Unsung voices from Anand street school fill UN with melody

Vadodara: Rutika Rakesh Valva, all of 11, is yet to see much of life to start having any expectations from it. This daughter of a loading rickshaw driver with bare minimum means had just a one-point agenda in life — do your bit to the best. And that’s what she’s been doing, honestly. Therefore, when her voice got a global audience on Wednesday, it filled the little girl with joy seeing success kiss her efforts with aplomb.
“I and my family are very happy that I got an opportunity to sing the Swaminarayan song,” said Rutika, one among the seven children from a street school in Anand, was hand-picked for a solo part in a song that was specially telecast from the United Nations (UN) Office at Geneva on Wednesday during International Day of Street Children celebrations.
London-based Sir Vartan Melkonian, a spokesperson and humanitarian ambassador to the UN street children programme and patron of the consortium for street children of the UK selected her personally. The special song got telecast with messages from the British who’s who including prime minister (PM) Rishi Sunak.
The song also featured Himanshu Sargara, 15, another kid from the school who had lost his father at a very young age. “The song included 60 street children from Egypt, United States, United Kingdom among others. Sir Vartan had himself selected seven kids from my school for recording the song. I am so happy that children from my school got selected from across India for this composition,” said Uma Sharma, who has been operating her footpath school in Anand since June 2018.
Sharma was even happier as the children also learned the lyrics and were singing in English for the global telecast. “It’s a win-win,” added the gold medalist from Gujarat University who had founded her school and dedicated it to her parents father Dayashankar and mother Shakuntala Devi.
“The song not only prominently features my footpath school but also features temple of Anoopam Mission, Mogri,” said Sharma, who had grown up inside a garage and finished her schooling, studying under streetlights.
“Children from across the world want to take part in the song now. It is an honour to have so many people speaking up for street children. The British PM was gracious with a message of encouragement,” said Melkonian, a classical music conductor who had to struggle immensely after being a destitute child.