Aishwarya Rai Bachchan at 17th Annual Sports Meet for differently abled children CineEye, December 18, 2018September 26, 2019 Aishwarya Rai Bachchan visited the 17th Annual Sports Meet for the Differently Abled Children hosted by the Narsee Monjee Educational Trust. The Sports Meet took place on the newly advanced and state-of-the-art Jamnabai Narsee Playground. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan took salute and declared the sports meet open. 1250 differently abled students from 49 special schools participated in the Special Sports Meet in order to celebrate the spirit of inclusion. The brainchild of Trustee Smt. Urvashi Thacker, this event symbolises the ‘celebration of life’. The maiden venture began in the year 2002. “Seeing our school kids play at the sports event every year, I realised that we could provide a similar platform for special kids,” says Smt. Urvashi Thacker. Managing Trustee Shri Jairaj Thacker believes, “It is our good fortune to be able to offer this kind of a platform to the student community of the special institutions,” and Trustee Shri Sujay Jairaj emphasises, “Sporting activities help push boundaries and are vital to a sense of development and well being.” All the students participating in the Special Sports Meet are differently challenged – the visually impaired, the hearing impaired, the physically challenged and the intellectually challenged. They were assisted in their sports activities on this day by Jamnabai Narsee students who volunteered wholeheartedly and made this event enjoyable for them. Every year, transport is arranged for all the participating schools. The event began with a March Past of contingents from all participating schools followed by the ‘Mallakhambh’ performance by the students of the Victoria Memorial School for the Blind. The Athletes’ Oath was taken by the winners of the previous year’s sports event. The Torch Run was followed by varied athletic as well as festive races, depending on the capabilities of the students. This event always succeeds owing to the untiring support of the teachers who accompany their students to enable them to participate in the Sports Meet. Their passionate service makes them ‘angels in disguise’. Their patient encouragement and nurturing nature is the guiding force which helps the participants ‘celebrate life’ every day. Each participant was presented a gift and a Certificate. Winners were awarded medals and certificates. Overall winners were presented trophies. Events