Sugraahi the fest of the Social Service Soceity at Sri Venkateswara College- Parivartan took place this morning. The day long festival (that may also be called a small scale NGO Mela) started off with the ceremonial lighting of the lamp by the Chief Guest Mr. Harsh Mander, with Vaishnava Janato being sung in the background. This was followed by a poem on empathy in a very empathetic tone by Mrs. Poonam Pandey a teacher in the Hindi Dept. The Chief Guest, Mr. Harish Mander, an Indian social activist and a writer was felicitated by senior members of Parivartan. Mr. Mander currently is the convenor of the social organisation Aman Biradari. The performances for the day that livened up the Venky front lawn included a self choreographed classical dance performance by Kajol, the president of the Indian Dance Society- Nrityangana. After this the students of Dil Se foundation- one that works for the upliftment of street children- took to stage with their dance performance. Notable performances were the street play on consumerism and bad waste management by Sweccha foundation as part of their Spot it Stop it, clean up campaign, a poem recitation and dance performance both by the students of the National Association for the Blind. There were a few NGO stalls as well that were registering volunteers or simply disseminating information about their respective projects. Also a blood donation camp was held throughout the day in the college in collaboration with Ram Manohar Lohia hospital and it was encouraging to see the number of people who volunteered for the same. Sugraahi means sensitization and the all the efforts Parivartan made in the direction of sensitizing our young minds, were successful! Anugrah Gopinath and Surya Raju]]>
Charlie from ‘The Perks of Being a Wallflower’ (a novel by Stephen Chobosky) very rightly says, “We are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them”. In today’s world, a lot can and should be improved. And we, the people, have the power to affect real change. What most of us lack is the sensitivity to our surroundings. We need to broaden our minds and learn to understand and appreciate the attitudes, feelings and circumstances of others. In the spirit of this, Parivartan, the social service society of Sri venkateswara College, is hosting an NGO MELA -SUGRAAHI on 12th February 2013 in the front lawn of the college campus.
Representatives from various organizations and NGOs are coming to interact with students regarding their work. All the organizations will put up stalls and open up registrations, distribute pamphlets and manage various activities. Members of Parivartan have been volunteering with many of these organizations such as Friends Organization (works for the rights of the differently abled), Green Peace India and Sweccha (work for environmental causes/awareness), Dil Se (provides shelter homes to street children), BloodConnect (a student run organization that organizes blood donation camps across NCR), The Leprosy Mission (works for people suffering from leprosy) and National Association of Blind (works in regard with blind students). Other organizations that are coming include Yuvati (works for empowerment of women), Grameen Foundation (works for empowerment of women in rural India), Deeksha (works for the environment), Udayan Care, Goonj (both work to uplift kids without basic necessities) and Make a Difference (spreads education to kids). NGO MELA- SUGRAAHI a great oppoutunity for students from all over DU to interact with and become a part of such organizations and start affecting change.
The day starts with the inaugural ceremony at 10:00am with an address by the Chief Guest, Mr. Harsh Mander, an Indian social activist and a writer. At present, he is the convener of ‘Aman Biradari’ which works for secularism, peace and justice. His writings includes a collection of essays ‘Unheard voices: Stories of Forgotten Lives’ and Fear and Forgiveness: The Aftermath of Massacre (2009) among other works.
The day follows with events and competitions and you are sure to find something that’s right up your ally. There are going to be a number of skits and dance performances by kids from the various NGOs and organizations from 10:30am to 12:30pm. You won’t be able to help being won over by these. For all those up for a bit of a challenge, the fun kicks off with a photography competition at 9:00 am. This is followed by a kite flying competition starting at 11:00 am. Other events include face painting (12:30 pm onwards). To top it all, there’s a blood donation camp that’s going to be held from 10:00 am onwards. in foyer of college. Here’s your chance to really do something and help someone in need. And what is a MELA without food! Don’t worry, there are going to be enough opportunities for food, games and fun.
Hopefully by the end of the day, with our hearts a little lighter, we will all have become a little more receptive to the world around us, ready to “do things.”