Grooming the next-gen: Independence Day celebration with difference
The students of the Indian School of Business in Hyderabad celebrated the Independence Day by making a difference. At an event named Bandhan, 100 volunteers conducted workshops for 160 school children, including 20 visually-impaired children, from less privileged backgrounds.
As part of an initiative of the student-led group Net Impact, seven workshops were held on the weekends for six weeks on music, dance, theatre, sports, yoga, public speaking, phonetics and moral science among others.
A proud Net Impact President Chandrika Deb says, “It is one of the biggest events held in our college. Every week, we interacted with the children and trained them for three hours. On Independence Day, they performed what they learnt at the workshops.” The 27-year-old MBA student adds, “Children from seven schools, mostly government schools, attended this year’s workshops.”
Bandhan is a completely self-funded event. “Rather than just donating money, we wanted to directly involve ourselves so we started teaching them. We taught them about the many career opportunities. The children absolutely loved it. On Friendship Day, they also made cute greeting cards for us. All of us got really attached to the children; many cried when they had to leave on the last day,” says Chandrika, who is an active social worker.
Charu Shekhar, vice-president of Net Impact, is also an avid social worker.
“I’ve been working for social causes since I was 10. So, Bandhan was a natural calling,” says the 25-year-old, adding that nothing makes her happier than looking at these children smile.
Recalling a heartfelt incident, Charu says, “There was a kid named Shoaib who was very naughty. When we served these kids lunch Shoaib had his own demands. One day he insisted on dosa and we had to get it for him. Many like Shoaib now aspire to study at ISB one day; it feels so nice looking at them,” she says.
Chandrika and Charu say Bandhan was also a breather: “It gave us an opportunity to take some time off and clear out thoughts. Interacting with children can change the way one looks at life. We are now conducting a mentorship programme. Each volunteer will be assigned 2-3 children. The volunteer will stay in touch with the children on phone and help them with their career,” the duo concludes.
