Celebrate a new festival – DaanUtsav’14
A s mattering of volunteers in cities such as Bangalore, Mumbai, Kolkata, Hyderabad and Chennai are working towards having an annual festival to promote acts of kindness.
Such festivals are common in countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada and the US where the citizens come together to celebrate the festival for a week. India got its own Joy of Giving festival six years ago, when small pockets of volunteers from Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai came together to indulge in various, small acts of kindness in their own cities. Today, the festival sees over 50 volunteers spread across major cities who aim at inspiring all kinds of people to participate and make somebody else’s life a little happier, even for a day.
Rajan Narayan, who has been a volunteer for six years, said, “It is not about donating money because we don’t accept money. But we change the lives of people through actions. For example, on Tuesday we distributed 5,000 empty bags to students across schools in the city and their task is to put in fistfuls of rice before every meal they have at home. When the schools reopen after the holidays, our volunteers will collect those bags and distribute it to those in need.”
The Joy of Giving was renamed DaanUtsav in 2014. The festival is also a hit with the young people in the city. Ankit Shah , 26, has been part of the festival for three years now. His concept called Under the Stars, which lets people sleep out in the open for one night in order to spread awareness about homelessness, was a hit with denizens last year. He said, “I am a techie but annually I devote some time to organise Under the Stars to help more people become compassionate towards homeless people. We had 500-600 participants last year and are expecting double the participation this year."
EVENTS AT BANGALORE
Under the Stars – People sleep out in the open for one night to support NGOs working for the homeless and destitute. Location: ITPB Grounds at Whitefield, Oct 1 at 7 PM. Step up for a cause – Groups of people learn a dance routine and contribute for arts classes for the less fortunate. Being planned at over 20 corporate offices. People English – Volunteers teach 10 sentences of English that the audience, which includes auto-driver, street vendors, could use. PeopleTree Hospital – 100 free surgeries for people below the poverty line. First operation starts from Oct 3.
If you would like to participate, call Rajan Narayan: 9845030095
Such festivals are common in countries such as the UK, Australia, Canada and the US where the citizens come together to celebrate the festival for a week. India got its own Joy of Giving festival six years ago, when small pockets of volunteers from Mumbai, Bangalore and Chennai came together to indulge in various, small acts of kindness in their own cities. Today, the festival sees over 50 volunteers spread across major cities who aim at inspiring all kinds of people to participate and make somebody else’s life a little happier, even for a day.
Rajan Narayan, who has been a volunteer for six years, said, “It is not about donating money because we don’t accept money. But we change the lives of people through actions. For example, on Tuesday we distributed 5,000 empty bags to students across schools in the city and their task is to put in fistfuls of rice before every meal they have at home. When the schools reopen after the holidays, our volunteers will collect those bags and distribute it to those in need.”
The Joy of Giving was renamed DaanUtsav in 2014. The festival is also a hit with the young people in the city. Ankit Shah , 26, has been part of the festival for three years now. His concept called Under the Stars, which lets people sleep out in the open for one night in order to spread awareness about homelessness, was a hit with denizens last year. He said, “I am a techie but annually I devote some time to organise Under the Stars to help more people become compassionate towards homeless people. We had 500-600 participants last year and are expecting double the participation this year."
EVENTS AT BANGALORE
Under the Stars – People sleep out in the open for one night to support NGOs working for the homeless and destitute. Location: ITPB Grounds at Whitefield, Oct 1 at 7 PM. Step up for a cause – Groups of people learn a dance routine and contribute for arts classes for the less fortunate. Being planned at over 20 corporate offices. People English – Volunteers teach 10 sentences of English that the audience, which includes auto-driver, street vendors, could use. PeopleTree Hospital – 100 free surgeries for people below the poverty line. First operation starts from Oct 3.
If you would like to participate, call Rajan Narayan: 9845030095
