A visit to the International Book Fair

I took 8 children Sajjad, Jabaz, Shahid, Govinda, Kiran, Sona, Zubi and Zuleka today to the fair. Children were ready and were waiting at the community gate from 10.00 despite rains, I reached slightly late. We directly went to Pragti Maidan. We went through the stalls and jumped into stalls wherever children related book were present. I asked the children to browse through and pick the books of their interest and also books for the younger children.

After they did their selection I did ask them why they choose that particular book. Really unexpected question for them and to my surprise I got unexpected answers as well :). Got to know that Sona was more interested in reading books on Natak, Zuleka on Music, Jabaz on history, space and environment, Zubi on biography on national leaders, Kiran on fantasy stories. Shahid and Sajjad were randomly browsing through... After around 4 hours of book hunting we ended up in roping up 72 books [including a few small 20 page books].

By that time Rajiv had joined us along with his sister and we bumped in to Charu's family there. Me, Rajiv and children went for lunch and post lunch children were too tired and I just grabbed some books quickly for me and we started back.

Zubi and Sajjad will re-start the library and Shahid and Sona would help them. We also got a chess / ludo board and the children wanted to start indoor games soon. Raj please consider this in one of your activities session [particularly teach them chess]. I have a carrom board in our room and I'll keep it at Prayas and children can use them as well.

- Selva Ganapthy ( aid.selva@gmail.com )

स्वाधीनता दिवस 2009

मुझे भली भांति याद है 15 अगस्त 2007 का वह प्रेरक दिन ! हम 10-12 AID-Prayas के साथी "नई दिशा फ्री एजुकेशन सोसाईटी " के स्वतन्त्रता दिवस समारोह में शिरकत हुए ! कह सकते हैं की विचारों और दृष्टीकोण के जो बीज तब बोए गए थे वो आज "15 अगस्त 2009" के दिन पुलकित होकर सामने आये !

आज अचानक से मुझे मंच से बुलाया और विकास ,सेल्वा , निखिल ,राजीव ,और आनन्द ने मुझसे भी इस बात पर सहमति चाही की "अगले एक वर्ष में हम नई दिशा के सामान एक स्कूल स्थापित करेंगे " ! यधपि हम कई दिनों से इस विचार पर मंथन कर रहे थे पर अचानक से यह प्रतिबद्धता व्यक्त करना मेरे लिए थोडा सा कठिन तो था मगर "प्रयास " के साथ मेरे तकरीबन ३ वर्षों के सम्बंध ने इतना जरूर सिखाया है कि

" लक्ष्य निर्धारित करो ,उस दिशा में ईमानदार

कोशिश करो ,लक्ष्य जरूर हासिल होगा "

आज के हमारे स्वतन्त्रता दिवस समारोह के पीछे राज ,लिंकन ,चारू ,रजत,राजीव,विकास ,सेल्वा ,आनंद (भाई :) ) के महत्त्वपूर्ण कोशिशें तो थी ही वरन बच्चों की भरसक मेहनत भी थी ! और उसका यह असर था कि आज का यह दिन सबसे यादगार "समारोह " बन गया ! चाहे बच्चों का नृत्य यो या गीत-संगीत सबकुछ बहुत मोहक था ! पुरे समारोह में सबसे मुख्य आकर्षण "नई दिशा के संस्थापक " कैप्टन जायसवाल ,कर्नल जीता राम जी ,प्रिंसिपल मैडम और उनके सहयोगी थे ! हम जब भी इन लोगों के संघर्ष के अनुभवों को सुनते हैं तो प्रेरित होना स्वाभाविक है !

"प्रयास " परिवार के सदस्यों ने आयोजन स्थल को बड़ी मेहनत से तिरंगे के तीन खूबसूरत रंगों में रंग दिया था ! सारे volunteers इस समारोह के सफल आयोजन के लिए भागीदार रहे !

मैं व्यक्तिगत रूप से इतना कहना चाहता हूँ कि "प्रयास परिवार " के पास युवा ऊर्जा का जितना भण्डार है अगर हम सब मिलकर इस ऊर्जा का सर्वश्रेष्ट उपयोग कर सकें तो "कम से कम हम इस "कम्युनिटी" के हर एक बच्चे को शिक्षा पाने की स्वाधीनता प्रदान कर सकते हैं "

और सही मायनों में यही हमारी और इन बच्चों की असली स्वाधीनता होगी!

जय हिंद !!

दर्शन मेहरा

You are invited to the Independence day celebration @ Prayas on Aug 15th 2009

At the stroke of midnight when the whole world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom...- Shri Jawahar Lal Nehru

Hai jo dil mein desh k liye preet ..

Hai jo dil mein armaan …

Aao wo sab ko dikhayein...

Aao is jag ko dikhayein..

Aao kuch kar dikhayein...

These words remind us of patriotism and a deep sense of respect for our Motherland - India. Keeping this feeling and commitment of “Kuch Kar Dikhayein”, the Prayas family is delighted to invite you on Independence Day celebration on 15th August 2009.

Venue : - Prayas new center Nayabans, Sector 15, NOIDA.

Timing : - 2:00 pm – 6:00 pm

Now, a glimpse of the events with which celebrate the Independence Day at PRAYAS. The Event schedule for this celebration will be: -

• Start @ 2PM with Flag hoisting
• I – Day introduction speech
• A brief about Prayas
• Patriotic dance
• Patriotic songs
• Patriotic poems
• Prize distribution
• Wrap up @ 6PM with Refreshment

Now here comes the main attractions for the volunteers: -

Photography competition:- Click photos of I - Day celebration activities

Venue: - I –Day celebration, Prayas new center Nayabans, Sector 15, NOIDA.

Timing: - 15th august 1:00pm onwards till end of function

Prizes: - 5 best pictures will be selected by jury and displayed at Achievements of Prayas board in new class room with their owner name. Also, the best photographer will be awarded by a prize.

So all shutterbugs and professionals, recharge/replace your batteries, clean your lenses and ready to drain your battery to showcase your talent.

I-Day decoration competition:- Decorate the celebration place

Venue : I –Day celebration, Prayas new center Nayabans, Sector 15, NOIDA.

Timing: 15th august 1:00pm – 2:00pm before the function ends

Prizes: Jury will award to the Best team.

Limited Decoration material/ Rangoli colors will be provided on venue itself.You can also bring decoration material by own.

Performance by Volunteers:- Solo/group song,experience, any on the spot activity by volunteers

Venue: - I –Day celebration, Prayas new center Nayabans, Sector 15, NOIDA.

Timing: - 15th august within function.Confirmation need to provide before start of the function.

Contact person: - Raj @9871826168 or Linkan @ 9971150656

We heartily invite u to join us on Saturday Aug 15th @ Sector 15A, NOIDA for Independence Day celebration at Prayas. RSVP your availability.

Warm Regards,

Prayas Team

Bal Sabha - When the children took control

We had our Bal Sabha on August 3rd and initially it was looking like that very few volunteers showed their interest but later on we were 11-12 volunteers and 40 kids :) .

The Program started with the meaning of Bal Sabha and then the experience sharing of the kids. Elder kids Ashmina,Suby,Sona,Zulekha,Danista,Kiran,Poonam etc all shared their experience of being with Prayas.Their talent of Dancing,Singing,Reciting Poems and Imitating volunteers was superb.

Younger kids like Seefat,Parvina Sonu ,Dolly & Ruby were overly enthusiastic about their turn and their poems . Later on Volunteers like Anand ,Selva ,Charu,Linkan ,Satyan,Raj ,Darshan(Me) Shared their experiences of working with Prayas and the journey . New volunteers Bina,Pulkit ,Bhawana were enthusiastic enough to know the system better .

Raj could manage fruits(Banana & Guava ) for all the kids but unfortunate thing was that we the volunteers could not get Bananas :( .

Anyways overall the Bal Sabha went very nice and hope this series will carry on with new energy .We will require new inputs from all the volunteers to make Bal Sabha better and crispier .

Bal Sabha will be on every first Sunday of a month and you people can send your valuable inputs to Linkan (subudhi.linkan@gmail.com ) ,She will be organizing this event with Raj .

Here are the pictures from the event.

- Darshan Mehra