From The President’s Desk

Marching into our 12th year

On September 17, 2014, we conducted the 7thAnnual Natya Mahotsav competition for special friends, at the Jyotsna Bhole Auditorium, Pune. Nine schools participated in this drama competition. Organising and hosting it was a memorable experience for all of us. Preparation for the Mahotsav started two months prior to the event. Beginning with sending entry Forms to various schools, applying for permission from the social welfare office, Pune, and booking the venue, the preparations kept us on our toes. In July, we conducted a workshop on Direction and Acting for teachers from the participating schools. This helped them to prepare the special friends for the competition.

Navkshitij Friends enacted a play on welcoming a girl child. The other schools chose very interesting subjects like education for girls, importance of including fruits in one’s daily diet, unity is strength, futility of blind faith and so on. The Natya Mahotsav is a great opportunity for teachers to showcase their talent in script writing and direction. Their greater challenge is to train special friends to act and deliver dialogues. I believe the teachers enjoy preparing for the Natya Mahotsav. This event is also aimed at showcasing the talents of special friends and to get them to experience the thrill and joy of being applauded and appreciated by an audience. We love organising the competition. It is sheer pleasure witnessing the joy on our Friends’ faces when their names are called out and they come up on the stage to receive prizes.

Well-known actress, Ms. Lalan Sarang, has been associated with the Natya Mahotsav since the last seven years. We are very fortunate to have had many famous personalities like Mr. Dilip Prabhavalkar, Ms. Deepa Lagu, and Mr.Shrikant Moghe to grace the event as chief guest. This year, Mr. Madhav Vaze,who immortalised the character Shyam in Shyamchi AaI, was the chief guest. Mr. Bipin Sangle anchored the show. Mr. Sangle has been adding colour and sparkle to all our events with his interesting compering since the last five years. Emcure Pharmaceuticals has been sponsoring the event for the past three years. We are really thankful to each of them and to our Navkshitij team that works very hard to make this event a success.

Pictureof Contentment:

Dyaneshwar joined Navkshitij with his wife and one-year-old son in June 2014. He stays with his family at Navkshitij. He can read a little, is a very quiet person, sincere in his job,and very importantly, a great team player.

What I like most about Dyaneshwar is that he is very content with himself and life. His self-esteem is admirable. He is the gardener at Navkshitij, but he willingly steps into other roles when required, such as becoming caretaker. He accompanies us on treks. He goes about his work with a smile and his heart fully into whatever he does. His wife is very proud of him and keeps telling everyone how good her husband is.She too is an employee of Navkshitij. Their son is a very playful and happy child.

This family is a classic example of how one can be content with life with minimum expectations and needs. One does not have to be rich, have a good position in the society or be very well educated to be happy.I am so lucky to get these great lessons from my staff and our Friends. We are indeed fortunate to have Dyaneshwar and his family with us at Navkshitij.

Upcoming Happenings:

• October 2: Walkathon and Street Play to mark the beginning of Daan Utsav (Joy of Giving) Week. The walk will begin at Wadeshwar Chowk on Fergusson College Road and conclude in front of Sambhaji Park, Jangli Maharaj Road. The Street Play will be staged at Wadeshwar chowk ,in front of Fergusson College, and in front of Sambhaji Park. Time: 10 a.m. to11 a.m.
• October 3: Dasshera celebrations
• October 7: Kojagiri Poornima
• October 9: Workshop for Caregivers
• October 17: Diwali Party
• October 18: Parents’ Meeting
• October 19: Diwali vacation for staff begins
• October 31: Staff returns from Diwali vacation
• November 1: Residential facility reopens after Diwali vacation

Month’s events

• September 2: Ganapati Visarjan
• September 5: Teacher’s Day Celebrations
• September 17: Annual Natya Mahotsav
• September 23: Setu Visit to Gharkul Parivar Sanstha and Prabodhini Vidya Mandir in Nashik
• September 27: Trek to Nira-Devghar Dam
• September 28: Visit by Gajraj Taal Group

Navkshitij now needs:

• One 8 kg Washing Machine Approximate cost Rs. 20,000
• One 29” LCD TV Approximate cost Rs. 35,000
• Annual overheads for three Friends (Rs. 5,000 each)
• Video games
• One DVD player Approximate cost Rs. 5,000

• Mr. Aniruddha Dileep Khandekar
• Mr. V. M.Ranade
• Mr. Pradip Bhawalkar
• Mr.Subhash R. Ranadive
• Mr. Jayant Raghunath Pendse
• Mrs. Ploner Daniela
• Jakson Limited
• Mr. Shivaraman Somasundaram
• Mrs. Prabhavati Mudaliyar
• Mr. Mukul Kher
• Emcure Pharmaceuticals Ltd.
• Mr. Abhay Khanpure
• Mr. Shardul Phadnavis
• Mr. Adwait Kadave
• Dr. Anil Sakat
• Gajraj Dhol Group
• KPIT Cummins
• Ms. Aparna Cadambi
• Sankalp Consumer Pvt. Ltd.
• Himani Heramb Puranik

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