Skit on Female Foeticide

The Gurudwara Sahib, CH(SC) recently celebrated the 407th प्रकाश पूरब of श्री गुरु ग्रन्थ साहिब जी. We made full use of the opportunity to spread our message to the masses by presenting an educational skit in front of the devotees. We would consider this effort to sensitize people against female foeticide successful if it leaves some impact even if small, on the minds and hearts of the audience. You can see the recording here if you have missed the live performance.

We would sincerely like to thank The O i/c Gurudwara Sahib CH(SC), members of the Organising Committee, all the actors, the audience and all those people who contributed even in the smallest manner to make the event possible. We hope that we would get more such chances to reach out to the masses in the future too, so that we can contribute to the dream of building a country that we can be truly proud of. Jai Hind.

Independence day at Mamata Bal Sadan

Today we had the pleasure of visiting a wonderful organization ममता बाल सदन, located in Pune. It is run under the flag of 'सप्तसिंधु महिला आधार बालसंगोपन एवं शिक्षण संस्था ' founded by 'Mai' Mrs. Sindhutai Sapakal. Her life and struggles have already inspired numerous people. She was refused shelter at her husband's home after she had a clash with some landlords over women's right to wages. She left the home and gave birth to a daughter at midnight all alone. This situation brought the turning point in her life. She now gives her own surname to every orphan that comes to her organization.

The organisation tries to fulfill all the needs of orphan children including education and emotional support. It was an awe inspiring experience to see the social structure of the place. Instead of an over-disciplined or over-controlled formal institution, the place struck us more as a closely knit extended family. The elder children took active part in the care for the young ones, just like a family. We had a good time listening to their poems and jokes (though we needed lots of translation to understand the marathi ones). They were very enthusiastic about the cricket kit that we brought them. So we ended up in their little playground. We played with them, shared jokes, and well.. some people were even able to find their younger selves in these kids. The picture given below is dedicated to all those 'Judwaa' moments that we encountered during the day...

The day came to an end with a special lunch which we had sponsored for them on the occasion of Independence Day. Some people out of us had a little trouble eating without spoons though.. but the small papad chips make quite a substitute for spoons in times of needs.

We bid farewell to them in late afternoon in the hope of meeting our newfound friends again..

You can support this organization and know more about it by visiting www.mysaptsindhu.org . Mai now spends most of her time travelling to all the corners of the state and motivating people. In words of 'Mai' herself...

देवा ... आम्हाला हसायला शिकाव ...

परन्तु... आम्ही कधी रडलो होतो...

याचा विसर पडू देवू नकोस..

God ! Teach us to smile..

But let us not forget,

we had cried some day.. !

Symposium on addictive substances

Today we conducted a small educational lecture in front of the children of a nearby school. The symposium was meant to spread awareness about addictive substances among the school children and encourage them to stop the use of such substances if they are already involved with them. This was based on various reports which indicated that the use of such substances has been on a rise among the students. The topics discussed included alcohol, tobacco, cigarettes and inhalants like correction fluid, etc. We hope that in the future we get more such opportunities to spread awareness in the community. (And ofcourse, to interact more with children. I guess, Prayas club just loves children... that's why most of our activities mainly revolve around the young-ones !) 

It was a very intense experience for all of us. We entered the school in the middle of the lunch break, with the heavy projection equipment and a white bedsheet in place of a screen. The audience were getting more and more impatient as the teachers tried to control their hue and cry. And thanks heavens, for the first time in a very long time, everything worked as it was supposed to work... but trust me, after this day i have abandoned all hope of becoming a school teacher. Now i have decided to be a college professor, they are paid much more for much less trouble...  :) 

Place: Mhadaji Shinde High School, Wanowrie

Time: between 2:30 pm to 3:30 pm on 3^rd of August, 2011

Audience: School children of ages between 14 years to 18 years and the teachers.

Participants: Medical cadets Aanchal Singhal (V2), Souvik Nandy (U2), Avijit Singh Chauhan (U2), Om Panda (V2), Tanuj Madan (U2)

Special guest: Air Cmdr. Ajoy Mahen (HOD,  Dept. of PSM, AFMC)