Friend, best buddies, interdependence, liberation, freedom – from friendship rises freedom. For a child, a friend is someone who gives them complete freedom to be themselves, someone they can count on. In a way, friendship enables freedom, just as freedom enables people to become true friends. Tying friendship with the values that independence stands for and emphasizing the importance of finding freedom in friendship, this August, Sony YAY! introduces Project Dosti. The channel launched an initiative that encouraged and empowered children from various divides to come to one platform with an aim of cultivating the true meaning of friendship while inspiring them to look beyond.
“Friendship and independence are two emotions that children connect deeply with. Whether it is their relationship with their best friends or getting freedom from their daily routine, these two sentiments are portrayed in everything they do. That’s where our thought for this initiative stemmed from. Our aim was to encourage our young viewers to embrace friendship in its truest form,” said SPN Kids Genre business head Leena Lele Dutta.
Children are the happiest around friends, and bringing in the idea of finding a friend in anyone, free of differences, Project Dosti integrated Friendship’s and Independence Day, uniting their young audience by friendship and celebrating a day free of inequality/disparity.
Hosted in Delhi on 7 August, the channel gathered children from Hope Foundation and BCC Model School for a fun-filled session of games and interaction. Encouraging unity, and with an aim of bringing out a special camaraderie amongst the children that encourages them to work towards the same objective, together, the channel picked an all-time favourite – Tug of War. Unity and team spirit were seen all the way making for a fun day out in Delhi. In Kolkata, children supported by the Leo Club of Calcutta Park Avenue and students of Birla High School got together to participate in the same game, living out the highs of team sport on 9 August.
“Our choice of activity rooted from promoting team spirit and unity as well, and what better game than Tug of War to promote that! We are thankful to all the schools and NGOs that came on board to support our thought and helped create a benchmark and a sense of unity for the future of our nation – our kids. Happiness is an experience and we want to convey this through everything we take up,” Dutta added.
Adding another layer of fun, Sony YAY!’s signature toons Honey and Bunny added oodles of fun to the day. Bunny, with his naughtiness and shenanigans, played fun pranks with the children while Honey awed them with his silly innocence – both making the kids love them like never before. Each encouraged different sides of the team, pushing the kids to do their best! Showcasing the friendship that Honey and Bunny share, and getting kids to experience a bond like theirs is what Project Dosti stands for.
The initiative combines the universal pull of friends and freedom to drive home unity amongst all. Celebrating children’s refreshing innocence, Sony YAY! hopes to set new reasons for friendship and happiness with this activity.