|
|
One foot on the New Delhi railway station's platform, the other
still on the Rajdhani Express, I was visualizing
about what will be in store for me in the capital city of India. I
was alighting from the train to accept the National Bravery Award
announced for the year 2005 by the Indian Council for Child Welfare
(ICCW). I was dreaming of myself sitting on an elephant and waving to the
President of India at the Republic Day parade. Suddenly the unpleasant odour of the red robed, curly moustached
coolies who brushed past me, left me gasping.
The assortment of hair oil scents left me confused.
I arrived in Delhi at 10:20 am on
17th January 2006 as a ‘State Guest’ with my father as
an escort. We went straight to the ICCW office located at Deen Dayal Upadhyay Marg where they had made our stay
arrangements.
Day One was spent in getting to
know each other. After lunch a small meeting was arranged where the
children and their escorts were asked to introduce themselves with the
children narrating their bravery deeds. We were then informed about the
Do’s and Don’ts and the agenda till 26th January 2006. The
entire country was well represented. North was represented by a boy from Uttaranchal, North East by children from Meghalaya, Manipur & Nagaland,
East by children from Orissa
and Andhra, West by two children from Maharashtra,
South by Kerala and Central
India by children from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh.
Apart from these children there was a post-humous
award for a child from Kerala who was
represented by his father.
We were informed that there
would be lot of gifts in store for us from Corporate Houses as well as
Dignitaries that we would be visiting. We were asked to report early next
day at 6.00 a.m. to participate in the rehearsal for the Republic Day
parade. The very thought of getting up at 5 a.m. in the chilly weather of
Delhi sent
shivers down my back. We were warned not to move out of the campus
without permission from the authorities. I queried whether we could have
access to the internet so that I could chat with my friends from Mumbai.
The answer was a straight “No”.
I was also told there are no Cybercafe’s in the
vicinity. I realized I was totally cut off from my friends. I started
wondering whether I was a ‘Sarkari Mehmaam’
in the true sense and landing up in a place under literal House arrest.
|
However the subsequent events made the trip the most
memorable experience of my life.
The first gift that the children received was from The Shamrao Vithal Co-operative
Bank Ltd. which had given the children a Dairy for their daily notings, a pen and a wrist watch. This was the onset of
the gift shower which continued till 25th Jan 2006. That day we
were provided with two sets of white shirt and white trousers, a red blazer
with the logo, red-coloured pullover and a pair
of black shoes which we were supposed to wear to all VIP visits and
functions. As a result of this, all that I had carried in my suit case
including the two formal suits in different colours
so lovingly purchased by my parents in Mumbai especially for the visit had
to remain confined to the suitcase.
18th Jan early morning we were taken to
Vijay Chowk for the first rehearsal of the parade. I befriended soldiers
from Army and Airforce. Our elephant was
mischievous. At the second rehearsal it started jumping mid-way through the
rehearsal. Everyone felt we would all fall down from the elephant’s back.
Afternoon there was a Press Conference which was
attended by over 100 press representatives. We were surrounded by cameras
each one asking us to pose for them. Most of the children from rural places
knew only their mother tongue and were unable to communicate with the
press. Being the only one fluent in both English and Hindi I was soon the
most sought-for person. I was a bit tired repeating the same story to all
the reporters and news channels but there was no alternative. CNN-IBN
channel reporter requested me to join them in their studio located at Noida later in the night for a live interview in their programme India-360 which was to be telecast that
night.
|
|
|
After the Press
conference we were taken to Red Fort where we witnessed the ‘Sound &
Light’ show. The CNN-IBN reporters were waiting at the gate for me to take
me to their studio. It was a nice experience sitting in the studio and
appearing live on the channel being beamed throughout the country. I met
their Editor-in-Chief Mr. Rajdeep Sardesai who introduced himself as an ‘ex-Xavierite’.
Next day morning my
father got up early and came back with a huge pile of newspapers with my
photograph prominently displayed in most of them. This day was supposed to
be a ‘Time-Pass’ day for us exclusively meant for enjoyment. After
breakfast we went to the ‘Fun-n-Food
Village’ located at Gurgaon. This place is famous for their amusement
rides, water rides and snow rides much similar to Esselworld
in Mumbai. We were their Special Guests for the day and there were regular
announcements welcoming us to the park. We took almost all the rides. I was
most impressed with the Snow World which is India’s first and largest
Indoor Ice skating measuring 2500 sq mtrs. I
enjoyed the climb on the ice mountain and the snow sledging. The press
people were here too and some of the cameramen followed us everywhere we
went.
|
|
|
After lunch we left
for The Indira Gandhi Children's Holiday Home
which is located at a picturesque spot near Damdama Lake in Haryana.
The Holiday Home provides training facilities for adventure sports. I
thoroughly enjoyed the Burma
Bridge, Monkey crawl,
Tarzan swing rock climbing, rappelling, traversing and river crossing.
All the VIP visits
started from 20th Jan. Morning we had to take part in the Parade rehearsal.
After lunch we left for the Delhi Secretariat to attend a reception hosted
in our honour by the Delhi Chief Minister Smt. Shiela Dikshit. She was very
friendly and praised each one of us for our deeds.
From here we
immediately left for the South Block to attend the reception hosted by the Defence Minister Shri Pranab Mukherjee.
On our return we found
the Doordarshan and NDTV crew members waiting at
the ICCW office to take our interview.
Saturday, 21st Jan.
after the Parade rehearsal and lunch we left for the Raj
Niwas to attend a reception hosted in our honour by the Lt. Governor of Delhi Shri B.N.Joshi. After the reception, we went to see the Akshardham temple.
 
The magnificent Akshardham Temple in Delhi
has been constructed under the patronage of the Bochasanvasi
Aksharpurushottam Swaminarayan
Sanstha (BAPS) and was inaugurated on November 7,
2005. The temple is indeed a great monument depicting the amazing world of
Indian culture ornate with 20,000 statues, floral motifs, arches and
exquisitely carved pillars.
The Akshardham temple complex has been built on the banks
of the serene River Yamuna and lies over a
sprawling 100 acres of lush manicured lawns adorned with water fountains
and carved pavilions.
An IMAX theatre, a Swaminarayan temple and an elaborate musical fountain
accessorize the massive Akshardham temple
complex.
The main monument at
the Akshardham temple is about 141-foot high and
houses a lovely statue of Lord Swaminarayan.
We toured the theme
halls exhibiting tableaux depicting legends and stories that glorify
non-violence and vegetarianism.
We returned to ICCW to
find Anand Kumtakarmam
and his daughter Vidya waiting for us to take us
to a reception hosted by the Saraswats from Delhi
and nearby places at the residence of Mrs. Gita Kudesia, President of the Delhi Local Sabha. We reached Gitapacchi’s
place to find her house filled with children and their parents eagerly
waiting to receive me. Since our arrival in Delhi Parathas,
Samosa’s, Chole Bhatura and Paneer had been
our staple diet and I was bored eating the same food daily for breakfast to
dinner. After a long time I could taste homely amchi
food and I relished the tasty food and interacted with the friendly Saraswats.
They were unanimous in
mentioning that this Republic Day they would feel very proud to see a bhanap sitting on the elephant in the Republic Day parade
for the first time since independence. I am grateful to Gitapacchi
and other families of Delhi
for their hospitality.
On Sunday 22nd Jan. we
visited the Nehru Planetarium in the morning which was followed by a reception
hosted by State Bank of Patiala at a nearby
auditorium. The Managing Director of the Bank had specially flown from
Mumbai to attend the function. Thereafter we visited The SOS Hermann Gmeiner School at Faridabad. When we reached the
school we were greeted by the school band. We entered the auditorium to
find it jam packed with the school children. Air Chief Marshal O. P. Mehra (Retd.) and a former
Governor of Maharashtra was the Chief Guest for
the function. The Founder of the SOS movement in India Padmashri
J.N.Kaul informed us about the activities of the institution
and how they take care of the orphan children. I was touched by the manner
in which the SOS villages are run in different parts of the country. When
the Bravery award was announced in November 2005, I had told my father that
I would like to donate a part of the prize money for the education of
orphans. When I saw the good work being carried out by the institution I
immediately decided to donate 25% of the prize money that I will be getting
from the Government to this worthy institution.
|
|
|
No sooner that the function
was over I was gheraoed by the children
requesting me for an autograph. I felt very embarrassed to see myself at
the other side signing the autograph books.
While returning to ICCW,
I started recollecting my experiences of the first week in Delhi. I thought : On the
streets, the traffic is indisciplined, the fumes
choke you, the horns deafen you. And yet, the wide beautiful tree-lined
roads, the roundabouts ablaze with the color of seasonal flowers, history
rubbing shoulders with modernity...suddenly, it seemed that I had started
liking the Delhi
for its climate and friendly people despite the pollution and traffic.
The next morning we
had a full dress rehearsal of the parade. On our return we went to the
Delhi Council for Child Welfare (DCCW) where a reception was hosted by them
in our honour followed by lunch. From there we
attended a reception at the Gandhi Smriti Samiti at Tees January Marg at the place where Gandhiji was shot dead. A ‘Meet the Children’ programme was organized by the Samiti.
Children from 3 schools of Delhi
were in the audience and asked us questions relating to our experiences and
aim in life.
From Tees January Marg
we were taken to an auditorium near ICCW office to attend a reception
hosted by Canara Bank. At each of these
receptions we were given gifts by the organizers. We returned to ICCW
campus for a campfire. All the children danced till late night around the
campfire.
|
