Guest post by Adita Divecha, Karan’s mother

The second session was at the Raffles Hotel near Wafi.

When Karan and I got there, everyone was in the lobby.

Nicola came and took us to the third floor, to this huge banquet hall which was almost empty except for two large round tables.

Then representatives from the Raffles Hotel came and met all the kids and then said they would like us to look around the Botanical Gardens. There was a door which opened out onto a huge terrace and the Botanical Gardens were there. It’s actually the roof of the mall which they converted in a garden, with canals running through it with fish in them, surrounded by trees and flowers.

We then took a tour of the gardens. Karan was really excited especially when he saw the water.  I actually thought he was going to try jumping into it. There was also a fountain there and because there was a lot of wind, the water was spraying on his face which he really got excited about. He was in a happy mood.

Then we went back in and all the children sat on the tables on which were paintbrushes, paper and paint…even crayons and pencils. Karan only does his art with a brush and thick paint.

So he got to work, took the brush, dipped it into the bowl… “Dip and dab, dip and dab,” is what I have to keep telling him.

Everybody’s art was later kept on the side to dry. Karan did three paintings.

They even gave the children cookies and something to drink. Karan just had the chocolate cookie. He was very happy. One of the other girls kept saying, “don’t get so excited!”

Then they gave certificates to each child for attending the session. So all in all, it was a good day!