Joy through toys: Meet the 17-year-old who is bringing smiles to underprivileged kids across India

What is a childhood without toys? Dolls, superhero action figures, train sets, kitchen sets – they have all filled our childhood with joy and given us memories to hold onto.

Unfortunately, a large number of children in India can only dream of such small pleasures like having toys to brighten their childhood.

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Seventeen-year-old Aryamaan Lakhotia wanted to bring some cheer and joy to children across India. So he went the toy route with his organisation, Toy Joy, which distributes toys to underprivileged children.

So far, over 15,000 children have benefited through Aryamaan’s organisation.

When asked how it all began, Aryamaan told The Logical Indian,

I was 14 at the time when I started this initiative along with my sister and a few other cousins. I was in Jaipur at my cousin’s birthday celebration and she had received a lot of toys, which all of us already had. It was my grandmother who made us realise the importance of giving to people and hence, all of us came up with this idea.

In the six months following May 2016, Aryamaan collected more than 2,000 toys for underprivileged children. Later, he along with his group of friends started distributing toys through NGOs, orphanages, and evening schools of St. James', Our Lady Queen of the Missions School, Park Circus, and The BSS School, reports The Telegraph.

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Thanks to social media, the organisation now operates in seven cities across India including Kolkata and is looking forward to expanding to two more cities.

On the expansion, Aryamaan said,

We used social media to spread the message and many people responded positively. People who are keen on donating can contact Toy Joy, following which a franchise volunteer from their respective city would contact the donors.

The organisation also makes sure that all toys are cleaned and well packed before distributing it to NGOs or directly to children.

Aryamaan looks forward to registering Toy Joy in November 2019, when he turns 18.

Aryamaan is currently pursuing a Bachelor’s in Arts at Harvard University and was recently conferred with the Pradhan Mantri Rashtriya Bal Puraskar in the field of social science.

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