A KHUSHI DATE WITH CHILDREN OF BEDAVAS

Over 125 children of different age-groups gathered around us to horde the basic items we brought for them towards their hygiene. A set of toothbrush, toothpaste, comb and soap was all that took for them to ascend in huge numbers”, Devika Gupta a member of Khushi Group

If I ask you, ‘What is the most important thing to you?’ The answers would range from family, well-being, good health, contentment and happiness. The one thing which is not a mainstream priority in our check list but is something that is omnipresent, for which all of us are running is - happiness. How you interpret happiness and how others might can be completely different while the essence of it remains the same.

‘Khushi’, literally translated as happiness, is an initiative by Hindustan Zinc, a company of Vedanta Group, which is aiming to spread smiles in deprived and underprivileged children. Other than inciting beaming faces, it also realizes the importance of the age old saying – ‘health is wealth’. Building up on the three most important pillars for a child’s welfare, Khushi believes in ‘health’, ‘nutrition’ and ‘education’ to such children.

India is a home to a third of the world’s total malnourished children and also houses 18 million kids who work on the streets. In such an unfortunate scenario, with such enormous and harrowing statistics ogling at us, there remains little hope that gives us solace for a better condition of these kids who are a part of the country’s future. Though India might be a growing economy with progressively emerging riches in the society, it still has around a fifth of the population below the poverty line that can barely afford minimum means of subsidence. That being said, I do not mean to bring you down or make you feel guilty, but to draw your attention to those who do not and might never get a chance to enjoy the lap of luxury that we intend to.

Now in our daily lives with busy schedules, where we are working hard and saving up for the future and our children, we do feel for those who cannot afford it. Here is where project Khushi steps in. It is said that ‘charity begins at home’, thus Khushi decided to spread happiness in a slum called Bedavas in Udaipur, Rajasthan. Over 125 children of different age-groups gathered around us to horde the basic items we brought for them towards their hygiene. A set of toothbrush, toothpaste, comb and soap was all that took for them to ascend in huge numbers. These kids were overjoyed to see us and could not wait 2nd July which is when the nutrition and education aspect would be taken care of by distributing fruits and teaching the kids to write their name.

2nd July is now enthusiastically awaited.