On this February 16, Team Victory Voices celebrated its first anniversary. I take this opportunity to speak as the voice of the team comprising : Smriti Chhabra, Mona Bhardwaj, Suman Kashyap, Kangan Jain, Nity Jain and yours truly. The last twelve months have been a beautiful journey of connecting with people and understanding the life challenges they overcame. Their stories of resilience, their small attempts to overcome difficult and challenging situations, only to walk out victorious, are comparable to the qualities of a Phoenix – a mythical bird that burns itself out only to rise from its own ashes, stronger and ready to fly again. We have been fortunate to meet people like Dr. Neeru Dhir and the young, inspiring class 10 student Saina Sarin, who left us with valuable lessons about never giving up. Romi Grover’s patience during the terrifying encounter aboard IC 814 leaves us with the lesson that there is always a ray of light at the end of the dark tunnel. Who would have thought that a chirpy, fun-loving, Bollywood-inspired young girl like Yogini Pallavi would dedicate her entire life to yoga? Of course, not to forget Sujata, the absolute foodie we all know her as, who has so much more to her identity. Dipika’s fight with the dreaded C is a stark reminder not to ignore the signals our physical selves give us.
While we recorded each Phoenix as they shared their journey of ups and downs, we faced our own set of challenges. Finding the correct venue to host these sessions, managing sound and light, and constantly requesting the audience to maintain silence were all hurdles. The toughest part came after the entire session ended – editing. We learned new technologies and acquired new skills (sometimes from the people we taught ABCs to).
We strained our eyes through the nights just to ensure we were ready with the best-recorded version of each session. While this was all done after the session, the “before the shows” and “behind the scenes” were no less of a mental rollercoaster. Sometimes there was a victory voice missing due to prior commitments or family matters, and at other times, we took special flights to be back in time for honorary ceremonies. In this last year, we have been blessed to be supported by our families and our friends across DLF Phase 2 and outside and acknowledged for our tireless efforts. This motivates us to continue this effort to bring more heart-touching stories with new hopes and new energy and newer Phoenixes in 2025.
