In 1979, while high up in the skies, Air India purser Rippan Kapur had an epiphany that made him realise his life’s calling lay on the ground — particularly among children in underserved communities.
It has been four and a half decades since that day. Rippan’s revelation rippled into one of India’s most renowned social initiatives: CRY (Child Rights and You), whose impact has fanned out across 20 Indian states, reaching around 4.7 million children. Their prime objective — to protect children’s rights in education, health, nutrition, and labour — is juxtaposed against a deep realisation: a revolution takes a village. And so, the CRY model brings together parents, teachers, Anganwadi workers, communities, and district and state-level governments to effect change.
Take Anaya (name changed on request), for example. The speed with which she rattles off the multiplication table is amusing. But three years ago, school was a distant dream.
Anaya’s mother passed away when she was little, leaving her at the mercy of an alcoholic father who rejected any responsibility. The grandparents stepped in, but when the school demanded an Aadhaar Card, they were unable to provide one. How do you explain an absent father to the law? The unofficial adoption didn’t allow them to stand as legal guardians.
But the team at CRY refused to let the girl’s circumstances hinder her dreams. They helped Anaya’s grandparents with the legalities, and in 2022, Anaya officially secured the right to learn.
Another student, Sanjana (11), experienced a similar silver lining. During the pandemic, when her father’s earnings took a hit, Sanjana began learning karate and kickboxing at a local intervention centre run by CRY. At the 7th International Karate Tournament, she won gold in the 25kg Kumite bout. This love for self-defence has now grown into a passion to protect others, and Sanjana proudly declares her dream of joining the Indian Army someday.
You, too, can now advocate for children’s rights
“Their stories remind us that while challenges may arise, so does hope—and with it, the possibility of a brighter future for every child,” shares Isha Kalra, who has been a volunteer at CRY’s Dwarka division since 2022. When she was first made privy to Anaya’s background, Isha spotted its troubling contrast to her own privilege. She reasons, “I now realise that volunteering is much more than dedicating your time; it’s about investing in something bigger than yourself.”
This is exactly the message Rippan willed CRY to champion, says Anupama Muhuri, who heads the initiative’s national volunteering programme. Fifteen years at the organisation have taught her that, as lovely as it sounds, reaching every child in India isn’t a practical goal. But partnering with grassroots organisations makes it more realistic.
“We begin by deciding upon the pockets where we want to work.” Critical districts with a resource crunch are prioritised, she says, adding that CRY respects the local wisdom. “We recognise that these organisations that have worked in the said area for years have a better understanding of what needs to be done on the ground.” CRY’s role is to strengthen their resources to scale the final impact.
But development must be sustainable. Alluding to the adage, “Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day, teach him to fish and you feed him for a lifetime,” she points out, “When a child is helped momentarily, the family is happy. But the more important question we ask is whether this help is bringing the family out of poverty or deprivation.”
Instead of temporary assistance, CRY strengthens the systems that cater to children and their rights, thus ensuring that change is lasting. To grasp this better, picture a child at the centre of concentric circles. The child’s family occupies the immediate circle around them, encircled by the community and further encircled by a larger social system conditioned by policies. “CRY intervenes at all these levels,” Anupama notes. The goal, she says, is to help the region improve as a whole.
She illustrates this with an example. “Suppose we partner with an organisation that has intervention in five hamlets. CRY will assess the data of these families to check the major challenges — does the baseline show malnourishment in the children, child marriage, early dropout rates? These observations are mapped against the national average. We strive to have our averages much better than the national average. That’s our marker of success.”
And the quest for this success begins with individuals willing to dedicate their time, skills, and effort to create lasting change.
Driving change through accessibility
Many youth grapple with the ‘why’ of volunteering. Anupama reasons, “Do it because you want to use your privilege for a larger good.” Isha seconds her: “Volunteering isn’t just about giving; it’s about receiving profound lessons in humility, gratitude, and joy.”
No matter what you bring to the table, CRY will give your talent purpose, whether in content creation, article drafting, designing, working at grassroots levels with children, or corporate communication. The volunteering is unbound by time constraints.
This flexible module design was arrived at after a lot of thinking and research. Its reasoning is rooted in a collaborative market research study undertaken by CRY India in 2024. The study attempted to understand how youth, young professionals, and other stakeholders perceive volunteering, their willingness, expectations, and challenges while contributing to the larger society.
The question was simple. How do you perceive and prefer volunteering? And the findings fascinated them.
Short-term engagements are preferred, as are hybrid modes of volunteering, with 46 percent of participants showing an interest in the latter. This blend of in-person and online participation accommodates the dynamic lifestyles of youth and students.
And what are volunteers looking to gain from the experience?
Around 54.8 percent of participants responded that it was ‘a boost in confidence and self-esteem’. But Isha shares that once you step into a volunteer role, there is so much more beyond these to be gained. “Teaching the children, witnessing their growth, and sharing moments of laughter — even amidst their occasional naughtiness — were priceless. I also found camaraderie with my fellow volunteers, which significantly enriched my mental well-being and even improved my overall health.”
She calls her journey “empowering”, adding that the flexibility of CRY’s model allowed her to juggle her professional commitments with benevolence.
CRY works with around 10,000 volunteers across India to create a tangible impact across communities. Now, you, too, can become a part of this revolution.
Everyone can be a CRY champion
For most people — Anupama included — CRY has been a household name. Her earliest memories are of her parents insisting she purchase cards branded ‘CRY’ when she was younger. “They would explain that the money was used to help children in need,” Anupama shares. As fate would have it, years later, she landed a role at the place she grew up admiring. From a young age, she’d come to appreciate the initiative’s unique model. “It showed me how even a middle-class family could see the difference that a contribution of Rs 50 or Rs 100 could make in a child’s life.”
4.7 million children
And do these donations have the intended impact?
The answer lies in the 2,34,246 children enrolled in school in the last year alone.
But while progress is being made, the challenge remains immense. A Times of India article, headlined ‘43% of rural kids aged 14-18 can’t read this sentence’, points to the humanitarian crisis of illiteracy slowly unfolding across India. The report assessed 34,745 youth in the country, surveying them on four points: basic reading, maths and English abilities; application of basic skills to everyday calculations; reading and understanding written instructions; and basic financial calculations.
While the statistics aren’t ideal, CRY is attempting to bring hope, to ensure every child’s dreams have the wings they need. After all, this was the idea founder Rippan started with. He passed away in 1994 but left behind a legacy and proof that success doesn’t always need a corner office.
A legacy of altruism
In 1979, Rippan and six friends pooled in their savings — the total was Rs 50 — and bent their heads over a dining table. This would go down in history as CRY’s first official working day. With time, the ‘office’ moved out of the home and into a garage.
His memoir celebrates his creative abandon. “Like a child, he could take delight in the simplest and most affectionate of pranks and practical jokes. His energy and enthusiasm transformed ordinary tasks into special enterprises,” it reads.
While CRY only briefly experienced his genius, it lives on in the impact it continues to create. The story of how Rippan once brought in a team of British clowns to stage a travelling show called Circus Magic to entertain poor children still brings smiles to many. As he emphasised, “I have always believed that no matter how seemingly insurmountable the obstacles, they can be overcome through the power of collective action.”
Rippan believed that every child should have the liberty to dream big. And that those who can, should step in to make those dreams come true.
The question is, will you?
Volunteer at CRY today and make a difference in the lives of children.
Edited by Khushi Arora, All images courtesy CRY India
