When I entered Grade 10, participating in Kahaani was high on my bucket list. Not only did it seem to bring everyone closer together in ways I believe only (Bollywood) music can, but it supports a phenomenal cause that should be (supported) regardless of how the show turns out.

Kahaani is a show entirely student-run by the Global Concern ‘Kolkata GC’. The GC supports an NGO called ‘Voice of World’ which shelters underprivileged children in Kolkata. They take in socially outcast children, but especially support visually challenged children.  The NGO does outstanding work with supporting these children all the way into adulthood, providing them with unforgettable experiences such as hiking in the mountains, dance lessons with teachers, and getting an incredible education that gives them a great foundation. This noble NGO has changed thousands of lives, fighting against the stigma of disabilities, especially in India. The funds from Kahaani go towards helping this NGO continue to prosper and support children.

Joining a Global Concern is not mandatory for High-Schoolers anymore, but I realised I really wanted to help a place, a cause I was passionate about. Not only did this GC help India, (where my parents are from), but it also strongly believes in giving children who do not have equal rights the opportunity to build themselves up into someone.

However, as with any Global Concern, its hard to imagine the impact that you’re making from so far away. Though you want to help, you feel you sit for 40 minutes in a classroom drafting emails for Kahaani, and it’s easy to forget why you’re there. So I was incredibly overwhelmed when Bilwa Da, an extremely talented visually impaired musician, whom Voice of World has supported since he was tiny, visited our GC the day before Kahaani. The feeling was quite indescribable. This man, who fought against society’s stigma, did not have parents and probably had a somewhat traumatic childhood. He was only able to realise the exceptional gift God has given him because of Voice of World. I felt…priveleged. So eternally privileged for the situation I was born into, the parents I was gifted with, the healthy body I came in, and the world I was exposed to. My first thought was astonishment at how Bilwa Da had managed to make so much of his situation despite his imparity, but I realised it was that ‘disability’ that shaped his talents. His ears had become twice as strong, doubly sensitive and his voice became that much more beautiful. It was a moment of true inspiration. One may view their abnormalities as a mistake of God, and others use it to become their strongest suit. I realise this is a revelation most people go through at some point in their lives. I’ve read about the emotion overdrive that takes over when people realise the struggle that many face to fight their way to places we were lucky enough to just be born into. That day, I was yet again, humbled and inspired, revved to make something real of myself.