Delhi Daredevils Partner with UNICEF to Dare To Care!
"મને ઐરહોસ્ટેસ્સ બનવું છે", (I want to become an air hostess when I grow up), Dharmishtha, tells me with sharp glittering eyes, at the national Dare to Care campaign- a joint initiative of UNICEF and the Delhi Daredevils, in partnership with the Marriot, Ahmedabad, held on 16th May, 2014.
I puzzled her why?
"Because Diddiiiiii, then I can fly in an Aer-oh-plane anytime I want", she replies in a gleefully ecstatic shout, with a peculiar stress on the last syllable of didi. Worried about past incidents of a major airline crisis in the country, I tried to nudge her further but she seemed pretty convinced that the only way she and her family could travel in a flight whenever they wanted, would be when she becomes an air hostess. I understood her fascination. A 16 year old dreaming of flying off to the skies. We've all been there.
And when she hugged me later after the interview, I was convinced, that this bundle of joy would make the kindest of individuals up above, if ever things got rough.
Dharmishtha from Chota Udaipur in Gujarat is among the 11 other adolescent girls who have travelled from some of the remotest tribal villages of Gujarat to talk about issues that affect thousands of girls like themselves in their communities. These adolescent girls are part of the UNICEF Child Rights Initiative in the State, and have been trained on child rights issues and have been doing excellent work at the village level to fight against social ills such as child marriage, child labour, gender disparities, etc.
The campaign is an effort to build a discourse around the need to empower, equip and enable adolescent girls. The cricketers had one on one interactions with the girls and also stayed back to celebrate the birthday of one of the girls.
Soon there was a birthday cake around and nobody cared anymore about, who was who. Right from Ross Taylor to the birthday girl Prachi to fellow journalists, we all had our cake face ON! You know, that face, when everyone's acting shy, but you know your deed's not done, until you scavenge that last piece off the cake board. Yes, that was just me. Everyone else seemed pretty good at keeping their calm around cakes.
While Karthik tells, how being part of this venture turned out to be a wonderful experience, Parnell narrated how humbling it was talking to the girls and how there's so much more to life than just cricket. He talked to the girls about how it's important to figure out what they're good at and to passionately follow that dream. Local boy Jaydev Unattkat, was an instant hit among the girls, when he sat down to talk to each and everyone of them in Gujarati. Telling them how he rose from playing cricket in Porbandar to playing alongside the likes of Taylor and Pieterson. Some inspiration indeed.
While there were plenty memories, pictures, autographs (yes, i managed a few. Don't judge me.), what struck me most was how those girls made me feel. From the warmest of hugs to the most determined of sparkling eyes, I knew that these boys did not just infuse them with inspiration but let them know, that having a kind heart and a will to fight for what's right makes them true divas for the rest of us to wonder and marvel on.
More power to them and more power to the girls who dare to care and fight for the rights of children while still being so young at it. And this mind you, involves standing up to the most conservative of individuals, parents and panchayat members in the village. All because they dare to Care. Do you?
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Read more about #DareToCare here.
Eternally grateful to UNICEF India, for inviting me, as an independent blogger to meet these amazing girls and Team Delhi Daredevils.
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