The Education For All Committee heading the Bhavishya-yaan project has achieved one more feather in its cap – The inauguration of the new centre of Bhavishya-yaan at the Colaba Municipal School. This event was organized on 4th September 2009 at 4.30 pm and the Guests of Honour for the function were our very own Rtn. & Sherrif of Mumbai, Dr. Mrs. Indu Shahani & Commissioner of Police Mumbai, Mr. D. Sivanandhan.
The new Bhavishya-yaan at Colaba has a unique partnership with VIDYA & SIFE who in time to come will take this project to a much desired level.
The program was well introduced by the students of Bhavishya-yaan at Worli which made an impact on all present at the function. Few selected students spoke on their aims and ambitions and how this project has helped them to shed their inhibitions and move ahead in life. The confidence and enthusiasm of the children was worth watching and they provided the substance required to boost the morale of the 120 students selected to be a part of the Bhavishya-yaan at Colaba.
President Nandan Damani welcomed all the dignitaries and guests and gave a brief preview of the classes being carried out under this project and how it will enhance the personalities of these children in terms of education and growth.
This was followed by a short speech by the Chairperson of VIDYA, Ms. Rashmi Mishra. Ms. Mishra enlightened the audience with the workings of her organization which is being carried out for the last 25 years. The aim of VIDYA is to spread education especially to the under privileged children in different parts of the country and give them a good base for the profession that they would like to pursue in the future.
The Education For All Committee Chairman, Rtn. Alok Sekhsaria, President Nandan Damani & Chairperson of VIDYA, Ms. Rashmi Mishra were called on stage to signal the opening of the new centre and were presented with floral bouquets.
It was a pleasure and great encouragement to have Dist. Gov. Raju Subramanium present at the function. Dist. Gov. Raju congratulated the children for their confidence and motivation to excel in their education and also appreciated the efforts of all the members of the Bhavishya-yaan Committee. A special mention was made of Rtn. Ramesh Narayan who has been the backbone of the project and under whose initiative the entire project has moved to this level.
Before the Guest of Honour, Rtn. Dr. Mrs. Indu Shahani could come on stage the entire gathering witnessed a short clip on Miss World, Diana Hayden who had interacted with the Bhavishya-yaan children during one of their trips to HR College during the month of May ’09 as a part of their vacation course.
Rtn. Dr. Mrs. Indu Shahani spoke about the importance of education and being a teacher herself she encouraged the students to make the best of what is being provided to them thru the Bhavishya-yaan project. She narrated an incident of how a child who was a canteen worker in one of the neigbouring offices had come up to her and asked her if she could help him in his education as he had a sincere desire to study and be able to support his family in a much better way. She ended her speech with a poem by Harivanshrai Bachchan which highlighted the importance of hardwork, perserverance and dedication.
Guest of Honour, Commissioner of Police, D. Sivanandhan, much to the delight of the students, surprised the audience when he started his speech in Marathi. He lauded the efforts of the Rotary Club of Bombay and the Education For All Committee members for making the efforts of reaching education to the under privileged children, which he felt is the need of the hour. He also mentioned that he has initiated a new school in Worli, which is opening in June 2010 where 50% of the seats will be given to children of Police Personnel who will be educated by paying a very nominal fee. He was truly moved by the dedication and perseverance of the Committee members and announced an amount of Rs. 10,000/- from his side towards the Bhavishya-yaan project.
This was followed by the vote of thanks from Committee Chairman, Alok Sekhsaria who felt proud to announce that the Bhavishya-yaan project which started off as a pilot project of 3 months with 40 students in Feb 2009 at Dr. Ambedkar School in Worli has moved on to 120 students in June 2009 and 120 students in Sep 2009 at Colaba. He thanked each and every person involved in the project right from its inception.
The function ended with the inauguration of the new English Room and Computer Room at the school which was carried out the by the Guests of Honour. The guests were treated to snacks and refreshments and the function finally ended on a happy note and everyone left with the satisfaction of having contributed to the future of India in their own little ways.
