Thursday 29 November 2012

Fund-raising Trunk Show of Handmade Home Furnishings

CC – Wild Flowers – saffron
CC – Foliage – light green

CC – Dragonfly – light green
CC – Dragonfly – garden green

CC – Flower beds – sunny yellow
CC – Blue Daisies – rust

CC – Sprig of flowers – butterscotch
CC – Sprig of flowers – brick red

Pocket – fishy
Pocket – whale in my pond

Pocket – blue kitties
Pocket – baby ele

Pocket – floral hat
Pocket – chicks

Team Miracle is hosting an online trunk show of hand-embroidered soft furnishings. Made with jewel-toned natural fabric and embroidered with silk threads, each piece has been lovingly crafted by Mita Banerjee, the founder of Team Miracle.

Aptly named ‘The Secret Garden’, each cushion cover and handy pocket brings a part of a beautiful garden right into your home. From wild flowers to ubiquitous leaves, gambolling baby elephants and cute kitties to spry little chicks and whales in a pond, your secret garden can be as imaginative and pretty as you want it to be. Invite nature into your homes with these happy handmade home furnishings. And, as you add a dollop of cheer to your home, You bring happiness into the lives of poor cancer patients, paraplegic soldiers and orphaned children. 50% of what you pay for these furnishings will go to the Team Miracle fund to support the above!

Can’t wait to add a pop of colour – to your home and to the lives of others? Here’s how you can buy these beauties.

Price:

Each cushion cover is priced at Rs. 350
Pockets are priced at Rs 250

Item code and catalogue:

Pocket – blue kitties
Pocket – baby ele
Pocket – floral hat
Pocket – chicks
Pocket – fishy
Pocket – whale in my pond

CC – Dragonfly – light green
CC – Dragonfly – garden green
CC – Wild Flowers – saffron
CC – Foliage – light green
CC – Flower beds – sunny yellow
CC – Blue Daisies – rust
CC – Sprig of flowers – butterscotch
CC – Sprig of flowers – brick red

Contact Mita Banerjee at: mitabaner@gmail.com or call at +91 9850309598

Wednesday 28 November 2012

Enthooz – our music band!

Enthooz - rehearsal in progress



One of Team Miracle’s first activities was to hold Music Programs at the Paraplegic Rehab Centre, Artificial Limb Centre or at the Cancer Wards of hospitals. Nowadays, we have tie-ups with various schools, and music and dance academies, who volunteer wonderful programs. But it all started as an in-house family band – my husband Anup who plays the mouth organ, his brother Amitabh on the guitar, his wife Neelima, and Art Based Therapy practitioner who is a wizard on a variety of unusual instruments and last but not least – Neeti Kaikini our vocalist, (whom we have nicknamed our Nightingale  because of her beautiful voice).

Fired by our enthusiasm for making music and spreading cheer through music, Neeti has nicknamed us the ‘Enthooz’.

Our regular get-togethers at Amitabh-Neelima’s home to rehearse our Golden Oldies songs are a real picnic. Sometimes. Their kids Mohit and Shubha also join in – Mohit on the tabla, and Shobha on the keyboards. And after the rigorous four-hour session, Neelu rewards us with a scrumptious lunch (or dinner if it’s evening).

Now that’s a great reason to have a Music get-together isn’t it?

Wednesday 21 November 2012

Team Miracle - How we started




We are all part of a wonderfully vibrant support group, which we like to call Team Miracle. We work with paraplegic soldiers, poor cancer patients who can barely afford treatment or nutritious diet, orphans and destitute women who have faced domestic violence.

How Team Miracle started is a story of so many (seemingly) unconnected incidents, which magically came together at some point of time!

When and how did Team Miracle start? And why do we call it Team Miracle?

It’s difficult to pinpoint an exact date and say, “Oh, this is the day we started Team Miracle.” Because the entire effort has been unfolding like a Miracle.  Each of our members has come in at the right time like a Miracle, like an answer to a prayer, and helped out in their own unique ways.

It started out with just my husband and I wanting to help others in whatever little ways we could. We had already been doing a little work for Cancer Patients Aid Association (CPAA) and the Artificial Limb Centre (ALC) – nothing much, just talking to them, counseling them and trying to give them some emotional boost.  

When we learnt that CPAA held Music Programs at the cancer wards of hospitals, we decided that my husband Anup, who loves playing the harmonica (mouth organ), could put his musical talents to use and cheer up the patients. We were selecting the list of songs, when we got a call from Anup’s brother, Amitabh.  Amitabh is such a busy professional that we barely meet, even though we live in the same city. But the moment he heard of our program, he wanted to join in, along with his guitar. Along with him came his wife Neelima who’s done Art Based Therapy and plays a host of unusual musical instruments. Well, that was even better!

Two days later, Amitabh called up to ask if a former colleague of his – Neeti Kaikini – could join in too. Neeti’s parents are both cancer survivors and she wanted to do her little bit to give back to the hospital where they had undergone treatment. Would we mind? This was God-sent…more so, because Neeti turned out to be a real nightingale.

More miracles:

More miracles were to come. Nader Shaikh, Executive Chef at the 5-star Le Meriden, and an old friend, also joined the bandwagon by sending delicious (and nutritious) food packets for all the 80 patients in the ward.

This first Music Program at the Command Hospital on 29 April 2010 was a real success. Now, you tell me, didn’t all this come together as one big Miracle!

A few months later, on 7 Oct, 2010, we planned another music program at the same venue. Our musicians remained the same, but who would sponsor the fruits and biscuits for the patients? A day before the event, just when we were despairing of finding a sponsor, a miracle happened! My friend Suchismita’s voice came floating cheerfully over the telephone lines. She and her husband Jayant Pai, would like to chip in.

These were the original members who helped us. Since then so many have offered help in cash and kind …just when we need it most, that we could think of no better name than  Team Miracle.

What do you say?