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Home > Mumbai > Mumbai News > Article > Visually impaired youth set to brighten soldiers Diwali

Visually impaired youth set to brighten soldiers' Diwali

Updated on: 31 October,2016 08:43 AM IST  | 
Chaitraly Deshmukh |

The four will travel from Pune to Punjab, and then visit Firojpur campus, Hussainiwala and Wagah border to celebrate with BSF and the Indian Army

Visually impaired youth set to brighten soldiers' Diwali

The four visually impaired volunteers will present the sports kits to the jawans
The four visually impaired volunteers will present the sports kits to the jawans


To cheer Indian soldiers who are safeguarding the border and are away from home during Diwali, four visually impaired youth are travelling from Pune to Punjab, to celebrate the festival with them.


30-year-old Satish Navale, a visually impaired youth from Kolhapur, now residing in Pune, was inspired by various books related to the Indian Army which drove his passion for the defence forces. For past 14 years he and the Pimpri-Chinchwad-based Prerna Blind Association, have been collecting greeting cards from people to distribute them during diwali to our soldiers posted at the border.


By November 1 Navale and his friends plan to reach Punjab and then visit Firojpur campus, Hussainiwala and the Wagah border to celebrate with the BSF and Indian Army. They have also included a visit to a school for the blind in Amritsar.

2,500 greeting cards
Navale said, “This time, we have collected around 2,500 greeting cards made by Kolhapur and Pune school students, which we are planning to give our Indian soldiers. I and our volunteers have also collected Diwali faral from 87 people which we are going to distribute to them. At present the situation at the border is critical and since it is the festive season, our soldiers must be missing their families. We want to support them and at least we could brighten their Diwali with our small gesture.”

Another visually impaired youth, Hanumant Patil (27), who hails from Karad, and is a primary teacher said, “Our organisation has also managed to get three cricket sets which we are going to give the jawans. They have been given to us by master blaster Sachin Tendulkar, Ajinkya Rahane and Virat Kohli, with a small message wishing them for the festival.”

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