Let them break your heart, the mantra instilled in us at the beginning of the trip by Mr. Wolf and Mr. Downs has never been more present then during our visits to the slums near Kalya Nagar, and to St. Vincent’s Jesuit school.

We all started off the day with apprehension and fears being told the night before of our visit, only to have our notions shattered and our biases removed. As we left the JDV campus we began to see the harsh realities that so many people face everyday so close to where we are staying. I myself was in awe at the dichotomy of the lifestyles here in Pune, on one side of the road an old Hindu couple sat cross legged on a tarp selling different vegetables and on the other expensive hotels and apartments were being constructed and occupied.

When we arrived at the slums, the first things that most of us noticed were the smiles.

Many of the students had expected crowds of intimidating people, begging for alms. What we did not expect were the children, teens and young men eagerly coming to greet us. As we walked down the main foot path of the slums, the Jesuits who work there spoke of the slum’s history of violence, eviction and hardships. Soon, nearly all of the slum’s children had gathered and were approaching us in groups of three or four, eager to practice their english by asking us our names. We had come expecting them to ask for money, but all they asked for were our names. We settled down in the newly built classroom used by the Jesuits from JDV. We all filled in and prepared for stories of hardships and woe, but what we received instead were celebrations of joy and beauty as young boys danced to new Indian Pop tracks and a group of girls, just a few years younger than us danced to traditional music from the regions there families had previously lived.

The final act of compassion that nearly broke many of us, myself included was the determination for each one of the children to thank us for coming.

Here I was, a tall white teenager only here for an hour to observe and question and yet i was being thanked as if I had done miraculous deeds. This is when so many of us realized that the mere act of us visiting them and doing our best to be in solidarity with their families was more than any of us could ask for.

After our visit to the slums, we visited the Jesuit institution St. Vincent’s, a school that could be described as the Bellarmine of Pune. We had an amazing lunch and met Father Andrew, the President of the school who as we learned later that evening has an amazing three point shot in basketball. He took us on a tour of the campus, proudly showing us each of the classrooms and extra curricular facilities, our tour culminating in the formal introduction to the student body. Nearly the entire population of the school had gathered into the courtyard and was screaming and waving to us on the second floor balcony. The thunderous applause could only be likened to a visit by the president or other mighty figure. As Father Andrew opened with a prayer, I took in the sheer number of slack jawed faces staring at me and the other students, who are these kids, where are they from, do they go to a school like ours? All these questions and so many others were written on the mouths of the children there, only further forcing us to realize just how similar they all were to us, the imaginary boundaries of oceans, cultures, and religions were dissolved as we stood there in full view of the students.

Shortly after this address, we were invited to play basketball against their varsity team, and to be completely honest these boys had more prowess on the court than any of us could have imagined. They came after us in full uniform and ready to show us that Bellarmine isn’t as safe as we thought it was. After the game came to an inevitable close, all of us were exhausted and completely drenched in sweat from the muggy temperature which had heralded our defeat. Many of us returned to the court after a break, or joined a group of alumni in a soccer game, while playing we were gifted with the opportunity of speaking with many of their alumni (whom we were playing) about their goals and lifestyles after their time at St.Vincent. As we returned to JDV, we were still gripped in the throes of our own astonishment, astonished about the people we had met in the slums, and the students at St. Vincent. Amazed at how easily our own realities so closely mirrored many of the students in ways we could have never imagined without meeting them in person.