Mumbai: Children of observation home win hearts as annual dance event resumes after 2 yrs

The competition is held annually by NGO Our Children for custodial and non-custodial institutions across Mumbai where children are lodged. Usually, the participants include children in need of care and protection, including orphans and those who have lost contact with their families, lodged in children’s homes.

This year, 16 children between ages 16 and 18, and a few older than that, lodged at the Home pending inquires into the offences they allegedly committed, were among the participants.

Escorted by policemen, the group was taken for the performance on May 1. The theme of the competition was “India’s First” and the group enacted a performance based on the first transgender judge in the country, Joyita Mondal.

Over a month before their performance, officials from the Home and NGO Aashiyana spoke to the children.

“Our intention was to give them an experience they did not have before. Most of the children had never danced before; none had danced at such a platform around so many people. It was a means to show them that there is a world outside what they know,” said Rahul Kanthikar, the superintendent of the Dongri Home. He said that the theme was chosen also to create awareness among the children on transgender persons.

In the first meeting with the children, however, the theme was not met with immediate approval. Two choreographers roped in by Aashiyana began teaching those who showed interest. Initially, the group was larger but with some dropping out due to stage fright and others getting bail before the performance, only 16 children remained. It also took some convincing to get them to wear sarees and jewellery during their dance to the Marathi song Lallati Bhandar for which they rehearsed for nearly three weeks.

Sachi Maniar, director of Aashiyana, said that 2017 was the first time they took permissions for such participation for children in conflict with law. Since some of them are booked in heinous offences and require permission from the competent court, the process took longer. They also performed in 2018.

“The competition was not held for the past two years due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Some of the children have been at the Home for over a year. We wanted them to have this experience, to let them know that they have the capabilities and to increase their confidence to engage in such activities,” she said.

Kshipra Marathe, a psychologist with Aashiyana, who accompanied the children on May 1, said that they were as excited about going out as performers. “When they saw how big the stage was, they only had one regret — that they didn’t practise more,” she said.