Anavi’s 7th anniversary Celebrations
If you look up “Seven number” in google, varied results are displayed. Interesting among them is significance. Many say it is lucky. I say we are not only lucky but blessed to be doing what we do. At Anavi , as we step into the seventh year, we can only hope to better ourselves. Anavi birthday celebrations are always fun filled. The shining caps, the whistles. The Gifts and the cakes make it like any other birthday. But then, our celebrations last more than a day and take place at 3-4 venues. This year we cut our first cake with the children at Topsia Creche. The thirty odd children were full of glee just to have the chocolate cake brought to them by their aunties of Anavi. The gifts were unwrapped and the food packs emptied, sandwiches washed down with mango juice. We thought at the end, we should have brought more tissue paper. The whistles and cheers made a dull monsoon day come to life!
Our second stop was Thakurpukur Cancer Hospital. To be able to bring a smile even for a short while on the kids’ lips is an amazing thing. These underprivileged cancer patients, some of them very young are the real fighters. Anavi cut two cakes with these kids. Goodie bags were given and we made an effort to make these few moments special for them. Besides the Annual Blood Donation Camp which will be organized same as last year, Mr Maneesh Pradhan and members also discussed with their doctors and administrators, how Anavi could be of greater help to them.
Next stop was Cremers Foundation Sarsuna. Anavi has a strong relation with this institute and we organized a lunch for these children to share our celebration. Anavi now plans to extend greater help to this institute by taking up repairs of their big hall which houses around 40 girls.
The day does not end here. We also visited Nabneer home with mangoes and sweets for the old inmates of the institute. What better than a juicy mango to make the day of an oldie who is not so comfortable chewing with her dentures!
But the biggest takeaway was from our visit to Voice of World. Mr Maneesh Pradhan met Ms. Gupta, the lady who has dedicated her life to serving the blind children, destitute and other needy people who do have the gift of sight. It was a humbling experience for all members. We realized how much a bunch of old magazines and waste paper could mean to these people. After an extended discussion with her, Anavi has promised to sponsor prizes for their next event and play a bigger role to extend the best help that we can to them.
Two days and five venues later, we were only more energized to make No.7 the most memorable so far. All this has only been possible due to the good wishes, blessings and support of our donors and well wishers. We hope to encourage more people to be a part of this wonderful initiative that started from an office in Park Circus. Jindal Towers to Pushpanjali chambers may only be a few hundred metres, but Anavi has come a long way. But journey will only continue.
“Main akela hee chala tha janibe manzil magar, Log saath aate gaye aur carvan banta gaya”
I set off alone towards my goal, but, people came along and it began to turn into a caravan.
– Majrooh Sultanpuri
