AISHWARYA RAI BACHCHAN: Bring a Smile | English Speech

 

Good afternoon everybody, ladies and gentlemen, and the Smile Train extended family. I congratulate Smile Train today for completing 500,000 cleft surgeries in India. In the context of what we are talking about, it is a short span of 18 years, and I considered myself extremely privileged to be sharing this, in celebrating this occasion because in the honorable work that Smile Train does, this is truly and very endearingly referred to as a “smilestone”. One that we collectively are extremely proud of. And one we feel blessed to be a part of. Smile Train and I have now been associated for almost a decade. In addition, this journey has truly been wonderful. Thank you for having me on board, on this wonderful journey. I feel blessed to have had the opportunity to be a part of making a difference in the lives of so many children born with a cleft, and I am happy to see so many children treated. I have had the opportunity on various occasions with Smile Train to interact with the children. Post their surgeries and we all talk at our various meets about how the kids get a new lease of life and get to enjoy all the privileges that we all do on a day-to-day basis of this blessed life.

In addition, it is really, truly very, very fulfilling to experience that firsthand with the children. However, not all this would have been possible without the dedication and the work of all you doctors. Thank you so much for collaborating with Smile Train, all the nurses, the speech therapists, the orthodontist, the workers on the ground, on the job, thank you for your dedication and your continuous efforts to help the dreams of so many children and their families come true. In addition, by providing cleft care to all these children, we are actually able to give them a wonderful life. In addition, this in itself is a blessing for each of us. Your dedication, your hard work, and your compassion truly is the driving force of smile train.

The outreach workers who travel from village to village to reach out to children with clefts, uniformed personnel of border security force, and Sashastra Seema Bal and their wives association who connect children with smile train in border areas and difficult geographies. The government collaborates who works with smile train under the national health mission. You all make invaluable contributions in ensuring that every child has access to cleft treatment. It gives me the joy to see the generosity of the corporate sector in India and all the individual donors. Thank you so much for keeping this journey ongoing. With everyone’s support and dedication, I am confident of many more “smilestones” to come.

I have been fortunate to also have the opportunity of sharing on, my journey, my family’s participation. My parents and my daughter recently or be it very early in her life have been introduced to our work together with smile train. In addition, I am so thankful, so grateful to God that I have been able to share in this experience and get them to recognize and get them to participate in such effective work with children. I had to say world over, but at this point, currently, very strongly even here in India. Last year, smile train very generously offered to honor my father the late Mr. Krishna Raj Rai by announcing his birth date, 20^th of November as the day of the smile.

Thank you so much, because this meant so much to us. My father worked with me, with smile train, and you know, you all know me over the years, know that I like to always do something more effective and more concrete, on every personal occasion of our family. That is what my parents always taught me. So these things are not announced, but we have always done it.

So, when, my daughter’s birthday is on the 16^th of November and dad’s is the 20^th. So, the year before, in fact, was the first time, his last, that I celebrated Aaradhya and dad’s birthday together. Therefore, this year was particularly emotional for us as a family. In addition, I really wanted to do something very effective. In addition, with daddy, it had to be about smiles. It had to be about celebrating everything that he has taught me, everything that we have passed down through me to Aaradhya. It had to be about bringing a smile to people’s lives. In addition, we have worked together with smile train. Therefore, thank you so much that we have together decided that the 20^th of November would be the day of smiles. In addition, we continue to bring smiles into so many children’s lives, people’s lives, and their family’s lives.

Every day deserves to be as a day of smiles, in everybody’s life. I always say it is in the now, it is in the present. You have been to thank god for this blessing called life every minute. In addition, we have to make a difference every minute that we can. Hence, a day of smiles is every day. However, yes, I guess I have chosen to underline it with the 20^th of November. I am proud to be associated with smile train for all these years. In addition, I extend my heartfelt congratulations once again, to everyone present here and all those who are unable to be present here with us today for your effective work for your dedicated work. Thank you so much for making a difference in so many children’s lives and supporting the work of smile train through The Aishwarya Rai Foundation, has been my small personal contribution to the larger picture of the honorable and effective change in the lives of cleft patients.

I look forward to continuing working with smile train for many, many more years to come. We refer to the number of years. We refer to the numbers in terms of the surgeries, these many “smilestones” to feel inspired, to feel motivated, to feel validated with all the work that everybody does daily. However, these are me3rely numbers and there is no end to warning to achieve that next “smilestones”. Therefore, the work we all agree will be ongoing for as long as, and as far as our journey can take us. Therefore, I will not put a cap on the number of years.

We are all here to continue doing what we can do and at the same time in all humility, I say, thank you.

Thank you to each one of you. God Bless.