Umang kids were show stealers from the moment they entered. Sitting in the right-hand corner with their colors and their enthusiasm, they brought a certain life to a place. And that life tripled when the music started and they moved with energy and grace on the beats of ‘Chak De’. The audience reverberated with their spirit with the whistles and claps of adulation.
“They walk aimlessly. They sleep at city arcades; they are vulnerable for any type of exploitation by the adults and criminals. Their childhood turns into a shrouded childhood”. One of the partners who helped to organize the Youth Festival was TAABAR. The Jaipur based NGO advocates for the well being, protection and empowerment of street children.
A team of young people from TAABAR worked alongside a director to bring a powerful piece of live theatre to the occasion. The play told the harrowing story of how a young boy fled his home after being subjected to abuse, alcoholism and dire poverty at the hands of his family. It documented his journey. After being befriended on the street by a gang of local youths, the young boy became exposed to drugs, crime and exploitative labor. This story had a happy ending however when he was rescued and taken to an orphanage where he could be cared for. For so many other children though, the prospect of help still escapes them. People still slip through the cracks.
The news has been alive with news of fresh cases of swine flu in Rajasthan. For this reason, LBS College decided to make it the subject of an awareness raising skit. The play used theatre to explain to the audience about the various ways swine flu can be transmitted and explained some of precautionary measures people can take in order to avoid infection. In the days surrounding the main event, many of Jaipur’s schools had closed down so as to prevent the disease spreading amongst its pupils. This was a blow to the organizers of the Youth Jumbish as many of those schools would have otherwise been in attendance on the 21st.
Doosra Dashak came a long way to be with us at the festival, traveling all the way from a rural village in the heart of Rajasthan. We were particularly pleased that they could be there to represent Rajasthan’s rural communities. They performed a play on ‘superstition’ and how such false information can negatively impact people’s lives. In their play it showed how people can be diverted from seeking appropriate medical attention based on the old assumptions that spirits or demons are responsible for ill health.
‘ADHYATM’ is a new band, fronted by singer songwriter Jitendra Sharma alongside Vaibhav and Elwin on rhythm guitar and drums respectively. Amazingly this was their debut as live performers. They managed to bring the house down with their rousing rhythms and ear for a melody.
