Tag: Bappa

Young disabled woman in brightly coloured sari on a bright blue mat next to a young man lying on a yellow pillow on a pink mat

Saraswati Puja 2024

Posted on by shuktara

On the 14th February we celebrated Saraswati Puja at Anna Bari.

Young woman with red lipstick and gold ornament in her hair wearing an orange sari with woven gold design
Lali
Young man in colourful red and yellow button down shirt smiling very widely
Bappa
Young smiling woman with her hair up in a pink shirt
Muniya
Young woman in pink lipstick smiling, wearing a button-down white shirt with a peter pan collar.
Prity
Young disabled woman in a colourful sari standing on a blue and cream woven plastic mat next to a young man in white kurta on a pink mat
Puja Basak and Aakash
Man smiling with sheer colourful saris over the windows with sunlight pouring in
Pinku
Young disabled woman in a colourful sari sitting on a blue and cream woven plastic mat
Puja Basak
Young man in a fancy black embroidered kurta kneeling on a red plastic mat
Subhash
Older man with beard and gray hair laughing wearing a yellow kurta with red trim. Behind him is a younger man smiling in a fancy red shirt and a young smiling woman in a pink and black sari waving.
Sunil, Bappa and Muniya
Young man in black kurta with arms out to the side smiling
Ashok
statue of sarsawati in colourful headdress with jewelry
the goddess Saraswati
Man in bright yellow button down shirt smiling
Sumon
Puja Basak and Prity give puja wishes
Bablu Lal and Moni
Aarti Blessings before immersion of the Goddess
girls playing with colours on Holi

Shubho Dol Purnima

Posted on by shuktara

Dolyatra is celebrated in March on varying dates each year, depending on the position of the moon, and this year it fell on March 7. The holiday is similar to Holi and commemorates the last festival of the Bengali calendar.

Pappu and Bapi
Prity
Lali, Prity and Moni
Puja Bagh
Muniya, Pappu and girls at Lula Bari
Muniya
Sunil, Sumon and Bappa
Puja Basak
Bappa, Sunil, Sumon, Bablu, Bapi
Lali and Puja Bagh
Bappa, Sunil, Sumon and Bablu
Guria and Tamina
Pappu at Lula Bari
Puja Bagh
Lali, Pappu at Lula Bari
young woman crossing ribbon first in running race

Sports Day 2023

Posted on by shuktara

Sports Day for REACH students was held on Sunday, 19 February.

In the running race Tamina came 1st (!) and Lali came 3rd.

Puja was awarded first prize in the austism running group but she is unable to have the medal around her head or stand on podium.

Bappa and Sumon were pushed in the wheelchair race and both received prizes.

Moni chose not to participate and sat to watch.

Puja Bagh
Lali and Tamina with classmate
Sumon
Tamina and Lali are winners
Bappa
Tamina won first prize!
Tamina crosses the finish line first to win 1st prize in the running race!
shuktara

Welcome new Raju

Posted on by shuktara

When you consider that most of the young people who live at shuktara have been with us from around the year 2000 and that we started the girls home in 2007, we believe most of the boys are about 30 and the girls are in their 20s.

This hit home the other day when Pappu, the chairman of shuktara in Kolkata received a call from a Child Welfare Agency asking if we could take an older boy. Raju Biswas is Deaf and autistic, living with his mother in a room in a village three hours outside of Kolkata in rural Bengal. Her fear of what will happen to Raju when she dies led her to ask around for help.

Pappu met both Raju and his mother last week and on Sunday 28th February he and some of the boys from shuktara went to pick up Raju, see his mother and sign all the legal paperwork. Raju’s mother has no TV or mobile phone but her neighbour has said that she can video call from her phone to Pappu and keep in touch with her son.

We are all happy to welcome one more Raju to shuktara and let’s try to remember that even though, through habit, we talk about the girls home and the boys home, these are mostly young men and women who because of their disability have lost, left or been abandoned by their families.
Shuktara is their home now, it’s not an orphanage, it’s not a children’s home, it is their home and for most of them it will be their home forever.

Welcome Raju!

Christmas at shuktara

Santa comes to shuktara

Posted on by shuktara

Our friend Debasish dressed up as Santa Claus to deliver gifts to all the boys, girls and young people at Anna Bari and Lula Bari. You can see by the smiles that everyone was happy and absolutely delighted with their presents.

Click here for some fantastic short videos from Santa’s visit to shuktara.

shuktara - Sunil wearing flag mask

Independence Day at shuktara

Posted on by shuktara

On midnight 15th August 1947 India became independent. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first Indian Prime Minister said these words “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.”

This year marks the 74th Independence Day celebration. All over India people observe this important day with flag-hoisting ceremonies, parades and cultural events.

At Anna Bari, the shuktara boys home, Pinku returned to join in the celebration. Pinku is now living independently and supporting himself. After raising the flag Pinku set a green kite to fly free, much to the delight of Bappa (see the photos below). Bappa had fun moving his wheelchair in circles (video below). And Sunil, who absolutely loves the Indian flag, wore a mask embellished with the tricolour of saffron, white and green.

Meanwhile at Lula Bari the girls gathered around the flag and sang the Indian National Anthem with Pappu. The video is below – keep watching to see Muniya lift her fist in a salute to Indian independence!