USAY and INDHA

I strongly believe that education is a very powerful instrument to social empowerment. Unfortunately, many children are being denied the right to education because of socio-economic issues. As a consequence, we have NGOs like Literacy India who tirelessly works to uplift underprivileged women and children by providing them that opportunity to develop their capacity to grow to be self-reliant. In all honesty, I feel really lucky to have been part of the Literacy India family.

Once part of the family one has to contribute in any way to demonstrate their sensitivity to the family values that one aspires to uphold. So, when I heard about the opportunity to fund raise for Literacy India in Toronto, I was very excited yet nervous. I was excited because having been part of Literacy India for two months before heading back to Toronto for my fall semester to showcase the products made by the women in Toronto would create a much bigger platform. Nervous because I was the only one who was carrying out the fund-raising event, nevertheless, it turned to be one of those best learning experiences. Thanks to Indraani Maam, Satya Sir and Vikas Sir that I was able to carry out such a project abroad. If it had not been their faith on me and support, today I would never have had such a desire to work in the developmental field. Certainly, it was one of those challenging yet satisfying projects. Challenging because of the time, having been a full time student and worked part-time on campus in university, I had to ensure that I did a certain number of sales within a week. Satisfying on the other hand, because I pushed myself to a great extent where I discovered effective ways to fund-raise which ultimately became my greatest strengths. Part of the process was talking to professors and students who were passionate about education, girl’s rights, development and human rights and India where I got to learn about other NGOs in Africa and Asia and development models in the field of education. It was wonderful to see the humbling appreciation by the students and professors of the products, not only were they interested in the products, I was able to engage them in a discussion about Literacy India’s work and their method of imparting education and finding means to achieve livelihood. In 3 semesters, I was able to fund-raise CND $ 2965.

This experience by far has been one the greatest one and I urge everyone to support organizations like Literacy India who tirelessly works towards their cause to generate educated and self-reliant Indians.

Written by 

Harparamjot Hans (Remy)

BAGHI SAMRAAT

The costumes made by INDHA Women and Children of Literacy India on a stage show in Delhi/ chandigarh / Millimeter as Samraat in Rustam - Sohrab `s adaptation - BAGHI SAMRAAT

Newspaper coverage of Chandigarh Show by Literacy India Children

On the 4th of June 2010 LI children staged the play “Baghi Samrat” at the BAL Bhawan in Chandigarh. This was done in partnership with the Department of Social Welfare Chandigarh and the support of the Director Women and Child Welfare, Mrs. Manju Bhalla.

The play was staged to an audience of about 300 spectators. Mr. Rajive Bhalla, hon’ble Judge, Punjab & Haryana High Court very graciously agreed to be the Guest of Honour even at a short notice.

A sizeable number of other important people from the city including academicians, theatre personalities and prominent government officials attended the show and as a result we have a minimum of 4 offers to perform in the city alone as they were impressed by the theme of the play and the performance of the children. It was indeed heartening to receive such a response despite it being a holiday season and most of the perspective audiences out of the city. There was wide coverage in the Press as a large number of Newspapers and the local TV channel covered the show. Prominent newspapers were, The Times of India, The Indian Express, Hindustan Times, Punjab Kesari, Dainik Bhaskar and Aaj Samaaj.

Literacy India by Aamir Khan

Literacy India's Utsav

Utsav, the two day festival organised by Literacy India on the occasion of Universal Child Rights Day, on 20-21 November saw more than 150 beneficiaries from the 16 centres of Literacy India around NCR participate in the event. This was their chance to showcase their talent in various activities such as theatre, animation movies, dance and music. The event was well attended by various schools and corporate associates of Literacy India.

On day one, the kids presented some foot-tapping dance performances, animation movies made by them, entertaining but meaningful plays and much more. They also had an interactive session with Kapil Dev, captain of world cup winning Indian Cricket team and Navin Gulia, a former army officer who runs an organization ADAA that works for street children despite being confined to a wheelchair for the last 14 years. He is a recipient of a number of prestigious awards such as Haryana Gaurav Award, Indian people of the Year Award, global Indian of the year, Kavincare Ability Mastery Award, and National role Model award.

Kapil Dev stressed on the value of kids being a better citizen rather than just a better doctor, engineer or cricketer. He answered many questions by the children on various aspects of child rights. For his own family, he said, “For my daughter, it is not what I expect her to be, but what she wants to be”

Mr. Navin Gulia, who has been running an organization ADAA for child beggars in spite of being on wheelchair for 14 years, also shared similar thoughts on the matter.

On day two, Rohit and Ronit Bisht who are both winners of ITF Junior World Tennis Championships and winners of POGO Awards graced the event. They have been ranked Asia’s No. 1 in under-14 and under-16 tennis category.

The event was marked particularly by the two-hour play Baghi Samrat. Based on the Persian play Rustam-Sohrab, this story unfolds in a small village in Bihar named Mirzapur. This is a village that has given birth to brave men, but is now plagued with false egos, religious conflicts, and political and emotional issues. The music in the play is from an upcoming album by Phat-phish records and has voices of singers like Kailash Kher, Bombay Jaishree, Naresh Aiyar, Malgudi Shubha, Kartick Das Boul and Sayoun. The play is directed with a unique DEKH KE concept that brings the complexities of a film set, right on stage.
The plays had been directed by the Star TV’s Sansani fame Shrivardhan Trivedi and designed by Nikhil Raj. Nikhil Raj is very popular as a character Bhokal Singh on Mahuaa Channel. He had designed the play concept and its adaptation along with giving guidance to the young performers.

A Two Day Theatre Festival

Literacy India celebrates Universal Child Rights Day in its own unique way. Come join us at this 2 day festival...