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From 19 to 500 now: A house where poor kids chase joy
Rita and Vijay Sharma’s initiative ‘Hasta Bachpan’ provides infotainment to underprivileged kids, who watch video clips and cartoons and the same time learn about moral values like kindness and contemporary issues such as shunning plastic and saving water.
Lucknow: Over 500 children arrive at Rita and Vijai Sharma’s house every Saturday, smiles writ large on their faces, eagerly looking forward to an entertaining one-hour session - ‘Hasta Bachpan’ .
It is of no consequence that some are dressed to the best of their ability in lehenga choli and frocks while others are in tattered clothes and barefoot. The thought uppermost in their minds as they make their way to the house is about various rhymes, songs, video clips and cartoons which they watched last week. Chatting and discussing how they enjoyed the last session, many of them resemble school students heading to their classrooms after assembly, as they walk to the Sharmas’ house in groups.
The Sharmas’ initiative is ample illustration that it is the sharing of small things and a little time that is enough to bring smiles on little faces, not money .
Started on the eve of Independence Day in 2022 by retired bureaucrats Rita and Vijai, ‘Hasta Bachpan’ completed its 100th session last Saturday. It was Rita who after her retirement in 2014, thought of starting something for underprivileged kids.
“The session began with 19 kids and the initiative spread by word of mouth. We now have a family of more than 500 children. The core idea behind the session was to provide an opportunity to children from lower income backgrounds who do not have access to entertainment,” Rita shared.
She spends the entire week surfing inspirational content in Hindi meant for children. They try promoting values and ideas like - equality, kindness, love, brotherhood, environment and water conservation and saying no to plastic bags.
The session begins with a prayer and the kids sing on top of their voices - ‘Ae malik tere bande hum’ followed by some dance activities and cartoons. It ends with the rendering of the national anthem.
At the end of every session, the children are accustomed to forming a queue to receive a snack packet with biscuits, milk, toffees and namkeen.
“We get a few volunteers who help us in bringing all of them in line. With each passing week the number of kids is increasing at a steady pace,” said Vijai.
“They remember the steps of songs like ‘kacha badam’ and ‘Natu Natu’. They also like the songs - ‘Itti si hassi’ and ‘Dil hai chhota sa’. Listening to songs promoting social causes like ‘Tik tik tik kasam ye khaye re, tik tik tik plastic tik na paye re’ and ‘Chalo pani bachate hai’, they remember them as well. Like other kids of their age they also enjoy cartoons like Jungle Book and Masha and the Bear,” Rita said.
She requested others, especially retired people, to try promoting the idea of spreading happiness among underprivileged kids.
“You can have a laptop or a television and a few kids at your home to whom you can give happiness . Their smiles are infectious and you will surely wait for the week to get over once you begin something like this,” said Rita.
