On Friday 15th August 2014, the
atmosphere reached fever pitch as our residents celebrated the 68th
Independence Day of our nation in both our Kotdwar and Delhi centres. The mood
was ablaze with electric excitement as our patriotic boys wholeheartedly
immersed themselves into the festivities of the day. At the back of our minds,
we knew a large proportion of India would undoubtedly be celebrating the
occasion with a bottle in their hand and this resurrected past memories of
previous Independence days during our using period. The defining point was that
our residents rocked the day to a totally different rhythm: we set the day on
fire – without requiring any chemicals to ignite the sparks!! 
In Delhi, our residents had dedicated two long
weeks preparing and rehearsing plays on the Swadeshi movement and the legendary
freedom fighter Bhagat Singh, two group songs, dances and a fashion show!
Initially a lot of our residents were shy and reluctant to participate, but as the
patriotic spirit was cultivated, events flourished into a beautiful and
victorious success. Everyone had a part in the day; whether they were
performing or preparing the scrummy food up in the kitchen – nobody was left
idle! Treats of the day included burgers for breakfast, then a tantalizing
paneer pulao with raitha for lunch and a mouth-watering chicken dish for dinner.
Our boys merrily broke free from their insecurities
to present a fantastic display of their creativity, painstaking dedication and
personal triumph over limits. Our cultural events kicked off with our
charismatic host making a seamless introduction into the events of the day. Our
very own Neelabh demonstrated his fantastic speaking skills as he shed light
upon the history of our brave nation and its courageous citizens; the thousands
of heroes who sacrificed themselves so that our country could be free from
oppression. That same fearless spirit belonging to our forefathers is what we
strive to emanate today as we fight to overpower our personal tyranny to
succeed living a drug and alcohol free life. 
Our first event was an emotive speech capturing
the essence of the events: glorious conquest over a
music interlude of our boys heartily sung a jolly anthem of hope and
brotherhood, accompanied by one of our residents on the harmonium. It was
really beautiful to see how engaged our residents were as they proudly showed
their hidden talents to the cheering audience! The song was followed by the
fashion show wherein a few of our boys modelled apparel of the age and slung
patriotic slogans into the whooping crowd. This year’s fashion show was a
totally fresh innovation into the Independence Day scene at SHAFA HOME; rest assured
it was a superb addition to the day.
Next, Tushar threw himself into the programme to
put on a rib-tickling splay of laugh-your-head-off impersonations and jokes.
Towards the middle of the programme, the mood grounded and became serious as
Marco, our voluntary staff member from Africa eloquently delivered an emotional
speech about the power of treatment and breaking self-imposed boundaries...he
ignited a beacon of hope and courage within his little brothers; showing if he
could overcome the boundary of language to integrate at SHAFA, the treatment
programme was limitless as to what it could achieve for them.
Dance was the following cultural event where our
boys got footloose to hit the floor and get their groove on; our boys performed
a flawless choreographed sequence taught to them by the infamous Bob Ji. Then
one of our members made an impromptu appearance on the dance-floor and simply
bowled us over with his moves...who knew Rohit was a secret dance star? The
crowd went wild for him! 
The programme wrapped up with SHAFA’s director
Mr. Ranjan Dhar giving a resounding commendation to our resident’s first-class
preparation and performances and they were congratulated for their individual
efforts. The final event of the day was a candlelit prayer of strength and a
recital of our national anthem.
All-in-all, Independence Day 2014 was a beautiful
embodiment of triumph, brotherhood and hope. May this be the gatekeeper that
allows the following years to bring freedom and illumination within all of our
hearts!
To view more pics please click on the link below:https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.323408844489361.1073742015.150155235148057&type=3&uploaded=48
No comments:
Post a Comment