Inspired by an all-girls team from an American university, children stage plays in slums to educate parents on non-violence and cleanliness

As little Ahmed led his troupe with the opening song, “Dariya ki kasam, mauja ki kasam, ye tana bana badlega. Tu khud ko badal, tu khud ko badal, tabhi toh zamana badlega”, people slowly trickled out of their shanties at Sangam Nagar in Wadala and crowded the streets.

Seven-year-old Ahmed, a student of NGO-run school Parivartan, was performing on the streets with his schoolmates for the first time, hoping to reach out to his family and neighbours and highlight the importance of sanitation, education, equality and, most important, communal harmony.

It was a clarion call for change, starting with his immediate neighbourhood.

A month’s practice and the kids turned into ace actors who could sing and enact short skits rapidly, one after another. “We could never imagine that we would ever have to face such a large audience and perform this play. I feel like I am an actor. Didis have helped us regularly,” says Saima, possibly the eldest at the school.

By Didis, she was referring to Juhi Chadda, Shriya and Zohar Fuller, students of Brandeis University in the US. They are in India on a ‘Revive Mumbai’ project and have dedicated an entire month to Sangam Nagar.

“We were clear about wanting to experiment within the community but weren’t sure how. But when we landed here and met the kids, we knew that they were the strongest medium to reach out to our target audience,” says Zohar.

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