Drushti Daan

An Eye Donation Awareness Camp was conducted in XIMB by the Social Responsibility Cell in collaboration with "Drushti Daan" on 4^th September 2010.

"Drushti Daan" is a voluntary, not for profit organization, founded in 2002, with the objective to promote eye donation and combat corneal blindness. Since its inception, it has been actively spearheading eye donation & banking activities in Orissa. They are actively involved throughout the year in awareness programmes of this kind as well going to campuses all around the country. They are well known for creating widespread public awareness on eye donation and their successful Eye Banking activities such as collection and distribution for transplants. Drushti Daan is registered with the Health Dept of Govt of Orissa to function as an eye bank under Transplantation of Human Organs Act and is a Life member of Eye Bank Association of India.

In Orissa this organization functions from the premises of LV Prasad Eye Institute near Patia in Bhubaneswar. There are a lot of misconceptions regarding corneal blindness being cured by corneal transplants which the organization seeks to clarify. The donor corneas are sourced from human cadavers in a painless process which was also demonstrated in a presentation shown to the students. They also explained the whole process being done only after appropriate consent was taken from the donor families. They also have a Hospital Cornea Retrieval Program wherein trained grief counselors are posted at various hospitals to motivate families to donate corneas of their dear ones after their demise. Eye banking includes retrieval, evaluation and distribution of free of cost corneas to the corneal blind. They have eye banks in a lot of locations which help the needy by providing corneas for free for the blind.

It was a very interactive session as the students also showed a lot of interest and asked pertinent questions thus clearing lot of doubts and myths. The students were sensitized to the issue in a proper way. The session also generated a lot of enthusiasm and empathy for donating corneas as a lot of the students also pledged their eyes through a form distributed. Thus the event was a grand success and we thank Drushti Daan for enlightening us on the issue. 

Leia Mais…

The Voice of a Candle

Where the mind is without fear and the head is held high;
Where knowledge is free;
Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by domestic walls;
Where words come out from the depth of truth;
Where tireless striving stretches its arms towards perfection;
Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into the dreary desert sand of dead habit;
Where the mind is led forward by thee into ever-widening thought and action--
Into that heaven of freedom, my father, let my country awake.

These were the golden words by Rabindranath Tagore indicating the importance of freedom in everyone’s life. Quoting the words of Pandit Jawahar Lal Nehru, “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom.” Echoing these thoughts, students of XIMB were not to be left behind. Even before India entered into its 63^rd year of independence, the spirit here at XIMB was at an all time high with patriotic songs echoing all over the campus, not to overlook the enthusiasm of the Ximbians.

The celebrations began with Prof Banikant and Prof. Ramana gracing the occasion at midnight and addressing a group of enthusiastic students. Their speeches were deeply inspiring. This was followed by a candle march led by the two professors. Even the strong winds were unable to deter the spirit of the marchers and the candle march ended at a high note on the college grounds.

The candles were laid out in such a manner that it showed the whole of India shining bright at that particular point of time. Such was the unity on display here. Even with the weather playing spoilsport, the students held their ground. They guarded the whole outline in order to keep the candles from going out in effect sending a clear signal to the whole world about India’s bright future ahead.

(Photo Courtesy - Jyoti Prakash Panda PGP 1)

That was just the start of the long lasting celebrations. The flag hoisting ceremony was held early next morning next day which reminded all of us of our good old school days. It was refreshing to sing the national anthem standing along with 500 other future managers and the entire faculty. The flag hoisting ceremony was followed by plenty of students sharing their honest feelings about Mother India and what Independence meant for her as well as her people.

This was concluded by a short street play conducted by SRC in association with XStage to sensitize the XIMB family towards over usage and over speeding of vehicles on campus roads, which not only threaten the safety of our community, but showcase our lack of respect towards our natural resources and environment. 

To conclude, lets leave you all to ponder over the words of one of our Professors.

Voice of a candle

You make me, light me, and melt me
But never listen to me!

I am neither a Sun nor a Star,
But a mere candle in your hand.

Yes, I can pierce the darkness,

Thank you for holding me!

But, Forget not,
It is you who creates darkness.
Yes,
behind you!

Thank you for holding me!

But, Forget not,
My siblings behind you,
Nay, it will create shadow,
Yes,
on your path way forward

Thank you for holding me!

But,
Don't march
Holding me in your hands,
Join me in
Burning and providing light to others!

-Professor D. V. Ramana

Leia Mais…

SRC's attempt at bettering the lives of our mess bhainas

It is said the best social work begins back home. The Social Responsibility Cell (SRC) of Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar has definitely affirmed its belief in the saying. SRC has implemented projects and organized events to significantly improve the lives of the hard working staff that play a crucial part in our lives here in the XIMB campus.

One noteworthy project that was undertaken by the SRC was the construction of a retiring room for the mess bhainas (or brothers in Oriya). On a normal day, the XIMB mess starts functioning at 8 in the morning and closes at 3 the next morning. Around fifty bhainas work day in and day out to prepare food for close to 500 students. However earlier on, the bhainas did not have a proper place to sleep as they prepared makeshift beds out of the dining tables in the mess. Also, the fact that a lot of student activities stretched way into the night did not help matters.

In the face of such hardship, the SRC took it upon itself to help them attain at least a basic necessity of life; sound sleep. Hence the construction of a retiring hall in the open area behind the mess was proposed. However an issue faced was a severe shortage of funds. But the students of the 2008 as well as 2009 batches (both BM & RM) came to the rescue by contributing liberally towards this noble cause. Finally the Administration helped us with a major portion of the financing. 

And after a couple of months of effort, the retiring hall was finally inaugurated on 10^th June, 2010.

Leia Mais…