, a carom board, a skipping rope and happiness. The energy was just infectious and being there made you want to just stay there forever and feel the same way. I ended up playing dodgeball and the students were so kind and inclusive though I had spent only a couple of hours with them. This feeling and aura, to me, is the essence of this school in Top Slip.

Curiosity and Eagerness:

My father joined the last leg of the class interaction and taught them a quick lesson combining math and geography. When told about Bangalore, Andhra Pradesh, Delhi etc and how far they are, where they are concerning their State and areas. The students asked me if I could take them to Bangalore one day and if they could see the place. That’s all it took, a ten-minute lesson to spark their curiosity.

Kind, sweet and Expressive students:

I experienced this throughout my entire interaction and visit. Starting from the interaction in the class, where we ended up playing a bunch of fun games and had bucketloads of fun. We played versions of Japanese Whisper, Chinese Whisper and musical games. We also spent some time in the playground and on their bus ride back home to their hamlets, where they sang some songs that they had learnt and told me all about their homes and life. Though they were shy at first, they soon opened up, and the place was filled with excited chatter. It was my pleasure meeting Stephen, the math lover, and bubbly Akshaya. Anusha Devi, Alli, Deepika, and Antika are talented singers who enjoy English, Tamil, etc. The adorable 2nd graders Yazhini, Mounika and their naughty friends. The shy but sweet Jeevitha, Rahul, the excellent top spinner, Shidhar and many such unique students who danced, told jokes, sang and gave me the experience to remember for life.

Great potential and our future:

RishyaVandini, affectionately known as ‘Alli Rani’, is this personified. I conversed with the sweet 4th grader on the way back to the school after the bus journey up to one of the hamlets. My dad gave her a sweet treat, which she opened up and had. She then innocently turned and softly told me that we should not throw the wrapper out into the forest. This is our future. She had also never seen a phone in her life, and yet she saw me taking pictures and she decided she wanted to take a video. She took one on her first try and was so curious about the phone. She also learned to take selfies, and we took some fun ones of me, her and her grandpa, the bus driver. Alli Rani learnt how to do all of this in a quick bus journey and showed great interest in her studies and hobbies such as dance. This was probably my most memorable interaction.

All in all, I just loved visiting this school and the positive vibes it emanates. I truly thank everyone who has kept this school running, including Vanaja Ma’am, all the teachers, Nishanti Akka, eVidyaloka, the donors and also my parents and everyone who made this trip possible. I especially want to thank all the bright students of Top Slip School. I can’t wait to contribute as much as I can and be a part of your fantastic journey to greatness.