Delhi, they say is a city of dreams. Is it?

I arrived in Delhi 11 years back for my higher studies and stayed on. The city has given me all from education to opportunity - it has all been a smooth sail.

A landscape of dreams indeed, on its way to being a world class city ahead of commonwealth games.

Government raised over Rs.52 billion for the 2010 Commonwealth Games as well as provision of land for stadiums and other constructions, Rs.105.71 billion for the first phase of the Delhi Metro and over Rs.10 billion for the high capacity bus corridor.

Delhi is iconic of a shining India and a thriving middle class with its shopping arcades, malls and glitzy cars doing the rounds. Add to the list the rich and mighty, the movers and shakers. Can it get fancier than this?

Now contrast this with almost 20 % Delhi’s population living in slums - the second highest slum population in India. The living conditions are worse than we can imagine without basic health and hygiene facilities. Sewage flows freely on the streets outside Sanjay Colony, one of several colonies in northwest Delhi at the edge of a large dumping ground for much of the city’s garbage which we visited. Clean drinking water is a very precious commodity. Space crunch forces even a family of five and more to share a one room accommodation and cook outside in the open with drains without cover.

It is this paradox of existence that confounds me without any plausible answer.

The national capital ‘boasts’ of doubling infant mortality in the last three years. It’s a shocking revelation on scratching the shiny surface.

They don’t have access to even basic health facilities and those that are available are far off and expensive. In effect an estimated 83 % of the urban poor mothers give birth in their homes and without skilled attendants. Women and children stand to suffer the most.

Government blames it on teeming migrating population that infest the cities.

Why do they come to the cities in the first place?

They too like many of us come in search of their dreams of better future. Agriculture is no longer a viable livelihood option for many. They land up in the city working as daily wage labour or picking up some odd jobs to eke out a living. Only that they lag far behind in keeping pace with competing dreams of those above. In this race of inequality a poor man’s dream obviously comes crashing.

Where does this reality fit in my life which is far removed from the one I saw? I guess I knew.

I felt connected to their dreams, those smiling faces of children that greeted when we entered the narrow alleyways of the colony. I felt connected to my consciousness.

I came back with a greater sense of responsibility and resolve to do the best I can to make a difference.

Looking at the urgent needs of the community, Save the Children India is providing comprehensive medical care through mobile health clinic catering especially to the needs of women and children living in the slums of northwest Delhi.

We have taken the first step. Much more needs to be done. Together we can.

Where is your heart, Kunal?

“I was appalled when I learnt that 2 million children die every year in India before they are five – that is 1 child every 15 seconds. While I am thinking about which next restaurant to go to or which clothes to buy, there are so many millions who are crying for help. I don’t have any technical knowhow but I know I want to make a difference. I am not here with my head, I am here with my heart willing to do my bit,” said Kunal at the Delhi launch. Audience cheered on and EVERY ONE moved to the wall to sign up their support for the campaign in the end.

While Kunal may have his heart in the right place, he had many hearts skip beats from the moment he landed in Delhi.

The morning of October 8^th was an utter frenzy. The campaign team including our lovely interns were to leave early for the venue which was the lawn of India Habitat Centre to oversee that event guys were doing their job well and followed our brief to the T.

“Make sure the layout is not over the top. We want a classy and elegant set up,” was the brief to the event company when we first met.

While I was supposed to be leaving with the team, but we had a popular radio channel RadioMirchi interested in interviewing our celeb heartthrob. So now I had to go pick Kunal from the airport and take him to the studio. (I am sure many of you may know Kunal set India and Bangladesh fighting over himJ)

There was a whole joke in the office about me just a text away from Kunal. Fun stuff! But when you are dealing with celebs for work you have to ignore your heart, never mind a good looker like KunalJ I have learnt this in my little stint at celeb management for another charity even earlier. Treat them as equal, give them the deserving respect and keep it business.

So I reached the airport in time to pick our star power for the evening. I was pacing with impatience.

My phone wouldn’t stop ringing – event guys, team members, venue coordination etc etc.

An hour and a half after the scheduled time the man arrives. I requested him to come to the radio station straight. He complied.

“I am sorry, you had to wait for so long but my flight was delayed,” he said with a winsome smile.

While we stood there talking, there were hushed whispers from many quarters – some came up to him for autograph, some came and literally forced their mobile camera phones in my hands to get their pictures.

Phew!!! How do celebrities manage this constant glare? I wondered aloud. “It’s just a job for us too, Pragya,” he answered.

The staff at Radio station were all set with a welcome bouquet, girls all huddled at the reception, office boys just hanging about to catch a celeb from the close quarters. Cameras went click! click! click! endlessly.

Time to go on air. Kunal knew his lines well – about Save the Children – ending with ‘log on to www.every-one.in to support the campaign.’

Well done Kunal!!!

As we go down, there is another rioting bunch ready with pens and papers for his autograph. He complied with smile.

My phone started ringing again as we sat in the car. Some crisis. It stopped. Rang again. And that continued.

While I was dealing with issues, He was snoozing and ummmm snoring too J

Leaving him at the hotel with the car, I rushed in a taxi to the venue to sort out stuff.

Wow! I was impressed with the set up. It just looked fantastic, just the way I thought it should be.

I spotted Raghu in the exhibition area and rushed to greet him and thank him profusely for the lovely pictures – the highlight of the evening along with the actor.

Awesome start to the campaign. EVERY ONE’s heart is in the right place. The effort behind the launch paid off. It’s just the beginning. We will keep at it till we ensure that every child has a future to look forward to. We make a resolve.

(When I am very happy, my eyes well up) Thanks team.

Behind the scene

A month of launches – in Bomaby and Delhi and Calcutta joined in last week. Action packed and thrill filled.

From celeb soiree to community voices, they made for the best launch experience.

Bombay here we come with EVERY ONE.

We were all set – venue set, mothers from the communities arrived, we needed our celeb supporter to turn up now to complete the checklist.

It was pouring with rain on 5^th October in Bombay which seemed to dampen the spirits a bit – only a bit though.

The young and famous actress and former Miss World Priyanka Chopra was the bait to the media who feeds on Bollywood and buzz around them.

She had agreed…ummm…well could not make it. Those of us who have managed events know it’s all about risk management and last minute glitches. But not all lost. We had a video message from her to play at the launch.

We had to make this a success nontheless. So I zoomed the car to pick up Shabana Azmi, noted actress and social activist supporting EVERY ONE campaign.

Thank God for the new Mumbai sea link connecting two far ends. It was a real blessing in the daunting rain and worsening traffic. For a moment I distracted myself to grey sea view and regained my composure.

(About Mumbai sea link: Took10 years to make instaed of estimated 4 years and cost triple the estimated amount –f ew thousand crores- and you have pay 70 Rs to cross the sea link. It still is the pride of Mumbai.)

I reached in time. Shabana had returned from Hyderabad just a while ago.

“Pragya, why don’t you join us for lunch? I will be just 10 minutes to change and ready to leave,” said Shabana.

Food was obviously the last thing on my mind. I politely declined and asked for a glass of water.

We were escorted to the car with umbrella. It seemed like a cloud burst, rain just wouldn’t stop

Back to business. I started briefing Shabana about the campaign and the issue. She seemed very well clued in to the issue so that did half the work. I recapped few pointers as our car drew close to the venue.

Mothers from the communities were eagerly waiting for interaction with a ‘film star’ after a session with Dr Manisha, Save the Children’s own health expert.

After leaving her with the group and staff, I rush upstairs to check if our media friends had arrived. Very few by then. Some called to check if we were still going ahead with our launch. Some were stuck in traffic and rain. As they say ‘The show must go on’.

So finally our media friends started trickling in to make a comfortable count.

We were ready to launch. Shabana came on stage and made quite an impact. EVERY ONE echoed along, “Enough is Enough.”

Indeed. It’s a shame for India to let its children die while boasting of 9% GDP growth. While 2 million children dying may be mere statistic for some, it is a personal tragedy for families who lose their child.

India! it’s a wakeup call to save your children.