Calendar celebrates acid attack survivors

She loves playing carrom with friends. Her favourite festival is Holi. And like most teenagers her age, she is excited about turning 15 soon.

Meet Dolly, an acid-attack survivor who stepped out of her house in Agra almost after two years this January.

“It was difficult in the beginning. Now, I do not care. My parents never remind me of the incident,” she said with a smile. 

Her mother, who ekes out a living as a domestic help, got in touch with Stop Acid Attacks, an initiative of NGO Chhanv, recently, and they launched a calendar featuring the girl, with others like her, on the pages. Dolly is eagerly waiting to start school this session.

After the attack, her determination to be a doctor some day has grown stronger. She is seen posing with a board saying “I wanted to be a doctor” on the calendar launched on Sunday, the third anniversary of the initiative Stop Acid Attacks.

The calendar “Bello” features 12 acid-attack survivors and their dreams. It aims to redefine the concept of mainstream beauty.

While one survivor is seen with a camera, another is seen posing in front of a microphone, her aspiration to be a singer intact even after the gruesome attack.

Projecting the survivors’ dreams through the lens was the most important task for him, said photographer Rahul Saharan, the man behind the camera for 10 images in the series.

Soniya, who runs a salon out of her home in Ghaziabad, is now planning to open a salon in Delhi.