Making a difference in their life

By K. Kannan

NEW DELHI, JUNE 6.

Master Abhishek Eshwar, a Class VI student of St. George's School, Alaknanda, has done what more children his age should do -- create awareness about polio among children of construction workers and the labour class. The result -- he won a prized trip to Walt Disney World last month.

He is one of the many ``Millennium Dreamers'' whom McDonalds felt it should encourage as part of a concept in which young people who are making a difference to their communities are being recognised and their commitment being reinforced.

Abhishek along with one of his parents represented North and Eastern India at a Special Children's summit at the Walt Disney World resort in Florida from May 8 to 10. ``It was nice interacting with children from other parts of the globe,'' the young achiever says.

While in Disneyworld, he shared with other children how he was trying to spread awareness among parents of children under 5 years in his locality in Haryana and nearby villages about the dreaded disease, encouraging them to administer polio drops to their children.

By taking pains to list names of below 5 years old children who were targets for polio programme and sharing this information with local health authorities, Abhishek has surely shown the way to others.

The Millennium Dreamer's programme crowns ordinary children with extra-ordinary achievements and while Abhishek was the lucky one to bag the ticket to Disneyworld, there were many who had done equally good work. Eleven year-old Diksha Dhingra, for example, undertook a ``blackboard revolution'' to teach children from her neighbourhood slum and her maid.

Then there was the 13-year old Ritwitwika Bhattacharya who has been imparting knowledge to the underprivileged children. Ankita Bhasin, all of 14 years, also taught little maids who were working as children in her colony and she was fondly referred to as ``Teacher Didi.''

What was special to Abhishek Eshwar was the fact that he carried on the fight against polio in a variety of ingenious and thought- provoking ways which impressed the jury members. His inspiration to contribute to society came from a very dear aunt of his who he had seen suffering from polio.``When the Government launched the Pulse Polio initiative, I decided to take the message forward,'' he says.

Academically also, Abhishek holds an excellent track record of consistently securing the first position in all standards since childhood. So, how did he receive the news that he had won a trip to Disneyworld for the social commitment he had displayed? ``It was a pleasant surprise,'' he admits.

It was a three-day programme, Abhishek recollects. ``On May 7, I along with my father reached Disneyworld. The next day, we went to a place called the Magic Kingdom. At night, we had a tapestry of national colours as children from all parts of the world had gathered for the summit. We had an enjoyable evening with Christopher Reed,'' he recalls.

``I also visited a place called the Animal Kingdom. Another memorable visit was to the Disney MGM Studios where we went to a place called the Hollywood Tower of Terror,'' he adds.

The programme was conducted in association with UNESCO and the search for the remarkable young people spanned 117 countries all over the world. In India, the search was held in association with the Ministry of Human Resource Development and Reader's Digest.

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