KIDS FOR A CHANGE!

                                         Kids For A Change!
                 (Co-author Aditi Bhande & Anuja Vijayvergiya)


It was a rather early start on a Sunday morning for the Nagpur MADsters.  A meeting had been called for “something” called DFC.  We went, we heard , we watched , we all got bitten by the inspirational I CAN bug. Kiran Bir Sethi ma'am instilled in us the hope that our kids have a chance at being the leaders of change too! They had had their turn at being on the receiving end of things and that now it was their time to give and give in a way that the world out there would be changed forever by their little wonderous ways. A child, most of the times has beautiful amazing ideas in his/her head…ideas that never see the sun, ideas that never get considered seriously only because of their tender age. DFC allowed our kids to take matters in their own two hands and march forth to solve their “problems” with their sheer ability of seeing the world in a different light , with all the innocence and energy they possess , abilities which as we grow up clearly seem to lose.
     

                           
             
 As simple as it gets, we were given a shot of the contagious I CAN virus
and we in turn infected our kids! And, voila, our kids suddenly wanted to be the leaders of change. A child gives birth to a mother, following suit, our kids were the parents of incredible ideas. It was amazing to learn that more than materialistic pleasures, they wanted a morally conducive environment around them. They wanted to change the anti social elements in their surroundings, that is to make people aware of the repercussions of alcohol consumption. The next brooding session was to boil down on a method of presenting a solution to the problem. And the way was unanimously decided as a road play/skit. That would attract a crowd, would convey the kid’s message loud and clear!
We got practicing, the kids got better with every practice session.



They wanted to stage the skit in their locality itself so that the miscreants will get their message because after all actions do speak louder than words. A nearby shop with a raised platform upfront was chosen as the makeshift stage. The skit was divided into 4 parts, with the first scene showing the ideal family or as we called them “Bittu ka sukhi parivar” where Rupali and Girdhari portrayed the happy parents and Lokesh and Rajkumar as Bittu and Bittu ka Bhai .      Scene 2 had “Chintu ka dukhi parivar” with Jeevan playing the drunkard father and Pooja playing the silently suffering mother, while Ashish and Rani played Chintu and Chintu ki behen.
Scene 3 showed the drunkard father driving rashly on the streets and getting into an accident after being kicked out of the house for drinking too much.
Scene 4 had the narrators, Rahul and Shubham (dressed as doctors) explain to the crowd the harm caused by alcohol to the liver and other important organs.  The kids were not given any specific dialogues but instead were made to understand what the scene was all about. They then came up with their own dialogues on the spot and improvised on stage!

                         


The D-day saw our volunteers shouldering the not so impossible task of getting people interested, generating the excitement for the skit! They had to bring people out of their houses to see and hear something that as “responsible” adults, they should have eradicated long ago. A prodigal attempt by kids to bring the change! And even though there were a few who were completely uninterested in what was being done, the response was amazing! People thronged the venue to see the kids in action. Just after the play got over some men among the crowd exchanged smiles with their children promising not to be devils, but angels of peace.

                           


The kids imagined , gave ideas , planned a play ,but the best part was when these kids felt a sense of achievement and happiness when they were appreciated for their big and small solutions to make the world a better place to live in. Pooja, a kid at our centre had transformed from a timid to a confident girl who spoke out for her well being.
This time it were the kids who MADE A DIFFERENCE!