Diwali at the observation home

Today we celebrated diwali with the children at the observation home. It's a well managed place in the traditional sense. But you can't call their living conditions ideal, they more of like 'meet the minimum official requirements'. That's not the kind of childhood you would wish for your own kids. Somewhere between neglect of the society and the shortage of such observation homes in India, the condition of the inmates has been deteriorating over the years.

We wanted to take them a gift. They specially asked us for crackers instead of sweets. Every rich 'seth' tries to compensate for his sins at Holi and Diwali by distributing ladoos. Feeding them something nutritious for the rest of the year isn't that glamorous. So crackers it was. They weren't allowed to light those by themselves. Safety reasons I believe. We organized a magic show for them too. Had a good time, sang some songs, made them dance, danced with them. And came back with a heavy heart..