Event Date: 13th March 2024
After a strong, positive start to the series ‘Safar Zindagi Ka’ (SZK) with Episode 1, the second one got a massive response from everyone and set this event into a long term series. There was no looking back after this 2nd episode (Ep2)! Soon after, we even had our 3rd episode, with a very special and unexpected guest. 🙂
For Ep2, we had Sister Vandana Petkar, a member of the medical unit at Dongri, who works there as a nurse. She had very sportingly agreed to become the next guest in this series after the superintendent, even though she was a little scared and hesitant. When we spoke to her, she shared that she decided to simply say yes thinking, “Har baar kyu mein peeche hatu aur peechi hi rahu nayi cheez aati hai toh? Mein bhi aage badh kar kuch naya try kar sakti hoon!” (“Why should I always step back and stay at the back whenever there’s something new or a new opportunity? I can also take a step forward into the unknown sometimes!”). This was such a powerful insight, that we asked her to share it in the actual interview as well. 🙂
The 1st episode had set a strong context and excitement in everyone, so much so that Ep2 happened in less than 20 days of Ep1! A couple of days after Ep1 itself, we sat with Sister Petkar to know more about her life journey so that we could prepare the questions for the interview. After knowing about her journey, we ourselves were quite moved and taken aback since we never expected such a life story behind the smiling face that we were seeing everyday. Her story was one of grit, resilience and hard work.
This time, we added a new element to the series – we asked one of the boys to co-anchor the interview along with me. This was a big opportunity for him and he readily accepted it. Except, he had one question for us: “Mein ek apradhi hoon. Mein waha par beth ke questions puchunga toh unhe bura lagega na? Unko disrespectful lagega na?” (“I am an offender. If I sit there and ask questions to her, she would feel bad, right? She would feel disrespected?”). We explained to him that it is not so and in fact we had already taken her permission to have him as a co-anchor and she had agreed. We further explained to him that it is true that he has committed an offense and is here at Dongri, however, there is no hierarchy in our events and programs, and that as a human being, he is not devalued. He felt reassured and agreed on becoming the co-anchor. He prepared well for the interview and was diligently revising the questions that he had to ask.

On one end, as we started preparing questions and overall themes for her interview, we also started collecting surprise video clips from her family members and close colleagues along with some of her childhood pictures. Her family was very enthusiastic and supportive through this process and shared some heartfelt videos. They also ensured that her parents send a video from her village. By the end, we had many surprise video clips to play during the interview from her family, friends and colleagues and this was very special for Sister Petkar as well as the audience. It captured everyone’s attention and emotion!
As the day of the interview was approaching, there was a growing anticipation in the air and a sense of curiosity about what would unfold during the interview. Interestingly, on the same day we also had a Women’s Day celebration planned after a genuine and innocent request from the medical team itself, which added to the feeling of novelty and celebration. Finally, as we started the interview, we had a full house with the audience and a guest who was a little nervous and a little excited! The interview itself went smoothly, as per our plan. The questions were flowing one after the other and so were the answers, interrupted only by the surprise videos and rounds of applause.
Here are some highlights from her story. She was raised in a village and her father was a farmer. She went to a local school and was very keen on academics, but there was not much support from her home, especially as a girl child. She had to borrow books from her friends to study at night, she had to often study under a lamp because of limited electricity, she also had to endure some beatings for studying! After completing her 10th grade, her father was not supportive of higher education. However, she had conviction that only education could bring her and her family out of the current hardships they faced. She worked extensively in other people’s farms during her summer vacations after 10th grade to earn some money to support her further education. These earnings only allowed her to complete her 12th grade. After that, there was again a lot of uncertainty but eventually she managed to get admission into a nursing course at KEM college in Pune. Her family was extremely against this, but somehow she managed to convince them. She did not have the funds to pay the tuition and so she had to request money from 3 different people to pay the fees. During this entire period, she had a feeling that there was no one to say “I have your back!”. This was largely relatable to many children and it landed strongly. Despite these challenges, she went on to complete the course and become a nurse. She said she had a strong desire and conviction to do something in life, to become someone, and to stand on her own feet. Despite the resistance from her family throughout this period, she continued to share a warm and familial bond with them. From there on, she shared about her life after marriage and her family life. After this sharing, when we played some of the videos of her family members, she was moved to tears at multiple points, listening to their messages and reflecting back on her life. It was a special moment for her, for us and also for many in the audience, to see the human side in relationships, to see the raw emotion, to see the genuineness and vulnerability of a person they interact with everyday. She went on to share about her early days at the Dongri Children’s Home in 2012, when she was single handedly taking care of all the medical needs of the children here, when there were about 300+ kids at a time! It was an extremely difficult period and there were a lot of struggles. The audience very quickly realized that the current medical situation of the Home was extremely good and significantly better than what it was just about 10 years back and there was a sense of gratitude.

Towards the end, when we asked her who had been her mentors, she instantly replied, “Time and Experience!” and indeed time and experience have played the role of a mentor in many of the children’s lives as well. As closing remarks, she shared her message for the audience, which landed very strongly since now they knew that the person had walked the path. She said, “Aap log alag alag background se aaye ho, alag alag families se aaye ho, alag alag life situations dekh kar aaye ho. Par woh sab itna matter nahi karta hai. Aap ek baar than lo ki aap ko zindagi mein kya karna hai, aapko kya banna hai aur uspe kaam karo. Ek baar aap decide kar ke mehnat karna shuru karoge toh aap ko support milega aapki iss koshish mein aur aap safal bhi honge. Lekin, pehle aap ko than leno hoga ki kya karna chahte ho aur uss disha mein bahuat mehnat karni hogi.” (“You all have come from different backgrounds, different families, different situations, but all that doesnt matter. You make up your mind and decide what you want to do in life, who you want to become and then work hard towards it. Once you do that, you will get support on the journey and you can become successful in your aspirations. But first, you need to make a firm decision and work extremely hard towards it.”) As she closed with this message, there was a wave of applause and claps from the audience. The superintendent went on to echo the learnings and the message and said, “halat kuch bhi ho, lekin agar honsala buland ho, toh jo hum hasil karna chahte hai woh kar sakte hai.” (“Whatever be the circumstances, if our determination and efforts are in place, then we can achieve what we wanted to achieve.”). He also spoke fondly about the journey of Sister Petkar and her incredible journey.

After the interview, all the staff members shared with Sister Petkar that they were all moved and inspired by her story. She felt very good and elated. Over the next couple of days, many children also came and told her how they felt about the interview and her story. Overall, everyone now connected with her in a different way, in a more human way, in a transformed way! Our connection with her surely underwent a big transformation too – it now feels as if we are close friends who have known each other for a very long time.
In some sense, these interviews are a celebration of those people’s lives who have devoted themselves to this work with the children at the Home. Ep2 went extremely well and it uplifted all of us. It aroused a deep sense of meaning and purpose in our work and a sense of interconnectedness with everyone around us. We look forward to further episodes of this series and connecting with various members of the staff and showcasing their stories and life journeys to everyone at the Dongri Children’s Home. Stay tuned for more…