“I’ve planned a Surprise for you. Be ready by 12 pm” Said my sister last Sunday on my Birthday. Who doesn’t like surprises? I was beaming with excitement on what the surprise might be about.
The 12th hour of the day arrived. I was all ready and we boarded a rikshaw en-route to where the surprise was held. I was clueless and guess my heart decided to be Sivamani, drumming out the excitement. My sister told the location to the driver and it was a short ride. We reached the place and I got a whim of what the surprise was.
So all these little girls were waiting with equal excitement to celebrate a birthday, which I’m sure might not be happening so much as we do. Yes, it was an NGO kind, Sakhi – Education centre for Girls at Mulund (http://sakhiforgirlseducation.org/). An initiative that is led by Aarti Naik for underprivileged girls who are unable to be enrolled to schools.
So we had my cake cutting there. I was so emotional when all the little angels sang the birthday song. We had pre-ordered Pav Bhaji and we served it to the super energetic kids. Whenever they said, “Dada, azun ek pav” or “Tai, azun bhaji dya na” it was as if music to our ears. After the food, we distributed stationery amongst them. They had springs in their steps and the spark in their eyes, well, ineffable.
All in all, there were about 65-70 girls and after 3 hours, we were left with a deep sense of satisfaction to see the bacchas gleeful and overjoyed. My sister, her best friend, my dad, uncle and aunt were all a part of these wonderful moments. Truly, it was the best birthday present I’ve ever got. Something I’ll cherish for the rest of my life, perhaps also making up my mind to contribute for many such more events.
Little things that we can do…
raamystic 