The students of Lions Blind Girls School in Vadodara learn never to accept defeat
Bharat Ratna Lata Mangeshkar needs no introduction as every person related to the music industry looks upto her as a source of inspiration. The life story of melody queen is the journey of a girl achieving success after conquering the struggles put in front of her.
SahityaMitra Darshini Dadawala shared the life-story of ‘Bharat Ratna – Lata Mangeshkar’ and her achievements with the students of Lions Blind Girls School in Vadodara. She used the audio of a creatively recorded documentary and then an interview of Lata Mangeshkar where she mentioned how she survived amongst many struggles and achieved success. Meanwhile, the dialogue with the participants took them so close to ‘Lata Mangeshkar’ that she became their ‘Lata Didi’.
Lata Mangeshkar wears a sari…wrapped from around her shoulders… has nice long hair… and always wears a ‘bindi’? Would you like to apply ‘bindi’ like her and listen to her story?
Participants nod happily and wrap the dupattas as saris and with great zeal agree to apply ‘bindi’. (SahityaMitra goes over to the participants and in conversation applies ‘bindi’ on their forehead…with great emotion the participants touch the ‘bindi’, feel it and with a smile on their face, show as if they have become ‘Lata Didi’…)
SahityaMitra then ask Do you like music? And the participants all in unison said yes. She then ask Who taught music to ‘Lata Didi’? Participants said Her father and Guruji.
Next she asked Will you ask your teacher to teach music? All the participants in unison) Yes… Next was What will happen after learning music? All said after learning music, can sing like ‘Lata Didi’, will be famous like her and progress in life…
Continuing the conversation the next question was Do you know how ‘Lata Didi’ got so much success? All after giving it a thought…She worked very hard…Kept trying…Never got disappointed…She did a lot of ‘sadhana’. And finally the last one was Would you like to work hard just like her? All the participants said Yes.
The session was made interesting by playing various songs sung by Lata Mangeshkar and listening to these children’s songs proved to be very exciting for the participants. They appreciate the melodious voice of Lata Di and knowing about her receiving various awards and ‘Bharat Ratna’, the participants felt great pride and all were thrilled.
The experience of the session was very lively. The participants of the session got into a state-of-mind where they understood that one should always keep trying and never accept defeat. SahityaMitra made an inspirational effort to encourage the participants to study well and brighten their future. An atmosphere was created where from within they felt that they could become like ‘Lata Didi’, that was the most important achievement of the session.
