Dr. Manjari invited Mr. Rishi and accompanied him to the ward. Dr. Shobhana and Mrs. Meera ably acted as interpreters between the children and Mr. Rishi, and Mrs. Vidyawathy and Mrs. Parvathi, as always, organised the activities for the day for his visit.

The Samiksha Foundation would like to thank Mr. Rishi for taking an interest in its work and spending time with the children, who were very happy to meet him. We would be honoured if he could continue this association with the Foundation.

Pictures of this day can be seen on the gallery or the Picasa page.

Stuffed toys and books were given as gifts to the children, who were born in April and May. They were: Santosh, aged 13; Kiran, who is now 7;  6 year old Latika, who came to the party with her IV drip, looking serene and calm; Lokesh, also aged 6, who was full of excitement; and Jeevan and  Tilak, who turned 4 and seemed rather lost. Our new volunteer, Punith, helped out with the party and the program.

We also took this opportunity to distribute our new lot of school kits to the children, as most of the old students have left. At this time, we have  also observed that more than 20 of the children are under the age of four, making it difficult to include them into the main education program with the older ones.

We look forward to good ideas and sponsorships for the June/July birthday party. Happy birthday once again to the six summer  children!

http://picasaweb.google.com/happinessquotient/ChildrenSDay2009#

A detailed description of the event is also present.

To view our photos, go to http://www.samikshafoundation.com/gallery.php. Click the links there or go directly to http://picasaweb.google.com/happinessquotient to view the photos.

Nearly all the photos we have taken at each of our events has been put up for you to see. The Children’s Day program snaps should join the rest within a day or two.

In a conversation with one of our tutors, Mrs. Hansa Rau, one of our children had expressed a desire to meet the actress Ramya. Mrs. Rau learned that Ramya was at a shoot in her neighbourhood, and grabbed the opportunity with commendable presence of mind. Much to our delight, Ramya immediately agreed to visit us.

I went to the ward early in the morning, accompanied by Thishya and butterflies in my stomach. I had quite a few apprehensions about celebrity presence and media coverage. We wanted it to be a pleasant and quiet surprise for the children, without fanfare of any kind.

To our considerable joy (and relief), Ramya came in on time, with a whole lot of enthusiasm and a lovely smile. She spent a happy half hour with the kids and their moms in the ward.

The children, and their parents, were overjoyed. To say their happiness knew no bounds is an understatement. The child who wanted to meet Ramya was speechless, but all smiles. Our morning was made, too, by a plethora of hugs and handshakes.

Thank you, Ramya. I hope you enjoyed the experience as much as we did, and hope you will continue your association with us.

I would also like to thank Thishya, Manjari and most of all, Hansa and her sister Chitra, for making this happen.

- Sandhya Sharad

Photos of the event are on our new gallery and can be found at this link.

The gallery is powered by ZenPhoto and can be found at this link:
http://www.samikshafoundation.com/gallery

Please take a look. Your feedback on the gallery is most welcome.

Look out for new pictures of this event on our site and on Facebook!