A Memoir of the day of Freedom at Kaट-कatha

Has there been an Independence day until the recent one, that I celebrated with such fervour that it really felt like an Independence ? If I go deep down the memory lane to find the answer to this question, then may be my answer would be 'No'.

Came 15th Aug. 2013, Kat-Katha planned to celebrate its Birthday & being a volunteer I was all excited for the arrangements that we have to do & the wonderful celebration that would follow. When I reached there finally at 10.45am, I saw plenty of volunteers sitting & making this or that for the decorations, even I joined in & took the task of blowing balloons, one of those things I have always found pleasure in,since childhood. Kat-katha never looked so beautiful before & with the positive energy it was emitting in the air that day was truly magical.

The decorations were on place, now it was time for mobilisation or in other words, calling & inviting all the bacchas(kids) & the didis(sisters) for being the part of Kat-katha celebration. Treading all the way at the street, we howled & screamed with loud clapping traversing from one brothel to another & becoming a reason to many confused faces staring at us. All the didis sitting outside were invited with a smile, to celebrate with us, our voices became the loudest of all the bustles of the street & one could easily sense, how this colourless & lifeless place was suddenly bursting with life at that moment. And Me? I felt so much a part of those loud invitations that we were making. To so many incidents in life when I found myself trying to break-free from my silent nature, It was the first time when I actually felt my voice matters when I call for freedom at top of my lungs, for the first time it actually felt that there's nobody who holds you back but you yourself, when you speak with no sense of fear inside, people would definitely listen.

All brothels covered now, after almost 45 mins. of screaming, spreading smiles, clapping & becoming centre of numerous attentions, it was time to head back to our Birthday Home.

Now the Name 'Kaट-कatha', newly painted was finally there, shining on the outside wall to let people know where exactly the 'Hope' resides in this area. We climbed the stairs still screaming out loud to spread the energy at every corner of our beloved home, just as we had spread it in the street.

Within few minutes we were joined with so many more volunteers & came after them one by one all our beloved Didis & Bacchas, not to forget those few foreign friends as well of ours, who also wanted to be a part of celebration.

In the room inside, all sat with cheerfulness & laughter all around. What started with a simple question making rounds 'what would you do if you get freedom?' getting all the funny & some inspiring responses, then turned into a musical session, with all together singing those old golden hindi songs making the atmosphere even more soothing & also followed was few of the people tapping their feet on energetic Rajasthani numbers.

After 45 mins. or so of all the cheerful singing & dancing session, finally came the favourite moment of the day, especially for the kids, the moment to cut the huge beautiful cake. Everybody kids, didi's & volunteers gathered around it, waiting for the cake to be cut & sing out loud that old jolly birthday song the Beatles once sang & ever since which became an anthem of every birthday party. The senior-most member present was a didi to whom we requested to cut the cake & the moment she did, everyone burst into joy with all the loudest voices of kids, the birthday anthem just got merrier. Cake served, home-made Teas & sandwiches also followed, everybody cheering, having a hearty time.

Now it was time to rejoice over the dance performance that our ever talented bacchas prepared. It was all but so much fun & wonderful to see them enjoying themselves dancing, even if not in sync at times, but then who cared, their innocent smiling faces were enough a reason to make us all feel truly blissful & in a while the floor became a 'discotheque' with everybody enjoying tapping their feet along with kids. The funny thing is that the speakers were quite small with the sound coming not so loud & yet everyone danced as if sound wasn't actually a bar to express the joy that was running amok inside our veins at that moment, all we needed was a song of freedom in our own hearts & that I think was loud enough. Giving ourselves a break now, all now sat to enjoy the ever delicious 2 minutes noodles, yes it was Maggi time, which few of the volunteers had dedicatedly & lovingly cooked for all. And to be honest it actually was the best Maggi I ever had, for which I would give the credits to that very special ingredient called 'Love', mixed in it perfectly.

Now it was about 6pm & somewhere I was wishing that the moment simply pauses there, the wonderful chit-chats never ceases, the celebrations continue till eternity. The bacchas & didis started departing now one by one & slowly silence started descending our home. But still who were left behind were few bacchas & volunteers. Gitanjali suggested to end the beautiful day of celebration by praying & meditating in silence. All sat in the inner room, with lights all off & beautiful meditative scherzo playing on speakers. Our eyes closed now permitting the soothing music to touch the soul through ears. At that very moment, it took a while for me to be transported in some kind of 'trance', with all the flashbacks of the beautiful day crossing my mind as some kaleidoscopic images.

I think I was smiling at that moment, a smile with no purpose at all, which you may be not aware of, but it's there on your face & when you suddenly feel its presence, then you know it from inside that you are finally at Peace, you have set your mind free of all boundaries, all rules & everything that has ever held you back.

"The moment you feel YOU ARE INFINITE"......

Searching for the 'Reasons' & finding 'Myself' (part-II)

Came June 2013, I was done with my 2nd semester, now a long break till 3rd semester begins. Although I had no idea to how exactly was I going to spend my holidays, but 1 thing I was sure of was that I had to make them productive. Searched for few internship options but none I found suitable. Few days later an old college friend pinged on facebook inquiring if I was interested in joining an ngo called kat-katha, where he often used to go. I got hooked to the very idea, all that required was nothing much but going there, spending some time with the kids, just to teach them something or simply to have fun with them on weekends. Along with this curious sensation, there was also an element of fear somewhere hidden inside to be honest, as it turns out, Kat-katha operated in the middle of Delhi's red-light area. Now there was a choice to be made, either taking risk & exploring the area which is socially disapproved or going there & try becoming a reason for eliciting smiles on some innocent faces. But ultimately all my fears succumbed may be to that untamed curiosity & also to the power of such a beautiful cause.
The place sure was a brothel, but that one small organization Kat-katha was like a light of hope shimmering brightly & illuminating the darkness that surrounded. All those colorful innocent smiles were more than enough to make me fall in love with that place, those smiles, even more beautiful than the colorful paintings on the walls of Kat-katha . Also the volunteers who were already working there certainly held an inspiration in their own for undertaking such a noble initiative,they are few of the most wonderful people I have met in life. Kat-katha is all about generating a Hope for the unfortunate sex-workers & their kids, a Hope that there's a better life waiting for them beyond this brothel they are forcibly residing in.
In the course of time I received an e-mail from an organization make a difference (MAD), for which I applied a few months back, I was called for the interview as they were recruiting now. For a long time I wished to join it, but didn't get a chance to apply for it previously, but now when I did & received their mail, it was yet another excitement added, the vacations were just getting more & more interesting now. It was 7th July, a Saturday, I was called to an orphanage home-'Arya Anathalaya' at Daryaganj, there I was joined with quite many wonderful people who also came to get recruited as one of the volunteers at MAD. It was truly an amazing experience. Among many options, I chose for myself to be an English teacher to the orphanage as that seemed suitable for both my little experience of teaching in past & also for its timings & so started the process. After the testing time when finally came the interview session, it was then that I suddenly got struck with this realization that how everything falls into place on the very right moment. Its quite surprising how these kind of sudden realizations catches your mind completely off guard but yet you thank the heavens above that they do. If there was anything which actually made me more confident in the interview,then I would owe it to those very moments of past when I pushed myself to take those few steps, even if hesitantly at times (as for that time I was but a scared soul) & now it seems that those were actually the moments when I challenged my own fears just to revere them forever, those few steps which I never really knew would land me to some place like this. It all added up- being a part of social service society at college, rookie but yet having at least some experience at teaching few underprivileged kids at that time, then recently being a part of Kat-katha & lastly being the vice president of my small department. Although somebody would say it was a simple interview for a weekend teacher at orphanage, requiring not much of an experience, but for me it was definitely more than that, it was one of those personal feelings which nobody else but only you could understand, a feeling I would cherish forever. I got selected not because I was experienced but because I think they found in me an element which I would call is a 'gift from my past'. It's after a long time that I really appreciated my own decisions which lead me to somewhere I wished to be. On my way back to home, there was an unconditional smile on my face all the way through, my mind still fascinated with the idea of how 'all the dots have connected' & the journey further,I believe is going to be yet another adventure to explore myself, yet another answer to a question & yet another reason to something beautiful I am about to witness in future...

"Life is all about connecting the dots, you can't connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backwards. So you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. You have to trust in something — your gut, destiny, life, karma, whatever and it will make all the difference in life."

-Steve Jobs