India’s book of dreams, “I dream…” addressed to the Honorable President of India, launched at KidZania Mumbai, to be distributed across libraries and museums in the country

Mumbai, India: Project Dream On India’s unique collector’s edition book called “I Dream... – India’s future through the eyes of her future” was launched at KidZania Mumbai on 15th December 2019. Created and curated by Avinash Jhangiani (Founder, Play2Transform Group), ‘I Dream…’ is the first-ever collector’s edition compilation of artworks and proses from the children of India addressed to the Honorable President of India.

The book launch event witnessed co-authors from partner NGOs and schools voice their collective vision for India with a ‘Voice of India’s Future’ presentation. Koli dance was performed by NES Deaf School, Bhandup to celebrate the dreams and aspirations of children. This was followed by a panel discussion with diverse changemakers from the education ecosystem and a Q&A session with the curator of the book. The future of India was finally unveiled by those will live it – children!

The panelists of the ‘I dream, design, deliver’ discussion included Rakhee Chhabria (Founder, TeachersHelpTeachers) as the moderator, Mandar Natekar (Chief Business Officer, KidZania), Vidyadhar Prabhudesai (Cofounder LeadCap Ventures), Deepa Bhushan (Director - Schools, C P Goenka Group Schools), Kusum Kanwar (Founder & MD KK Kids, Learning Systems) and Manasi Kashikar (Cofounder, Mindchamp Teaching Solutions).

“The ability to dream freely is the biggest gift that we can give our children because from there, comes a future of infinite possibilities to create a better world. KidZania has always believed in that. Project Dream On India is an initiative that has given a platform of expression to those dreams and hence became a perfect initiative for us to lend support to”, said Mandar Natekar, CBO KidZania India.

On being asked about the intent of the book, curator - Avinash Jhangiani, said, "Every drawing from India’s collective is a moment of truth, purpose breathing softly, biding its time. Our next step is to bring this book to the attention of the Honorable President of India, and reach key policy makers and change makers of the country so that they are able to take inputs from this book and use it for the transformation they are pushing for. For everyone else, we hope for this book to be the inspiration to dream high, dream strong and dream on!" 

Copies of the book will be distributed across major libraries and museums in the country.

With a foreword by Nobel Peace Laureate Kailash Satyarthi, the book contains 375 pages of diverse dreams and artworks of 150 Indian children, selected from over 10,000 dreams across India, that align with the UN Sustainable Development Goals. The project is supported by corporate sponsors like Mahindra Holidays & Resorts, Mahindra LifeSpaces, along with execution partners like CRY, GiveIndia, and many other social organizations and schools from across the country.