ENGLISH SPEECH | AISHWARYA RAI BACHCHAN
Good afternoon everybody, ladies and gentlemen,and the Smile Train extended family. I congratulate Smile Train today for completing500,000 cleft surgeries in India. In the context of what we're talking about,it is a short span of 18 years, and I consider myself extremely privileged to be sharingthis, in celebrating this occasion because, in the honourable work that Smile Train does,this is truly and very endearingly referred to as a “smilestone”. One that we collectively are extremely proudof. And one we feel blessed to be a part of. Smile Train and I have now been associatedfor almost a decade. And this journey has truly been wonderful. Thank you for having me on board, on thiswonderful journey. I feel blessed to have had the opportunityto be a part of making a difference in the lives of so many children born with a cleft,and I'm happy to see so many children treated.
I've had the opportunity on various occasionswith Smile Train to have interacted with the children. Post their surgeries, and we all talk aboutat our various meets about how the kids get a new lease of life and get to enjoy all theprivileges that we all do on a day-to-day basis of this blessed life. And it's really, truly very, very fulfillingto experience that first-hand with the children. But all this would not have been possiblewithout the dedication and the work of all you doctors. Thank you so much for partnering with SmileTrain, all the nurses, the speech therapists, the orthodontists, the workers on the ground,on the job, thank you for your dedication and your continuous efforts to help the dreamsof so many children and their families come true. And by providing cleft care to all these children,we are actually able to give them a wonderful life. And this in itself is a blessing for eachof us.
Your dedication, your hard work, and yourcompassion truly is the driving force of Smile Train. The outreach workers who travel from villageto village to reach out to children with clefts, uniformed personnel of border security forceand Sashastra Seema Bal and their Wives Association who connect children with Smile Train in borderareas and difficult geographies.
The government partners who work with SmileTrain under the National Health Mission. You all make invaluable contributions in ensuringthat every child has access to cleft treatment. It gives me joy to see the generosity of thecorporate sector in India and all the individual donors. Thank you so much for keeping this journeyongoing. With everyone's support and dedication, I'mconfident of many, many more “smilestones” to come. I have been fortunate to have also had theopportunity of sharing on this, my journey, my family's participation. My parents and my daughter also recently orbe it very early in her life has gotten introduced to the work that we do together with SmileTrain. And I'm so thankful, so grateful to God thatI've been able to share in this experience and get them to recognize and get them toparticipate in such effective work with children. I'd say world over, but at this point, currentlyvery, very strongly even here in India. Last year, Smile Train very, very generouslyoffered to honour my father the late Mr. Krishna Raj Rai by announcing his birth date, the20th of November as the day of Smiles.
Thank you so much because this meant so muchto us. My father worked with me, with Smile Train,and you know, you all who know me over the years, know that I like to always do somethingmore effective and more concrete, on every personal occasion actually of our family. That's what my parents always taught me. So, these things don't get announced, butwe've always done it. So, when the, my daughter's birthday is onthe 16th of November and dad's is the 20th. So, the year before, in fact, was the firsttime, his last, that I celebrated Aaradhya and dad's birthday together. So, this year was particularly emotional forus as a family. And I really wanted to do something very,very effective. And with daddy, it had to be about smiles. It had to be about celebrating everythingthat he has taught me, everything that we have passed down through me to Aaradhya. It had to be about bringing a smile to people'slives. And we have worked together with Smile Train. So, thank you so much that we have togetherdecided that the 20th of November will be the day of smiles. And we continue to bring smiles into so manychildren's lives, people's lives and their family's lives. Every day deserves to be as a day of smiles,in everybody's life.
I always say it's in the now, it's in thepresent. You've got to thank God for this blessingcalled life every minute. And we have to make a difference every minutethat we can. And hence, a day of smiles is every day. But yes, I guess I've chosen to underlineit with the 20th of November. I'm proud to be associated with Smile Trainfor all these years. And I extend my heartfelt congratulationsonce again, to everyone present here and all those who are unable to be present here withus today for your effective work, for your dedicated work. Thank you so much for making a differencein so many children's lives and supporting the work of Smile Train through the AishwaryaRai Foundation, has been my small personal contribution in the larger picture of thehonourable and effective change in the lives of cleft patients. I look forward to continuing working withSmile Train for many, many more years to come.
We refer to the number of years. We refer to the numbers in terms of the surgeries,these many “smilestones” to feel inspired, to feel motivated, to feel validated withall the work that everybody does on a daily basis. But these are merely numbers and there's noend to wanting to achieve that next “smilestone”. So, the work we all agree will be ongoingfor as long as, and as far as our journey can take us. So, I won't put a cap on the number of years. We're all here to continue doing what we cando, and at the same time in all humility, I say, thank you. Thank you, each one of you. God bless. And I can't stop saying, thank you.
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