Ritanjali Hastir, Associate Editor, 31st October, 2015, Shimla
People of Shimla City got an opportunity to witness the efforts against child labour and child abuse in form of an event called ‘Rooh’, organized by Bubbles Club Junior – an initiative of Ideas by Bubbles at the Gaiety Theatre. While informing about the event the organizers said it is a grand cultural event conceived and designed to attract souls from the reaches of Shimla. Its core purpose is to provide a platform for children of diverse backgrounds to express themselves in art forms. In this expression, we want to imbibe in their “Rooh” the values of society that we struggle to uphold. The message expressed by the children will be conveyed to adults like us who are often numb and complacent to the troubles of our society, and drive us to take action at the end of this event.
The events consisted of activities such as interviews, documentary, theatre play, dance, ramp walk and art exhibition. Students from different schools displayed their thoughts on the serious topic that need attention.
Sanjay Chauhan, Shimla City Mayor graced the occasion as the chief guest. Speaking on the occasion he lauded the efforts made by the organizers for highlighting the serious problems such as child abuse and child labour. He stressed on the need to help society to grow collectively and lend a helping hand to
the underprivileged ones.
The event consisted of a song Vande Mataram which was followed by lamp lighting by the Mayor, Director Arun Sharma, Kanwaljit Singh Sachdeva, Nagendar Singh and Manish, representatives from Indian Oil.
A dance item was performed which was choreographed by Rinku Khan highlighting the atrocities against children. After that came the turn of documentaries, that showcased lives of children working in different arenas to earn their bread and butter.
Masoom Zindagi Ki Sacchai — a play by Udaan Theatre Group was staged that again focused on child abuse and how an innocent girl goes insane after killing her father in an attempt to rescue her younger sister. The Band – Tapasa (Rohit and Shubham) gave live acoustic performance featuring songs like Hunger Strike and Immortality
However the best part of show was a Ramp walk choreographed by Deepika Deol that brought life into the event. The sponsors of the show included big names like City Channel, Indian Oil, Radisson, Studio 7, 95.0 Big FM, Department of Language Art and Culture and Rotary Mid-Town Shimla.
Spectators present in the hall were touched with the effort made by the students and through an interactive session people shared their experiences and all took pledge to make a difference in life of at least one child in the coming year.
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