The children basked in the attention and encouragement they received from the visitors. A signature campaign was also underway in which many pledged to keep the flame alive.

As many as 16 Delhi partners of CRY participated in the celebrations, including organisations like Aanchal, Ashray, Swati, Mahak, Navsrishti and Samarth. All the organisations brought along children aged between eight and 16. Mahak, a voluntary group run by Raju Verma, a CRY member, instills confidence in the children of the JJ colony in Madangir, besides teaching them the constructive use of waste and other skills, such as mask-making, to help them earn their living.

``For one, these children have to be taught to be confident and convinced that there is a lot that they can do, instead of being resigned to their fate. And once that is done, you should see the difference in their personality. They become so confident, it is amazing,'' said Verma, who has been working with these children for the last two years.

Two young members of his group, Suresh and Rakesh, chipped in to tell us that they would like to become a cricketer and a doctor respectively. ``I want to be a cricketer, because they are so impressive and every one likes them so much,'' said Suresh, while Rakesh, his elder brother, felt that a doctor is more respected and gets more money.

Another volunteer organisation, Samarth, works in the Shahbad Dairy area. ``Samarth works especially for the girl-child in this area,'' said M.M. Vidyarthi, a volunteer from the group. ``The focus of this organisation is to provide primary education to the children,'' he said. According to him, 70 per cent of the children who come to them are girls. And one of the young girls who was present was 12-year-old Anita. Eager for `a repeat performance', she tried to persuade the organisers to let her go on stage `one more time'. Anita has lost the use of her left foot and wants to be a nurse when she grows up. ``It was so difficult to persuade her parents to let her come to the school five years ago. And looking at her confidence today, you cannot tell that she used to be extremely shy when she came to us,'' says Vidyarthi. Thirty per cent of the children Samarth has on its rolls are handicapped.

Nav Sristhti, another organisation that works for girl children in the Neb Sarai and Nagloi areas, runs a three-fold education scheme for the school -- primary education, elementary education for school drop-outs and vocational training. ``Most women and children come from Muslim backgrounds, where women are not allowed to venture out. There are too many mouths to fill and very few bread earners. Therefore, vocational training is a major hit,'' said Reema Banerjee, director, Nav Srishti. And under its vocational training programme, the organisation teaches its members stitching, knitting and embroidery. The idea is to enable them to earn their living, says Banerjee.