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Project Diya 2010
Ever since third year began, we’ve been rushing
to meet deadline after deadline. As the festive season drew near, we
really wanted to do something that wasn’t motivated by selfish
reasons.
The plan was to raise money for a Diwali
celebration at an orphanage run by the Missionaries of Charity. To
do this we organized a sale of diyas painted by students in college-
Project Diya.
The lead-up to our painting session was
brilliant fun- right from buying over a thousand diyas from Outram
Lines upto haggling over the price of the fancier ones. There was
also a good amount of backbreaking work. Try lifting a sack of 1200
diyas up a flight of stairs and you’ll know what I mean.
The sunny afternoon of 27th October
saw Andrews Lawns abuzz with activity. Over 50 people from all
possible courses and batches volunteered to paint. Creativity was
never in short supply. From a poker series, to modern art, to
national flags, celebrity names, stick figures, environmental
slogans, Stephanian diyas-we had it all. Each of the 600 diyas
painted that day was unique. Our makeshift ‘godown’ in a residence
room at Alnutt South was a riot of colours at the end of the day.
Some of our volunteers became so involved with painting that they
designed diyas through the night! Others who were touching paint
after a good 15 years were just nostalgic. Many warned us they
couldn’t paint to save their lives, but ended up producing some
masterpieces.
On the day before the sale, we were pressed for
time and over a 100 diyas were unpainted. We wouldn’t have been able
to finish if a bunch of very enthusiastic 10 year olds hadn’t come
to our rescue. They began competing with each other and coated diya
after diya at express speed.
On 29th November, we set up shop in
the SCR Lawns. Three and a half hours and a hundred and twenty
customers later we had sold over a thousand diyas and raised almost
six thousand rupees! The Principal, teachers, students and even
Rohtas Bhaiya bought generously. Project Diya brought together a lot
of people who would otherwise never have crossed paths.
On Chhoti Diwali, nine of us reached Shishu
Bhavan Orphanage armed with juice, chips and a huge pineapple cake.
The kids were in the playground when we arrived. They immediately
made us a part of their fun. We were chased and shot down by
‘policemen’ multiple times, gave piggyback rides, sipped delicious
‘air tea’, told stories about wolves and cars (ask Mangte), played
with balloons and barbies and on all sorts of swings!
What amazed us most was how affectionate,
disciplined, well mannered and helpful these kids were. It’s not
easy for a bunch of 30 seven year olds to coexist in harmony! They
were fascinated by photographs and really enjoyed seeing themselves
on camera.
I can’t remember all 30 names, but Santosh,
Munna, Renu, Meena, Preeti, Ansh, Chanda and all their friends
completely stole our hearts! It took us a long thirty minutes to say
goodbye!
To all those who were a part of Project Diya,
whether you painted diyas, got us administrative clearance (Thanks,
Sanjay!), helped spread the word, stayed behind to clean up, ran to
the market to buy paintbrushes, kept us from getting dehydrated or
were one of our customers, you’ve helped make someone’s Diwali
brighter.
Thank you,
Garima Agarwal & Divya Johry
Co-ordinators, Project Diya 2010
 
 
 
 
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