KRUTAJNYATA!!! :) :)

On  26^th of July, CSA visited a village in Hoskote district to attend the programme Krutajnyata. This programme was a thanksgiving event organised by the members of various villages, along with CSA volunteers.

Members of various villages, mainly women, came to  the programme. Shri S.N. Krishnaiah Shetty (Member of Legislative Assembly,  Malur Constituency), Shri Arun Kumar Bunyan , Dr. (Fr.) Augustine Thottakkara (Chancellor of Christ University) and CSA volunteers, attended Krutajnyata. This programme emphasized on the  ‘Chetana Project’ which was instrumental in the development of fourteen villages for seven years in various aspects like education, health, finance, women’s upliftment and so on. The funding organisation Kindernothilfe (KNH) Germany, The Church’s Council for Child and Youth Care (CCCYC), Christ University (CSA), and many others were withdrawing their support in order to help these people  pursue their aspirations on their own.

People’s enthusiasm was at its peak and their courage, inspiring! They bid us farewell with great respect and honour. They brought out their achievements in the form of a wonderful play. Many women from the Self Help Groups shared their inspiring personal experiences on stage too. CSA volunteers also put up many interesting and vibrantly informational stalls.

When it was finally time for us to return, we all carried with us a heart full  of inspirational incidents, achievements, performances and a resolve, never  to forget our  responsibility of  serving  the needy. Krutajnyata showed us how great and inspiring feats can be achieved by  people if they are provided a little help and cooperation.

How much is enough?????

What does GM mean to you? To me, it is the reverse of the two words that I find most appealing and fantastically exciting: MG (Road).

The first Chatting Over Coffee (C.O.C.) held on July 15, brought out issues pertaining to, not a shopping expedition (much to my dismay) but on Genetically Modified (food) or commonly known as ‘GM’.

The ‘chatting’ was preceded by the screening of a documentary called “Genetically Modified Organisms vs. Food”. The production crew had incorporated a few comments of Indians about GM.

As per research done by anti-GM movements, the substance has been around for nearly two decades and was introduced by the United States of America. Some also believe that GM is a solution to the shortage in food production, which is a result of crowding on Earth. Evidently the makers of the documentary believed otherwise. Most of the people were against GM. The debate was fiery and raged on till 5 o clock when the warm fragrance of coffee calmed us down.(We did not know whether the coffee beans from which our coffee was made were genetically modified ) The first CoC was in the true spirit of a filter coffee: warm, awakening, thought-provoking!!

We Care.. Online

For those who could not access to the Centre for Social Action magazine ‘We Care‘ march edition, we bring you the online version of the same.

Do post back your reviews and suggestions about this edition of We Care

We Care released!!! :) :)

As said in the previous post that our activities have officially come to an end. Actually it has not. especially not with the Publications team .

Our magazine- ‘We Care’, planned, articles collected, edited, re- edited, designed, redesigned, proof read………. which finally has given us ripe fruit. Yes, it is in our hands in its final form of a magazine.

The toil and hard work of the publication team day- in and day- out, is very much visible in our latest edition of WE CARE.

We congratulate all the contributors of articles and alll those who have helped to make the magazine a responsible one and have shown to the world that we really care.

Copies are available in the CSA office, II floor, Main Block, Christ University.

We would be happy to recieve your feedback, comments- positive and negative which would help us improve in our next edition.
E- mail- csa@christuniversity.in
csa.wecare@gmail.com

Official Closing of Volunteers Activities :)

Tutions programmes, exposures, documentaries, camps sports day, talents day…… All planned and accomplished!!!!!

The CSA volunteers activities for this academic officially ended on February 26 with the evaluation by the volunteers themselves. The evaluation included the presentation made by each of the groups- Activity centre, Samveditha, Street theatre, Chatting over Coffee and Publications. It was a reflection on the activities planned, activities executed, failures,innovations, challenges faced and suggestions for next year.

Its was great to know the committment and efforts put in by each of the volunteers in making the year active despite their busy academics. It was very well appreciated by our beloved Johny sir who also said that the suggestions for the next academic year would be taken.

Every volunteer has done their bit to make a change, so CONGRATULATIONS and wish they keep up the Good Work!!!!
The session ended with the best volunteers trophies that was given to the volunteer from each of the groups for their outstanding service
Activity Centre- Lakda Sangeetha
Samveditha- Shymala S. P
Street Theatre- Melvin Deepak
Chatting over Coffee- Ashmita Bhattacharya
Publications- Lenin S. Vijay
Promising volunteer- Harish Bhuvan
Overall best volunteers- Varshini Narayanan and Venu

A Hearty Congratulations to all!!!

It was also an official farewell to our dear friend and a volunteer of CSA from Germany, Isabella Juretski for her dedicated and selfless service.

Well activities have officially ended but the spirit still continues!!

Tiny tots’ day out!!!! :) :) :)

The invigorating chilly wind of the morning wrote a perfect prelude to the energy packed day ahead. As streams of zealous kids poured into the campus, talents’ day had officially begun. It started with a power breakfast.The heat of the sun grew steadily. So did the enthusiasm of the kids.All the boys and girls went to classrooms alloted for each event after gathering in the mini-auditorium for a while shouting and singing.The events went on scruplously as the kids exhibited their budding talents.The dull corridors of main block were splashed with brilliant colours as the rangoli event kickstarted. Along with the usual events like elocution, singing, drawing and creative writing we had one more event that was undoubtedly the cynosure of all eyes present there-newspaper dressing. As the lads and lasses entered the stage dressed in newspapers as chefs, kings, queens, brave women of history, doctors, nurses and a lot lot more,the mini-auditorium roared with applause and cheer!After that, we flocked to birds’ park where a hot and tasty lunch awaited us.The lunch was an absolute delight! After that one hell of a feast we headed back to the mini-auditorium where all the little nightingales filled the hall with their innocent melodies.The room got really loud when the dancing began! As the volunteers danced with the kids and became kids themselves, the whole atmosphere became festive. As the kids were walking back to their homes, everyone of us knew that that day would be fresh in our memories for a long long time. Talents’ day turned out to be a true celebration of innocence and the beauty of childhood.:):)

last chatting over coffee took place in the campus

On 20th february 2010, the last coc(chatting over coffee) took place in 3rd jpeng with a documentary screeing on matrubhoomi and followed by a chatting over the movie.

CSA goes camping

On the 5th of February 2010, 58 young men and women went on a village exposure trip to Hoskote,a rural area within Karnataka. The motley group consisted of a mix of Indian, Swedish and Norwegian students,with a German thrown in for good measure. The main objective of the camp was to get to know and experience a village setup, and the way of life led by villagers.We also learned about the ways in which CSA caused social emancipation,through its various projects and schemes initiated in a particular village.

Day 1: Initially the journey started in the village by a trek to a nearby hill, where the volunteers conducted a few games and activities as an ice-breaker and to build bonds with each other which was very much evident on the way down the hill. And then later in the evening the volunteers and other friends were informed about the various initiatives conducted by CSA in the village.

Day 2: Started with the refreshing yoga session which energized us for the activities of the day. The base for the most interesting part of the camp was set up with the interactive orientation session by a resource person. It was a give and take session by the volunteers who shared their experiences about the ancestral homes and experiences in villages. it was wondering to know the similarities and differences that existed among different villages.

Diversed groups were made for the cultural performances that would take place next day in the village. In groups, brilliant ideas came up that could be put up in the form of skit, dance, songs, etc. All the volunteers equally participated and practiced for the next days performance.

In the evening, we were split up into seven different villages. Each of these villages had three to four families hosting us and therefore we were further divided in groups of two/ three which consisted of one Indian and one foreign student. And then comes the fun…. Tempo ride! Tempo like always was the vehicle used for dropping the students to their respective villages. It was not only a means of transport but also served the purpose of entertainment. Some of us had already experienced such a ride but for some it was overwhelming and an exciting experience. we were welcomed with warmth and affection of the kids and the people of the villages. In general, all of us had a different experiences like making and eating Ragi mudde, eating and sleeping on the floor, sleeping on the floor, sleeping in the same room as the cow, warmth feeling in the cold night…. etc.

Day 3: For almost all of us, our Sunday started with the natural alarms of the cock, moos of cows. After the routine work at homelike fetching water, sweeping, cleaning and milking the cows, we walked to the fields to join them in sowing and ploughing, cleaning the fields, etc. It was a bit difficult for us to do these simple tasks but as we continued we enjoyed it. At noon time we were picked again and travelled by the joyous ride- Tempo!

The practice sessions, which had started the previous day, continued and we later left to another village for our final performance. We were able to gather a large crowd with our most useful way of campaigning- Beedi Naataka ! ( street theatre). The ideas and practice finally led to the enjoyable performance through skit, dance, songs with active involvement of the people of the village.

It was a tiring day for the volunteers, yet it would not have been complete without the traditional campfire. We had a whale of a time, grooving to the latest Bollywood and Kollywood hits, blaring out of our Director, Johny sir’s car. At last, though, the fun and games came to an end,as we gathered close to the campfire to have a formal ‘send-off’ for all our third-year volunteers, who would be leaving CSA in another month or so. This was, perhaps, the saddest part of the camp. The first year and ” designated senior” volunteers put up a hilarious skit miming the mannerisms of the outgoing volunteers.The third years countered by putting up an equally brilliant play of their own. Then, they were given mementos

Volunteers camp, coming soon….. :) :)

Four days away from the city life in a peaceful atmosphere with basic amenities is what the volunteers are going to expereince!!!

CSA Volunteers will be out on yet again on a rural exposure camp to experience the village life for 4 days in Hoskote project area. The camp will start from Feruary 5 and end on February 8, 2009.

It is an annual camp for this academic year. The camp will include family stay, discussions, cultural programmes for the villagers by the volunteers, discussions, games, etc.

Looking for to another fun- filled learning experience!! 

Changing India through Drishti :)

Nataka nataka bidi nataka is back in the campus with its first performance. After intensive training the street theatre team staged up their first performance in Christ University campus on December 17, 2009.  The theme chosen was  ‘Indian Social Scenario Today’.

Like always the team attracted a large crowd in both kiosk and food court with its excellent  performance. The theme chosen was very relevant and thought provoking which was presented in informative and comic way.

We wish them All the Best for the performances to come Keep up the vision Drishti