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Bringing Smiles

Envisioning & Creating Dimensions; Nurturing Self Sufficiency

Veer Bal Divas 2023

Till a few years back not much was known about Veer Bal Diwas which will fall on 26th Dec’23 each year as announced recently. This was the subject discussed with those who had gathered today at Bringing Smiles to receive, and many others, mostly volunteers and well-wishers, part of the team who were there to make our differently abled guests comfortable.
Veer Bal Diwas was celebrated at Bringing Smiles today differently. It was a day when young children were brought out of a world without sound to faint buzzes for now; perhaps deciphering sound or language may be another milestone. As a start, they were happy to get sound devices with volume control to a world of sound.

Besides these, there were children who sat in wheelchairs for the first time though some were slumped with damaged spines due to a cruel twist of fate.
And then the adults: Smiling and Happy! This was one day they did not mind the attention, today they got positive attention and not just clucks of disapproval or pity! They were happy to receive support by way of wheelchairs or tricycles or tricycles fitted with vending baskets as well as packaged goods to vend.

Another highlight of the day was the beaming Smile of Ms Meenakshi who received a laptop for the first time in her life, opening up opportunities she had been dreaming of while sitting in her wheelchair.

The welcome our guests received was literally heartwarming with tea and samosas on the cold winter morning. As if this was not enough, once stationed in their mobility seats, very soon they received a good quantity of dry rations, probably enough to last the family a month. And just as they were ready to leave came another surprise: neatly labelled clothes for each beneficiary with names.
In all there were :

A) 10 (9 men + 1 Female) for tricycles with vending carts and starter kits

B) 05 for tricycles

C) 12 (02 children + 3 Women + 7 Men for wheelchairs)

D) 02 (One Child & One Adult) for hearing aids

E) One laptop for a very deserving Ms. Meenakshi

We are particularly grateful to The Usha Joshi Memorial Trust which has provided us with sponsorship of 6 tricycles.

A philanthropist friend Mr. RK Mariwala from Mumbai who has sponsored tricycles along-with the entire starter kits for those who are embarking on vending.

The Bakhshi Jagmohan Singh Charity Trust which has helped us in the past too and this time sponsored tricycle with vending materials.

At Bringing Smiles today, it was a happy day for all who had worked hard at preparation and raised funds for a noble cause. It was a day of manifestation!

 

   

   

  

   

23 September 2023 - Bringing Smile

We had a really pleasant morning in the company of 7 Divyangjan Brothers and Sisters.

We together could hand over 4 tricycles, 2 wheelchairs, Only for the need of 😭Food along with ration package, clothes, blankets for all. One lady beneficiary Sangeeta and another lady (mother of child Gautam) could get cosmetics  too. 

I am highly obliged to all those members in the group who could make it join today.

God Bless our today's beneficiaries; Sanjay Handuja, Sanjay Sahni, Jagveer Singh, Govind, Ms. Sangeeta and master Gautam.

Team Bringing Smiles

 

15 August 2023 - Independence Day

Fifteenth of August every year is usually hot and humid. Apart from the ramparts of the Red Fort, the Indian flag is hoisted in every neighbourhood.

Today it was also being celebrated in a small pocket tucked away inside Sushant Lok 1, B block. Residents of each colony,  as well as this one, were seen sitting under the hot sun fanning themselves and wiping away sweat. Just a few feet away outside the park, and under the shade of huge trees, mostly Amaltas, another kind of celebration was going on. And there was no sweat here, only Warmth and a Feeling of Independence. 

At least 12 persons (differently abled) were Celebrating quietly. Bringing Smiles is proud to have touched their Lives on this day and Gateful to our contributors for enabling us to enable them Lead Better Lives.

Today, 7 tricycles, 3 wheelchairs and 2 sets of crutches were handed over. As always, dry rations and clothes for each of them were part of their takeaways. A hearty breakfast, and jeera paani on this hot and humid day was also welcomed by all.

The highlight of today’s tricycles was the SS basket which was placed behind at least two Tricycles to help in storage and easy dispensing for vendors.

Bringing Smiles thanks each one of you who was here to cheer and contribute and spread the word !

Team Bringing Smiles

Laptops for Beneficiaries

Bringing Smile handed New laptops on 20th May 2023 at 10 am for the following beneficiaries.

1. Sunita, 27 yrs, Inter Pass.
Polio in both legs, Disabilty 76%;

2. Sunil Kumar, 30 yrs, Graduate, Polio affected, 75% disability 

3 Rajkumar, 29yrs, 8th Class, Polio in both legs ie Disability 75%. 8 th Pass and ITI in Electrical discipline.

 Venue Office : Bringing Smiles

Thanks!!

Summer Special 2023

Bringing Smiles: Summer special
There was warmth in the air: not just from the heat of the month of May, but from the warmth of giving and receiving; the excitement of something new and the expectations of an enabled lifestyle. It was a bunch of ladies of Sushant Lok I, led by Mrs Vibha Khanna, who had got together to help some differently abled persons enjoy a new innings. And our special thanks to members of the spiritual group of Ridgewood Park led by Mr AN Bhatt ji. There was a total of 7 wheelchairs for children and ladies, thoughtfully provided with bottle holders, water being an essential need in this scorching sun; and 3 tricycles for the men sans working limbs,who need their own commute to live a dignified life.


But the fun was in the details. Women were provided costume jewellery and moisturisers and foot creams. Surely, this was a first for most of our beneficiaries. We do realise that there is more to feeling good than what is overtly visible. And all of them went back with a sense of gratitude with rations and blankets (keeping in mind the expected severe winter at the end of each year).

The gratitude was felt more by Team Bringing Smiles, to be able to contribute whatever little we can in bringing smiles to the less fortunate.
As always warmth was shared over hot samosas and cold thandai and Britannia cakes as a treat.


Thank you all for supporting the cause of Bringing Smiles and helping us continue our journey. Its been a journey of shared dismay and hope these last twelve years. We hope to continue till we bring smiles and wipe the tears of those whom we can reach.


Team Bringing Smiles

 

 

Baisakhi 2023

On the eve of Baisakhi(12 April 2023), the spread was wide. This was no lavish or wasteful party spread of food but it was a spread of smiles. Yes, Bringing Smiles had spread itself to include more awareness and more support to the differently abled. As in the past twelve years or more, and particularly since its NGO status in 2019, Bringing Smiles steered by its team and support from well-wishers has continued on its journey to provide tools for self-sufficiency to those who cannot walk or those who cannot see or those who cannot use two hands for simple everyday functions. Functions that we, the able bodied, take so much for granted.

But changes in Society and young minds are setting in as was visible today; almost thirty young men and women led by Mr Gautam Sehgal had come from Dell to support and cheer. They shunned the plush and air-conditioned comforts of their cabins for the April heat touching 36 degrees Celsius with strong surface winds and dust. These young men and women are taking back images of empowerment and are sure to do their bit in times to come.

As always Bringing Smiles had tricycles, wheelchairs, walking sticks, smart sticks, smart phones for the visually challenged, rollators and vending carts for the more enterprising ones, who want to challenge their disability and turn it into an opportunity. Apart from the vending carts, they went back with starter kits to flag off their business with many eager first customers among our group.

At Brining Smiles, it’s not a feeling of charity which binds everyone. It’s more like coming home and going back with fond memories. The team keeps hot samosas and tea ready for all. There is a sack full of rations and blankets for the cold weather and there are good clothes that you take back to last many seasons. All the beneficiaries are treated with respect and bon homie.

Guddu who has minimal, or no vision, was shown the way to complete his schooling. The smart phone he received was going to be a life changer for him.

Muskan and Sonu came with their parents and went back happy to be in their own spaces and felt suddenly grown up in their new wheelchairs.

Kalipodo Mandal forgot his problems and was busy counting money his wife handed him on selling eggs and packaged items.

Jagdish looked proud and happy behind his cart loaded with onions and potatoes. He was waiting to reach home and then planned to start early tomorrow to load his cart from the vegetable Mandi.

Rajesh Kumar Ray, Arvind, Vipin and Karan Singh wheeled away merrily on his wheelchair provided by Dell Technologies, seeking newer avenues now that his mobility had been taken care of. We are also ever grateful for the support given by “Bakshi Jagmohan Singh Charitable Trust”, as in the past several events. They sponsored four tricycles this time too, thus enhancing four young lives by encouraging them to take their challenges head on.

We thank the Dell Technologies team, especially Mr Gautam, for their support and turning up in large numbers and igniting interest among their young stakeholders towards this cause.

We thank our whole Team for always standing by for this periodic celebration of Bringing Smiles.

 

 

 

 

 

Republic Day 2023

Republic Day’23

While the Nation witnessed a grand Republic Day Parade we witnessed a smaller parade of wheelchairs, tricycles, special wheelchairs, rollators, walkers, walking sticks and foldable stools in a tiny corner of Sushant Lok 1 in upscale Gurgaon.

Yes, today the 26th of January 2023 at Bringing Smiles was a day of liberation for Ishan, Deepika, Krishna, Lakshya, Faiz, Sheetal, Arti, Nishant, Mohit, Ravi Kumar, Parmanand, Mohit, Arya and another half a dozen recipients.  The cold weather did not dampen their smiles and the warmth they exuded on receiving their own tool of movement that they had been wanting to make them capable and self-reliant. While we take our limbs for granted, we cannot imagine the pain some have to suffer as they have been denied an able set of limbs by a cruel twist of fate. Pictures of individual recipients tell the story of the change they anticipate.

The cold weather also warranted blankets and rations for the families who have been braving such persons amongst them. 

An early morning cup of tea brewed with the right amount of masalas and a welcome breakfast was all that we could do to set the stage for the day.

Bringing Smiles on the faces of the differently abled has obviously been our mission, and we are grateful to our participants and donors for helping us achieve the same.

Link

International Day for Disabled - 3 Dec 2022

Bringing Smiles 3rd December.

International Day for the Disabled!

There was an air of a Carnival today, the 3rd December 2022, at Bringing Smiles.

In the run up to this day too, there was frantic activity for a month preceding the event and all focus being on sending back smiles with those who were our guests, waiting to be enabled to lead better lives.

There were the tricycles, the wheelchairs, the paediatric wheelchairs, the hand cart and cell phones for the visually impaired. The tricycles had been ordered, assembled and given a roof, painted a shiny and bright yellow and finally each bore a nameplate of the beneficiary. Cell phones needed to be wrapped and the hand cart given a festive look and laden with stationery and packaged items for potential sale outside a school gate. The cell phones were waiting to be claimed by young men of the Janata Rehabilitation Centre for the blind which Bringing Smiles has been patronising for the past so many years.  Most of these young men are in various stages of their education, from high school to post graduation. The smart phones are aimed at improving lifestyles, assisting in education  and bringing a sense of relief to those who, by a stroke of fate, were not endowed with normal limbs or sight.

This morning then, forty beneficiaries came with their respective assistants, usually a member of their immediate family. Most of them left independently and without assistance. Each was served breakfast on arrival. And they left with bags of clothes, woollen wear, blankets and ration for at least a month.
 
Many of our donors were present in good numbers and helped make the event a huge success. They witnessed first-hand how faces lit up on receiving modes of liberation and all wowed to continue on this path of creating self-sufficiency. 

Each beneficiary had a story and after listening to them there was a sense of gratification all around as on the ground reality hit most and all  pledged to do whatever each  could do to enable, empower, assist and facilitate those whose lives  could be touched  and brought smiles in their lives. 

Bringing Smiles thanks all our Volunteers and contributors and pledges to Bringing even more Smiles.!!

 

 

 

AZADI KA AMRIT MAHOTSAV

Independence Day means a lot to all of us and this Independence Day was even more awaited being our 75th. There are many however, who have not tasted freedom of the ordinary kind: freedom to move freely or work with an able set of hands and legs. 

At Bringing Smiles our celebration was with those who came with aspirations of a better tomorrow and freedom to be self-dependant. 

As always rows of gleaming yellow tricycles were waiting for 8 claimants and they climbed into their private domains oblivious of their struggles. 

6 Wheelchair beneficiaries too were delighted.

Akanksha, in Class 12 came with her mother and father and was given a rollator and a hand stick. She was happy to let go of her mother’s hand and walk on her own.

Dilip Mondal, a tailor by profession, enthusiastically received his electric operated, pedestal mounted Umbrella model of USHA Sewing Machine.

Ranjit & Mukesh got their new carts along with weighing balance and Sun umbrella for vending fruits & vegetables.

Sukhvinder from Sec-29 was given materials matching his business needs with ice box and aerated drink bottles, chocolates, candies, namkeen satchel etc

Volunteers had come from several supportive organizations like The Inner Wheel Club, DLF City Sr Citizen Council, Bakhshi Jagmohan Singh Charitable Trust, Golden Lioness Club of Patel Nagar & Jayh Foundation

Dry rations for each beneficiary added to assist them sustain for a few days while the new empowerment tools could start working and let them live lives of dignity. Some washed and ironed clothes too were given to one and all.

Some 75 Colonies children of working labour class were given a chargeable helicopter along with chocolates to celebrate Azadi Ka Amrit Mahotsav.

Bringing Smiles added new hope this Independence Day to the differently abled.

 

Baisakhi Carnival and Bringing Smiles

Baisakhi heralds the harvest season and is marked by fun and celebrations.

Team Bringing Smiles organised a carnival for those who did not experience new beginnings before. Shiny yellow tricycles, wheelchairs, leaf spring boarded heavy duty crutches, Smart sensors embedded Vision Impaired stick, Walker, a brand-new fruit Cart along with weighing Balance, were lined up waiting for new owners and new beginnings.

Bittu Pandey did a small jig and a "" Balle Balle "" as he was hoisted on to his own tricycle ending years of discomfort and lack of mobility.

Rohit Singh loved his new pair of crutches which were light and contemporary though he would not let go of his old wooden one which had stood by him for many years! But of course, ^Upgrade* was in order.

Lalit was thrilled in his new wheelchair though he could not express his emotions clearly. The mentally and physically challenged child was overwhelmed and proud. His devoted parents carried him the last mile to a waiting auto to start a new chapter with their son who could now move without their strong and willing shoulders.

Vinod Kumar from Sohna became the proud owner of a fruit cart to start a new life vending fruit. His added joy was to see a fully loaded cart with apples and bananas and papayas and melons and grapes and he made a quick sale with the volunteers and well-wishers of our Team. A first-time entrepreneur, the future looked bright for him as seasonal fruit is everyone's delight and need.

All beneficiaries got new clothes and rations. Hot Samosas, biscuits and chai were quickly devoured even in the hot weather.

The carnival of Bringing Smiles continues with the support of our donors and well-wishers!

 

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