Time to dance!

The last time I did professional dancing I was around 8 years old. In my last professional dance show I dressed up as a chicken. Obviously it wasn't that professional.

So you can understand why I am very anxious about the DISHA dance show I'm supposed to take part in! I've met the choreographer and I have been informed that the dance will be a fusion of classical Indian dance, ballet and everything else! Well, I did tell myself I'd try new and different things while out here. You never know, I might be the next big thing!

The show is to bring awareness to HIV/AIDS and how it effects the body. I believe this is a great way to bring attention to the problem as dance is such a great part of India and everyone will enjoy the show. It's a dreaded phrase but........it's educational and fun!

DISHA Cricket Bonanza

Last Thursday I went along to see how the Inaugural DISHA Cricket Challenge series was progressing. Organised as a way of publicising DISHA activities and increasing awareness about HIV / AIDS in the community, the tournament is a series of competitive head to head matches, culminating in the grand final in late November. The teams – formed by local community youth groups – have six players, and during every match the sides face six overs each.

DGS Associate Director Kiran Patole ceremonially opened proceedings by facing a couple of deliveries. Clearly a class act, Kiran had no problems dealing with the pacy bowlers. Then – somehow, unexpectedly – it was my turn. Oh dear. The least said about that the better.

Scheduled to run over the next few weeks, all the matches are taking place in a playing field behind the Railway Housing on Tadiwala Road, just a few minutes walk from the Family Welfare Centre. On site the DISHA banner is prominently displayed, along with several educational posters.

The multi-talented Avinash was acting as umpire for the day. Kiran and I watched the entire first match, a well-contested match played in the right spirit. Avinash did a grand job as umpire, and between the innings he gave a short talk to the two teams about HIV / AIDS.

On Saturday I returned to see if I could help out in any way. With Santosh fully in command of scoring duties, I offered to give Avinash a break from umpiring. He handed me his sun hat (about two sizes too small) and six pebbles to keep track of the number of balls bowled in each over. I slapped on some sunblock, and was ready for action.

Walking out to the middle, I was terrified. I was certainly more nervous than the confident-looking batsmen strolling to the crease, and clearly the fielding side also meant business. Never having umpired a cricket match before, I still wanted to appear authoritative. After all, everyone present was truly passionate about their cricket. An imposter like me might be spotted a mile off.

Actually, things went fairly smoothly. I had a couple of tricky judgments to make but nobody protested the outcomes. Controversially I no-balled a bowler for ‘chucking’ on a wicket-taking delivery but he’d been warned already about his action and accepted the decision with good grace.

One match was enough for me, however. I have enormous respect for Avinash and his efforts – standing out in the hot sun keeping total concentration is not easy, besides giving talks, answering questions and coordinating everything. With the matches progressing nicely, I’m looking forward to the knockout stages.

The final is set for 26 November, close to World AIDS Day on 1 December.

I was one of the lucky few that got to go to the UK as a part of the youth exchange team Deep Griha sends every ten years or so. During our stay, we visited a number of churches, museums and schools. One such visit was to a special needs’ school that caters to the educational needs of the physically and mentally challenged kids. From the outside, the school was quite plain and simple. However, on entering, we found ourselves in a totally different world. It was colourful and full of life. We were served lunch in the garden that was specially designed for the students with speakers playing different bird and insect sounds, with varied plants and even a totem pole. The corridors were adorned with different fabrics-each piece of fabric representing a day of the week; hence, enabling the children to identify the days upon touching the cloth. A fantastic idea I thought…and there were many more. The amenities were superb. What impressed me most was the dedication of the staff, the way the kids were looked after, cared for, entertained and educated; the patience, the love- all genuine.

Throughout the tour of the school, I was practically in awe of the facilities available for the handicapped children and all along I kept wondering if we ever had any such thing in India... if people ever bothered that much. I concluded in the negative. But it wasn’t till I got back to India that I realized my conclusion to be quite wrong. We may not have too many ‘special needs’ schools and the ones already present may not have the necessary facilities but we do have people who care. This is where organizations like Deep Griha come into light. Apart from the failing computers and power cuts, it is filled with people who are genuinely concerned about the poor communities here, who dedicate some part of their lives towards giving these communities a reason continue living despite the many problems they may have to face. I see here the same amount of concern and care as I did in the UK and it will never cease to amaze me how, inspite of the struggles, people still dedicate their entire lives so that others can have a better one.