From The President’s Desk

Visitors bring joy to our friends

THIS month started on a melodious note, with an evening of music presented by Saurabh Navangul and his team from L & T Infotech, on May 4, at Marunji. Our Friends enjoyed listening to popular Hindi and Marathi songs.

Marriot Hotel, Hinjawadi, hosted lunch for our Friends at Marunji, on May 16. Our Friends were excited to see the food arrive in a truck, parked in the garden and be served from there. It was a new and different experience for them.

There were quite a few Aamras parties and our Friends partook of the delicacy to their heart’s delight. They are feeling very happy and satisfied.

This month’s trek was at Marunji hills. It was a short though enjoyable trek. In summer, we deliberately schedule treks of shorter duration considering the soaring day temperatures. We are very excited about an additional dining and TV room for the women that we have opened. With the number of residential women increasing, we felt the need for more space. The old dining room was beginning to look cramped. So, we decided to open a new dining and TV room. Now everyone gets space and has a sense of belonging to their particular home. Tata Motors Pimpari, Pune, supported the renovation of the home.

We are grateful to Saurabh Navangul and group, the staff of Marriot Hotel, Hinjawadi, Tata Motors Pimpari Pune, Ms Sudha Sharma, Shree Kelkar, Mr Omkar Ranade, Mr Milind Gunjal, and Omron Automation for sponsoring the mangoes for the Aamras parties, and to the volunteers from Fiserv who helped us during the trek.

We are looking forward to an overnight trip to Bhimashankar Jungle in June. We are sure our Friends will love watching the enchanting fireflies.

Proud of my team

OPPORTUNITIES come knocking at unexpected times. A big one did, last month, bringing with it a huge challenge. We got a huge chocolate order from Vansum Industries, Pune. Taking the order was a bit of a challenge. Our head of the chocolate unit, Anuradha, our Workshop Manager and some Friends from the chocolate unit were on holiday. The head of our Natural Colours Unit, Aarati, who handles the chocolate unit in the absence of Anuradha, accepted the challenge.

There were endless problems. The number of chocolate slabs available was less. Since, the slabs melt in summer, we keep less stock. Our regular vendor was not responding to calls. As if this was not enough, there was frequent and unpredictable electricity failure. All the heads of the other units in the Workshop, their staff members and some special friends joined us. They decided to complete the order by working after Workshop hours. They worked until 11 pm and made sure that the order was completed well before time.

My colleagues Aarati, Ekanath Sir, Prashant Sir, Shivani Patil Madam, Manjula and Friends Raj, Kunal and Sushama put in great efforts to complete the order. I am very proud of my team. They completed the order in spite of so many difficulties. I am reassured that the culture of reliability and commitment will continue at Navkshitij.

By Dr Neelima Desai, Founder President & Director

Upcoming Happenings

• June 11 & 12: Overnight trip to Bhimashankar to see fireflies
• June 12: Traffic Awareness Programme

Month’s events

• May 3–June 2: Summer Holidays for Day School, Day Workshop and Autism Centre
• May 18: Marunji Trek

Navksitij now needs

• Electrical Safety Box – Approximate Cost Rs 12,000
• 200 kilos Wheat Flour
• 150 kilos Rice
• Four 15-litre tins of Groundnut Oil
• 40 packets Good Night Mats
• 50 kilos Sugar

Thank you from Navkshitij to

• Mr Prabhakar Hari Kawali
• Mr Nachiketas Bhatkar
• Mr Shree Kelkar
• Mr Chandrashekhar Potnis
• Mr Navin Kishor Singh
• Mr Abhay Khanapure
• Mr Satish Krishnan
• Omron Automation
• Mr Balkrishanan
• Nice Infotech System Company
• Mr Nitin Patel
• Mr Ramesh Lokre
• Mr Omkar Ranade
• Mr Milind Gunjal
• Ms Sudha Sharma
• Mr Shyamsundar

(A monthly newsletter published by Dr. Neelima Desai and edited by Kanaka Cadambi on behalf of Navkshitij)