23-year-old Tripti Jain, talks to Sangeeta Yadav about fulfilling the wishes of underprivileged children by putting up their paintings at an exhibition
How did you come up with the idea of holding an exhibition to help under-privileged childrenIJ
I’ve been working with them for two-and-a-half years. While conducting workshops for them, I realised how good they are at painting and art. I wanted to do something for them because a lot of them were deprived of basic necessities in life like clothes, food, books etc. So, I organised an exhibition titled Through Their Windows: little Stars’ Innocent Wishes and put up paintings done by 30 children who had a simple wishlist attached to the canvas. Whoever buys the painting, all they had to do was fulfill that painter child’s wish.
Who are these childrenIJ
They are household workers, some young, others married. There is a 15-year-old girl who got married in January this year. After facing a lot of domestic violence and sexual abuse, she returned. Some girls are school dropouts and working as maids, babysitters etc. Their parents are either security guards, drivers or daily wagers. Some children are single parent kids and some live with relatives. I have collaborated with lakshyam NGO and put up paintings by six girls.
Tell us about their wishes.
Their wishes are small, simple desires. Khushboo, who got married at a very young age, wished for a saree that she wanted to gift her mother. When I asked her why she wanted it for her mother and not for herself, she said: “Har baar mummy hamarey liye khareedti hain. Humney jo bhi manga, unhoney hamesha laake diya per apney liye kabhi nahi leti aur itne paise bhi nahi bachtey.”
Payal wanted a cycle for her cousin. There were many other small wishes like someone wanted a teddy bear, another child a watch. One girl, who is preparing for scholarship exam this November, wanted an NMMS Scholarship course book which was very expensive and she could not buy it. A daily wager’s son wanted a bag for his father because the one which he carries was torn.
Why an exhibition instead of raising fundsIJ
I wanted people to engage directly with these children. In my previous charity art exhibitions, I realised that most people are hesitant to contribute. Thus, I wanted to connect the people with the children directly. I picked up children’s wishes and put them up along with the painting. Whoever came for the exhibition met these children and spoke to them about how important it is for them.
How has the response beenIJ
It’s been very good. My one-and-a-half months of hard work has paid off. All the paintings are sold out and the people have given gifts which I handed over to these children on Diwali. The happiness you get from helping someone is amazing. Now I wish to take this initiative to a much bigger level and work towards educating them.