Thane mental hospital organised sports day for its patients

Thane mental hospital organised sports day for the patients- Kheliyaad 2014. More than 300 patients participated in the various sports competitions held to boost their self confidence.
The winners were given medals and trophies, there was no age limit and hence everyone participated with equal vigour. "With over 1,400 inmates it gets difficult to get them all on the ground on a single day. Because of this reason we conducted many competitions beforehand and selected the winners from amongst the best performers. The winners got a chance to participate on the final day," said Dr R Shirsat, superintendent and psychiatrist, Thane mental hospital.
Various competitions like, tug of war, cycling, hurdle race, potato race and lemon and spoon race were conducted. For the convenience of the patients, the hurdles were not at a very great height. The participants were divided into various groups and were given a particular colour of t-shirt to wear to recognise their groups. Every competition had separate segments for men and women.
"It is overwhelming to watch them dance and jump with joy when they won something. This motivates us to conduct these events every year. Usually, we have our sports day during the month of February but this year it got delayed. They started practicing days before for the sports day. The enthusiasm to win and also the physical activity involved in it is a huge energy and a morale booster for their treatment," said Satyajeet Mohanty from Neptune Foundation who has been part of the volunteering initiative.
The sports competitions were followed by a session of yoga and a small magic show was organised for the entertainment of the patients. "The last few days have been so much fun. We ran around the ground playing and participating in various games all day," said one of the inmates.