A string of tiny girls, clad in colourful dresses and looking vivacious, stood at the entrance of the Adivasi Ground here to welcome the visitors.
Hundreds of kids, a sizable of them disabled, were in a festive mode inside. They had come from different States and represented multifarious socio-cultural and linguistic backgrounds.
They were interacting with one another and participating in different competitions. A cheerful atmosphere had engulfed the 13th Anjali children’s festival that concluded here on Friday.
In the national event, around 700 children from 16 States had participated. These participants were divided into 52 teams, out of which 16 teams were from other States. Children from different districts of Odisha were divided in 36 teams.
The children were enjoying and participating in different workshops and completions like painting, magic, terracotta, and modern song and dance, etc.
A physically-challenged boy from Punjab, Sonu Tiger, participated in dancing here. “I am interested in modeling, acting and dancing. I want to make my career in acting, “asserted Sonu. The cheerful boy was by no means different from any normal boy. His polio affected leg was not an obstacle in the pursuit of his interest. He said his inspiration was his father, who supported him all along for building his career.
A total of 161 volunteers from different institutions joined the festival to assist and coordinate the programmes.
“I am volunteering for first time in the organisation of the festival and the experience will come handy,” said Swagatika Sahoo, a social work student of a city based institution.
“We are taking care of the children, conducting workshops on painting, cartooning, modern dance, craft, first aid, magic, terracotta and pottery, etc.,” Swagatika added.
The theme of this year’s festival was ‘Solidarity and Brotherhood,’ as the festival focused on cooperation and unity. Its main attraction was celebration of Ganesh Chaturthi and Id-Ul- Fitar etc at one place. Chief coordinator of Anjali , Sruti Mohapatra said, “The aim of the festival is to elicit the talents of the physically challenged children, so that we can eliminate the gap between the physically challenged and normal children.”
To give tribute to India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, sand artist Sudarsan Pattnaik crafted a statue of Chacha Nehru on the occasion. “It is an honour for me to be a part of the festival,” said Sudarsan. He said these physically challenged children were talented enough to create their own identity. He also praised the effort of Mohapatra.
Cultural programmes were held on every evening of the festival. Children also enjoyed various rides. The four-day festival was inaugurated by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik. It was a learning project of a disability information and resource centre, Swabhiman.