Kids of Adruta Children’s Home, Rayagada, at Bhubaneswar airport before boarding their flight to Delhi for sightseeing. Picture by Sanjib Mukherjee

Bhubaneswar, April 18: For 11-year-old Basanti Nayak of Adruta Children’s Home, Rayagada, a journey to the sky was always a dream. Her dream came true today as she took the flight to Delhi along with 39 other children as part of a unique initiative by the members of Bhubaneswar Round Table 53.

The children, who hail from undivided Koraput district — a hotbed of Maoist activities — would visit historic monuments such as India Gate, Parliament and Rashtrapati Bhavan before returning to Bhubaneswar.

All the children belong to the Adruta Children’s Home, an orphanage in Rayagada. A part of Bhubaneswar Round Table 53 social service project — which aims at removing social inequalities — the programme was aptly named ‘Fantasy Flight’. Like Basanti, Amir Kumar Sahu (13) was also part of the group that boarded the flight to Delhi from Bhubaneswar for the sightseeing tour.

“I had never been to a city such as Bhubaneswar and never had an idea what an airport looks like. Boarding a flight had never crossed my mind. I am extremely happy as I am going to fly to the nation’s capital. As the inmates of the children’s home, we had dreamt of seeing the rest of the world. But this is the first time our dreams are taking shape,” he added.

Mukesh Nayak (5), who was at the Biju Patnaik Airport along with others, said: “I had only seen photographs of the aeroplanes in books. Today I saw a plane with my own eyes. Visiting the country’s capital will be exciting.”

Sagarika Mishra, superintendent of the children’s home in Rayagada said: “The kids staying at our home belong to Koraput district. They include orphans, children in distress and those belonging to single parents. Our centre was selected from among many other entries from various districts in the state. This gesture by Bhubaneswar Round Table 53 will help the kids by exposing them to the outside world.” A member of the Round Table team, Zishan Ali said: “In the capital, we have been associated with several projects for needy children in slum schools, Bhima Bhoi Blind School, Rawa Academy and many flood relief operations. On earlier occasions, orphan and slum children of the city were taken on fun trips to Hyderabad and Calcutta.” “Our effort is not only to bring joy to the children of the urban poor and orphans but also to widen their mental horizon,” he added.