It was a moment of great pride and joy when the Lifeline Express rolled into the green sylvan surroundings of Chiplun Railway Station, the location of its 50th project and the completion of 10 years of the Lifeline Express' existence.

Chiplun itself was a hubbub of enthusiasm and frenetic activity all over. Nurses and workers scurried about preparing the screening department for the deluge of patients they would meet for the next four weeks. Men were giving the finishing touches to a grand, mirrored pandal (canopy), tying bamboos and fixing ropes to the tune of Hindi music that issued from some radio nearby.

Soon, the crowds began to assemble. The anticipation grew in leaps and bounds. And then on cue, Mr. Ranganathan, Chief Secretary to the Government of Maharashtra, and other VIPs arrived. Amongst them were Mr. Shahzad Hussain, Public Health Secretary, Government of Maharashtra, and Mr. Rajiv Dubey, Managing Director, Rallis India who had donated the medicines, aids and appliances for the project. Mr. Ranganathan cut the ribbon, inaugurating the project amidst innumerable clicks, murmurs and flashes of light that issued from countless press cameras around him.

Throughout the support and eager anticipation for the project was conveyed amongst many praises and many thanks. More was in store however, as soon after, the children began to move up on stage for the big event - the dance drama “Main Bhi Sunder Hoon” (I am also beautiful).

The story they were to narrate by medium of dance and song was that of a young boy Sunder (meaning “beautiful”) who is tragically born with a severe cleft lip. Persecuted by family and friends, the boy runs away to the forest, where he meets the animals of the jungle, who see the beauty within him and befriend him. Sunder hears the whistle of the Lifeline Express, which comes to their village, and reluctantly goes to the train. He emerges, smiling, his lip corrected by the doctors aboard the Express. The dance was to the music of Santoor Maestro, Pt. Shiv Kumar Sharma. It was indeed a fitting way to usher in the half-century mark for the Lifeline Express.