Jogini children tongue-tied to talk to Nita Ambani

Attaluri Aruna Hyderabad: The children of Joginis who live in 'Aashray Foundation' run by Nirmala Grace here found themselves tongue-tied when Nita Ambani, wife of one of the world's richest person visited them on Thursday.A Sowmya, one of the inmates of 'Bhavita' hostel run by Aashray Foundation, could not reply to the question posed by Nita Ambani as to what was her problem. She said in an emotionally choked voice that her mother was paid Rs. 50 for her night's labour. These children of Joginis, the 'untouchables' by all means, i.e. by way of their caste and by the way their mothers are treated in the society, could not believe their eyes that the wife of the world's richest man was talking to them. A They felt happy to spend some valuable time with Nita. Nita Amabni came to Hyderabad on Thursday to worship Renuka Yellamma at Balkampet in the city and also visited Aashray where the children of Joginis were given shelter. There are about 50 children who faced the humiliation and insult throughout their life being children of Joginis.A Nirmala Grace, who is running Aashray Foundation, has been striving for the last three decades to eradicate the Jogini system and to give their children a better life and bright future. She has been presented Real Heroes Award by CNN-IBN in association with Reliance Foundation. Nita Ambani who heads the Reliance Foundation came here to see the ground work being done by Aashray Foundation. A Generally, the girls belonging to Dalit community are dedicated to the village and she is the property of every man in the village. She cannot say no to any man who wanted to spend a night with her for a paltry amount. According a survey, about 50,000 joginis are in Andhra Pradesh alone who are called Matangis in some coastal Andhra villages and Devadasi in other places. In Karnataka, they are called Basivinis. The one-man commission on Jogini System headed by Raghunath has stated that several millions of such women are found throughout the country. The children of Joginis are sheltered in the 'Bhavita' hostel run by Aashray Foundation. Nita Ambani spent a couple of hours with the children and even organized birthday function for three of them by cutting a cake for them. When Nita asked them about cricket, which films they like, who is their favourite hero, they could not react to answer them. But they have many other things are on their mind -- Chaitanya wants to become an IAS officer, Mallika wants to become a police officer, Vennela wants to settle in a good job, Prasanna wants to become a doctor. They wanted to know whether their dreams could be realized. They have bitter experiences in their life. They were thrown of out of the schools when they could not mention the name of the father in the application form. In fact, they really did not know who their father was. They wanted to ask Nita Ambani to extend some help to Nirmala Grace to serve more children like them. But they found their tongues tied.A However, Nita Ambani asked one girl Radha, a nursing student, whether she is interested in a job in Mumbai. Almost all of them have been studying hard securing 70 to 80 per cent marks facing adverse conditions in the society. It is not impossible for Nita Ambani to help them to become whatever they want if she really wants to help them. Her husband Mukesh Amabani gifted an aeroplane for her birthday and that is her stature. She would become a goddess for her if she thinks about them and their bright future. Otherwise, it would remain for them a two hours happy time with a piece of cake with the world's richest man's wife.