Dear Friends,
Wish you all a wonderful Diwali. I take great pleasure in drafting this mail regarding DI Chennai's Diwali celebration at Anna Nagar [on Oct 25th ] and SV Home [ Oct 26th].
Anna Nagar: [25th of October 2008, Saturday]
Last week, Divya informed me about the plans of having Diwali celebration with our kids from Annanagar class. Following this discussion, we decided to get sweets, snacks & crackers for the kids. Divya & Vishnu ordered sweets & snacks at Anna Nagar, and I took crackers from the gift box donated by Parthy. Around 4.30 pm, I joined Hari, Vishnu, Durai, Divya and Arvind who were already conducting classes at Paadasaalai.
Within few minutes, we got the kids sit in a big group and started distributing sweets and mixture. Meanwhile, Ms.Neha (Reporter, Times of India) joined us along with a couple of photographers. Divya introduced us to her. Ms. Neha enquired about DI's early days, other city chapters & our future plans. She also did speak to our kids to know how effective our classes.
Children sang few movie songs. We had a photo session with kids, following which crackers were distributed. The kids were extremely elated and thanked & wished us all a very happy Diwali.
Thanks to Divya…. I too got a chance to collect my order of the wonderful diyas made by our children last year.
Snaps: http://picasaweb.google.com/
SV Home: [26th of October 2008, Sunday ]
Last week, we got to know that all the kids (90 of them) will be at SV home during Diwali. Kamala madam also told us that they were not able to get any new dress & crackers for children this year, though they had planned to prepare some sweets for the kids.
Thus, we decided to celebrate Diwali with these children by providing them with sweets, snacks and some crackers on the 26th of October 2008 (Sunday). Parthy gave crackers worth Rs.2000 [ two gift boxes ] and I managed to get one from my end. Hari ordered sweets and snacks.
I reached SV home around 4.15 pm with my sister, Dr.Mangalam. Even the auto driver, Mr.Natarajan (in whose auto we travelled) joined us. He was well aware about DI and was very happy to be a part of the special evening.
The kind of reception we get from children at SV home is beyond word to explain. As soon as the children saw us, they were all smiling and running towards us.
We then got to know that a charitable trust gave new clothes for all children on that morning. However, not all kids were able to get their dresses stitched as it was last minute surprise. The kids were excited to show their new clothes to us. Meanwhile, Hari joined us for the photo session.
Later, we distributed sweets and snacks to the children. We were also provided with Diwali sweets made by them (Athirasam & Muruku). We had a prayer session before staring off to eat. The children told me that they did special prayer for DI.
Following this, we distributed the crackers and started off with the main part of the evening…..bursting crackers (Sparklers, Flower pot, etc).The auto driver Mr.Natarajan made sure that all the kids got equal amount of crackers. It was nice to see each kid enjoying with crackers.
One kid came to me and said, "Anna, all noon we were hearing crackers' sound across the gate and longing for our own crackers. Now we got all for us. Thanks anna"
In the mean time, Kamala madam discussed with Managalam about conducting medical check up for the children once in 3 months.
We would be visiting the home in few weeks time to discuss about library and trip to Birla Planetorium for children between of 9th to 12th standard.
Snap: http://picasaweb.google.com/
(Don't miss the video)
I have attached the project documents for your reference. Overall, Diwali is for and made by kids. Thanks to the children for making our evening a special one. I can wholeheartedly say that this is one of the best Diwali celebration after 3 long years.
Regards,
Natarajan
Dream India
"Hesitating to act because the whole vision might not be achieved, or because others do not yet share it, is an attitude that only hinders progress." - Mahatma
http://di2020.blogspot.com/
4 comments:
Awsome work Natarajan..
Excellent Natraj anna,, its really good to see you people are doing real great things that others just only dream....Hope one day I will join you people in bringing that little happiness to those kids...
Thanks Ashish. Take care
Nandri Sriram. For sure once you are back in Chennai we can work together on field. Even while away, we can do much more, I will mail you in detail. take care.
Post a Comment