Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada   

A warm encounter

Staff Reporter

`UNCLE AND AUNT': Daggubati Purandareswari and D. Venkateswara Rao interacting with the children. — PHOTO: RAJU V.

VIJAYAWADA: There was nothing official about it. Union Minister of State for Human Resources Daggubati Purandareswari and her husband and Parchuru MLA Daggubati Venkateswara Rao just wanted to reach out to children at the Navajeevan Bala Bhavan, a shelter for streetchildren.

Very much impressed by the work being done by Koshy, director of the Bala Bhavan, the couple wanted to make a brief visit to meet the children before proceeding to Guntur district to attend a programme in NRI Medical College.

The proposed brief meeting extended to more than an hour, with the couple spending most of its time interacting with children and the staff at the shelter for streetchildren.

The couple was immediately welcomed into the family and given the titles of aunty and uncle by the children.

Ms. Purandareswari said that she was really overwhelmed by the "Bharateeyatha" - the national spirit prevailing in the young minds. Though Christian Missionaries established the shelter, children of all castes and creeds were being brought up to be exemplary citizens of India.

The Minister lauded the work being done by Navajeen to send children back to school by running bridge courses and urged the children to make the best of the opportunity.

Putting school dropouts back into school was one of the cryptic problems the Government was facing, she said. Dr. Venkateswara Rao said that seeing children seeking alms at traffic signals in Hyderabad filled him with sorrow and made him feel helpless. He said that it made him happy to learn that there were organisations like Navajeevan working for the rehabilitation of destitute children. He lauded the efforts of Navajeevan to provide a home-like atmosphere to the children and provide them counselling to overcome their problems.

`Love clap'

The children bade farewell to the couple with what was called a `love clap'. Beginning with a rhythmic clapping of hands and chest, the `love clap' ended with a flying kiss. Uncle and aunty were very much impressed by the warmth and discipline displayed by the children.

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