Milan: Cultural Evening
December, among its many specialities also hosts one of the most spectacular events of Christ University, fondly held and organized by the Centre of Social Action called Milan. It comprises of bringing together all the various project areas children sponsored by CSA. Milan is like a good cup of coffee..addictive and refreshing ..but to enjoy it , your love for it must be genuine. The volunteers come together and work for many days prior to the three day event, just so they can give the wonderful kids coming from different parts of the country, an event to remember.
The first day is the life of the event with all of the kids amalgamating together, practicing, getting comfortable with the surroundings and of course who can forget, making friends with the volunteers. The various committees work effortlessly to bring them to the campus and after that getting them prepped up for the major dance and singing events in the evening that follows.
After the crowd committee settles them down, they are organized into their areas and the show begins with a dhamaka. Chandrika, Gowthami, Jesu , Bhavya and others compeered with full gusto vibrating the entire hall with their energy alone ; what a wonderful beginning that was to the performances that followed. The children were simply magical! There is no other word to describe how beautifully they performed whether it was singing or dancing, theme or non-theme , what they did was so enjoyable and well rehearsed that we fell short of words and spoke with our jaws dropping and hands clapping. All the teams, with their extraordinary make up and costumes enveloped the stage and thundered down energy which didn’t reduce as the night progressed but only increased. Competition was evident among the teams but that didn’t discourage these little wonders, who took the challenge head on and brought even better performances as a comeback.
The non-participants deserve credit as well for being the most supportive audience as they cheered every team with equal enthusiasm. One team had to perform again due to technical difficulties, which sounds pitiful but the audience cheered like there is no tomorrow. After the children were done for the night, the volunteers gifted the kids for their performances with a dance and a play which was scripted in five different languages being sensitive to the diverse crowd. The audience once again welcomed the play with showers of praise, spreading the happiness around contagiously. Thus the first day reached its conclusion, leaving the volunteers and the children brimming with anticipation and enthusiasm for the sporting events that followed the day after.
Reported by: Ruchira Raghavan, IPSEng
Tactical Talent’s Day
The summer of 2013 had a lot up its sleeve for the children of L. R. Nagar and Ambedkar Nagar. The day kicked off with the lighting of the lamp and an impressive introductory speech by our MC Jesu.
The kids were then escorted to the stalls set up for them like Photo Booth, Be a Teacher and ABCD. The hard work of the volunteers resulted in an enriching experience for the kids. Around noon, a picture quiz was held to engage them.
Alright, the learning part was done. Time for some hard-core fun! After lunch, the lads showcased their talents in various events like music, dance, mime and mimicry. The stage was all theirs and they did no less than rock it. The judges had a hard time in choosing the winner.
Toward the end of the show, the volunteers danced to some desi beats along with those buds but the little peeps still stole the whole show. Finally, the prizes were distributed and yet another beautiful day came to an end with the hope that such a time will come again soon.
Reported by: Nishok U G, I CEP ; Edited by: Sharon Lewis, I B.Com (Hons)
Sports Day 2013
The wonderful day finally arrived after a lot of obstacles. It was the first event of the year with the kids. Some things in life are worth the wait, so was the sports day that was held at PU quadrangle on (date). Few things go as expected, but then what’s life without uncertainty and challenges?
The kids from L. R. Nagar(Laxman Rao Nagar) and Ambedkar Nagar entered the quadrangle with a lot of discipline and enthusiasm which, we never showed during our school time for any event. Though all the events began late, we did a pretty good job in managing the time.
The events that followed were the lemon-spoon race, potato race and flat relay. In between snacks were distributed among the kids. I experienced one of the most amazing moment’s that day. Kids were coming to the volunteers and offering their snacks to them. The oneness and belongingness they behold was heart touching. One girl child from my activity center came to me and told “Shivani Akka(sister), come sit with us”. I was amazed to hear that, as I never expected them to remember my name. That was the moment when I actually realized the impact and importance we hold in their life. For us it might be just another day, but for them it meant a lot.
After a few rounds of games the children headed for lunch. After which we began the afternoon session with musical chair.Due to rain we could not conduct outdoor games. But keeping children’s preferences and eagerness in mind, we conducted a small football match at the ground.After all the games had taken place the kids presented few dance performances.Seeing them dancing, memories of my school days were rekindled. Our volunteers also danced with the kids.
Towards the end,the prize distribution ceremony took place. The participation of the children was much appreciated. We had a small feedback session after the event amongst us, volunteers.The pros and cons of the day were discussed. The purpose of the sports day had been served. The smile on the children’s faces and satisfaction on each volunteers’ face was truly gratifying. Sacrificing a Sunday’s sleep to see those cute little smiles was totally worth it.
Reported by: Shivani More, I Msc ; Edited by: Priyanka Das, II PSEco
It was nothing like what I expected!
I climbed on the bus filled with another 100 joyful volunteers who had no clue of what is going to come their way, something that will change their lives forever and for good. We reached our destination,’Hoskote’ in about one and a half hours with the same enthusiasm when we started the journey. It was so serene, sense of relief swept over me being away from the loud noises of the concrete jungle I lived in. We were quickly briefed about the objective which was to help the villagers celebrate Independence Day and tasks to be completed by our management and seniors. Without wasting any more time, we were distributed to 6 groups, assigned to each village of the area.
I was allocated to the village ‘Uparsana’. After brainstorming for the acitivites to be held, then came the part I was eagerly waiting for, house visits! I was overwhelmed with the hospitality of the locals in the village; each member greeted us with the widest smile and invited us, strangers into their houses as if we were their own. Being a foreigner, language was a barrier for me. Yet it didn’t stop me from asking what I wanted with the help of my fellow volunteers who were familiar with the language they spoke. What amazed me most is that, even with so little they had, they didn’t hesitate for a minute to share with us what they had. They treated us with a delicious meal. It was food for the soul. We came back to our camp site while it was raining heavily and we faced a number of obstacles, but with the continuous support of our seniors it didn’t affect our moods or our motivation to make Independence Day one to remember for the villagers.
On Independence Day, we reached our respective villages assigned early in the morning and help decorate the school with as many colours we can and organized activities for the women, men and kids if the village. Their smile was worth everything we worked for! We had a superb time celebrating the auspicious day with the great patriotic spirit like I never experienced before, I felt like I belonged to India too.
Our teambuilding sessions were up next, we danced to the latest beats all the volunteers together and we had the CSA dance which helped us in getting to know each other even better. Finally we had the interactive session with Shakunthala Ma’am who is the head of the Community Building Organization (CBO) of the village. She was truly a remarkable woman. I went to the village expecting to see helpless locals, but after getting to know the outstanding work the women of the village had done I felt like the helpless one. What striked me the most is that, with their hard work the people had made 10 Crores from the initial amount of 25 lakhs CSA had donated initially on 2003 when the project was first started in the village. This was a true achievement. It made me believe that if you had the spirit and passion towards achieving a goal, even with so little you can accomplish it no matter how many obstacles that come your way. The camp and the empowered women inspired us to do our part in contributing even more for the betterment of the world we live in.
“Let us not be satisfied with just giving money. Money is not enough, money can be got, but they need your hearts to love them. So, spread your love everywhere you go”
-Mother Teresa-
Reported by: Umna Luthfee, IPSEco ; Edited by: Priyanka Chakrabarty, IIPSEng
The Experience in Photo Club
It was 20th June, Saturday when the members of the photo club gathered in the Panel hall in Block 2. With different questions in their minds as to what will happen next, the members of the club were waiting anxiously for the dignitaries to arrive. It was no sooner when, Navneet Prakash volunteer at CRY and Vijay Raj, member of Iclickd and volunteer at CRY, who were the guest lectures of the event were interacting with the club members.
Navneet Prakash started with briefing the club about the CRY organization, its mission and its theme for the year that was ‘Education among Children’. He then showed a path to the young volunteers of the photography club as to how they could light candles in the dark life of the education-deprived children.
Then, Vijay Raj, who is also a part of click right campaign, enlightened the young learning photographers of CSA with the technicalities involved in a click of a picture. After giving an overview of the technicalities, he gave us a practical insight of the same. To enhance the understanding of how to click pictures that tell stories, Vijay showed different pictures and asked the club to scrutinize every aspect of the pictures. After this exercise the team members learned that to capture really amazing movements one has to understand the subject whose pictures will be taken and try predicting actions so that you never miss a special moment.
It is because of the seminar that from now on, the club members will no longer click pictures but will capture moments.
Reported by: Sonal, I BA. LLB ; Edited by: Siddharth Dey, I HEP
COC: Caste System and Arrange Marriages in India
On Thursday, the 18th of July, the Centre for Social Action conducted their weekly meeting, the COC, in the island outside Block 1. As usual, there was quite a turn out and at four P.M. we all sat huddled together in the island ready for our discussion and debate on the topics of the day. The topics chosen for this COC were the legality of the caste system and its role on modern society and the limitations or benefits of arranged marriage.
This afternoon, Christites were joined by international students from different parts of the United States of America who sat down to enjoy the COC. The moderator of the meeting was Shristi Sareen and the meeting began with an introduction of the Indian caste system and its importance in the Indian society. As we delved deeper into the topic, various views and debates arose with people talking about the many divisions of the caste system and its relevance in our society today. For the sake of the international students, CSA members tried to explain the various divisions in detail and how one’s caste was chosen and how it affected them as individuals. As the discussion continued, the matter of reservations came up and there was a dispute on whether or not the reservations for SC/ST were being abused and were being taken advantage of.
As the debate on the caste system came to a close, Shristi moved on to our next topic of discussion which was, the limitations or benefits of arranged marriage, and here again an interesting debate began. There was talk of how the Indian society as a whole perceives ‘love’ marriage in a negative light and that if two people love each other, they should be allowed to get married. A lot of people, however, agreed with arranged marriage stating that divorce rates were lower in arranged marriage. Views came up about how in the case of love marriage it was just the uniting of two people, but in the case of arranged marriage, it was the decision of the families and hence, a coming together of two families. Also, two people who love each other have known one another for a long time whereas people whose marriages have been arranged barely know each other and so they bring something new to the marriage.
The international students were quite surprised by the idea of arranged marriages as it is not a concept that exists in their society. However, they did say that at times arranged marriages could work because two people can always fall out of love and so love marriages don’t always work.
The COC came to an end with many different views voiced and a lot of new knowledge in our minds and left us, as usual, with a lot to ponder over.
Reported by: Shristi Banerjee, I PSEng ; Edited by: Trisanki Saikia, I EPS
A Day Spent Well: CSA Kengeri
Saint Francis has quoted “For it is in giving that we receive”. CSA Christ University Faculty of Engineering witnessed one such event on August 17, 2013. It was an exhilarating moment of privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back to the society as we were eagerly anticipating the arrival of our children.
Our journey with the children began from the very moment of the change we had pledged to bring upon the society by giving back. We initiated by tutoring these young children with a team of dedicated student volunteers from various departments with the support of our teachers. We tutor them on a weekly basis and eagerly wait for the next session since it is a truly joyous acquaintance as we share and introspect our learning experience as students.
So they finally arrived in their brightly coloured outfits greeting us with warm smiles and an occasional “Hi Akka/Anna”. We had planned various events to entertain them, like, lemon and spoon, running race, tug off wars, sack race. So as we started engaging them, to our surprise everyone participated with zeal and enthusiasm.
We also donated some essential material pertaining to their education like stationary items, bags, shoes, dictionaries, which we thought was necessary for their holistic growth.
The entire program was organised by the MECHANICAL DEPARTMENT and our CSA volunteers. All Faculties of Mechanical department took in charge of distributing the things we bought for the kids. It was an unforgettable moment not only for the kids but also for us. It was an inspiring event for the upcoming CSA volunteers where they learnt the art of caring and sharing.
The Media Manifestation
The new and enthusiastic members of Publications, Centre for Social Action (CSA) of Christ University attended an editorial workshop on July 6th 2013. It was conducted by Nandini Mani, an University alumni of Journalism to welcome for all the volunteers of CSA.
The objective of the workshop was to refurbish, so to speak, the volunteers’ literary and editorial skills for the upcoming year. The presentation focused on various aspects of writing including types of writings and editing procedures. The volunteers were engaged in activities involving error-identification and rectification in writing. The affair was not all that weighty, and everyone had their share of laughter, and Ms. Mani distributed candy for the contributions made.
The session was compact and kept the latest additions to the CSA Publications Team at par with times in the literary world. This allows the volunteers to emulate their abilities in the magazine, We Care.
Nandhini Mani expressed how she too had an exceptional time and looked forward to the work of the team in the time yet to come. A feedback session followed when the participants expressed how they had thoroughly enjoyed themselves and took something concrete that would aid them in the future.
Repoted by: Anubhutie Singh, I EMS & Siddharth Dey, I EMS ; Edited by: Mridhula Murali I PSEng
COC: FDI in Multi-Brand Retail
On the 5th of July, the island was almost turned into a place of parliamentary debate except for the fact that it was Christites debating over the sensational issue of foreign direct investment.
There were people who deliberated for and against the motion. However, what remained the highlight of the evening and a clique that every debate, or in this case, a discussion ends with was that we all “agreed to disagree.”
FDI in multi brand retail has been in the eye of political motions and media coverage due to the complexities in its implementation and the predicted degradation of the rural economy, disruption of middlemen and the monopoly foreign corporation would create.
The COC witnessed a plethora of opinions of Christites who had various technical and layman’s views on the concept. Like any other thing, FDI has its own pros and cons and all this came to surface when students from management, commerce, law , media, science , humanities and social sciences came together to portray their understanding of FDI from their respective fields of specialisation.
Reported by: Divya Swamy, I PSEng ; Edited by: Pooja Agarwal, I PSEng
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