Social Responsibility Cell, XIMB: 2011

Sunday, December 11, 2011

Institute Day Celebration

Any institute or organization has mainly three levels of management i.e. top-level management, middle-level management and lower-level management. Each level forming an important and integral part of the organisation but as it has been rightly said that people at the bottom are the wheels of the organization who toil day in day out for smooth functioning of an organization. So we came up with a novel idea of celebrating our 24^th Institute day with all the people who forms the foundation of our institute.

We had organised a talent hunt competition for mess workers, maintenance workers and security personals. Faculties were also invited to be a part of such a novel initiative. We experienced active participation and gave a platform to them to showcase their talent. The enthusiasm was high among the audience and cheering from them helped the participants to overcome their stage fear and perform to their utmost capabilities.

Our Chief Guest for the event was Sri Balukrushna. Balukrushna sir lost the power of sight but was gifted the power of music and vocals. Sir performed for us with harmonium and mesmerised us with his melodious voice. He just didn’t came and mesmerised us with his melodious voice but also inspired us that goals can be achieved irrespective of what obstacles and difficulties came to your way, it’s just you need to be determined by heart and relentlessly work towards achieving your set goals. He left but there are four lines which we would like to dedicate him and thank him for teaching us how to value things in life.

Nigaho mein manzil thi,
gire aur gir kar sambhalte rahe,
hawao ne bahut koshish ki,
magar chirag aandhiyo mein bhi jalte rahe.

The event was not just about celebrating institute day but it was a vote of thanks to all the people who have been a part of XIMB and helped it to grow to the heights where it is right now. We hope to continue this in the coming years and see to it that each and every stakeholder of XIMB is equally important and see to it that we all grow together to achieve our and institute’s desired goals.

Saturday, December 10, 2011

World's AIDS Day Mini Marathon, "Getting down to zero": 1st Dec 2011

December 1 is observed as Worlds AIDS Day. On this day we reaffirm our stand as a global community to do away with the pandemic of AIDS that is caused by the HIV virus. A team of SRC members made their way to Ekamra Haat where Orissa State AIDS Control Society (OSACS) was conducting a Mini Marathon to raise awareness about the pandemic AIDS and the 2011 theme of "Getting to Zero".

Donning pristine white T-shirts and caps provided by OSACS, we were joined by students from various educational institutions, men, women and kids affected by AIDS, bisexuals and other curious onlookers. Armed with placards and banners, we took the winding route from Ram Mandir to Jaydev Vihar. The fervent enthusiasm of all those who were part of the Mini Marathon was palpable.

Our friends suited up in ballooned condom outfits drew quite a few snickers from the onlookers, but they were truly successful in breaking the taboo of all talk related to sex was a social no-no. In all we can call the Mini Marathon to be a major success in terms of the turnout of masses and being able to communicate effectively the fact that AIDS is one hydra-headed monster that calls for our joint effort to decapitate it once and for all!

Friday, December 9, 2011

World's AIDS Day: 1st Dec 2011, "Getting down to zero"

AIDS, being such a dreadful disease which has taken the lives of 25 million people in the world, has to be fought against tooth and nail collectively by the human race. The year 2011 marked the vision of "Getting down to zero" which means zero discrimination towards AIDS affected patients and bringing down newly infected HIV patients to zero. SRC in collaboration with GFATM and Concern Worldwide successfully organised AIDS day in XIMB. As our part, SRC made its contribution by conducting an event to spread awareness in the adjacent slum area.

A poster competition was conducted on the theme "Getting to Zero" in XIMB. It was open to all XIMB and NISWAS (NGO) students. The response from the students alongwith their creative designs was extremely heartening. In the competition,the team comprising of 'Praptasha and Purbasha' clinched the first place and the team of 'Deepti Panwar & Jayita Das' came second.

First Prize

As a new initiative, on AIDS day we decided to conduct the event in a slum area so as to reach out to a segment most vulnerable to the disease. This time we zeroed in on a place nearby XIMB, i.e 'Salia-sahi'. The event was kickstarted with a wonderful skit by NISWAS. Their theme was on ‘How to deal with an AIDS patient and how to get zero discrimination for AIDS patients’.

After that we had a small briefing session by some counselors from OSACS and some volunteers from NISWAS. Next, the team from XIMB performed a skit with the help of X-stage on the theme ‘Women empowerment to fight against AIDS’. Following that, there was a small video in Oriya on AIDS awareness played on a projector to make the audience perceive and understand better about AIDS and its after effects.

Finally the event drew to a close with the thanks giving vote and distribution of mementos to NISWAS and XIMB representatives by Nithin Gopinadh. The event turned out to be a huge success as was evident in the large turn up from the localities, NISWAS students and XIMB students. We hope that our event has made an impact in the minds of those people, cleared their notions about AIDS and will definitely play a defining role in the achievement of "Getting down to zero".

Sunday, November 20, 2011

Children's Day at Harsha Memorial

"The test of the morality of a society is what it does for its children"

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

(German Protestant theologian & anti-Nazi activist (1906 - 1945))

The reasons for happiness are not in the great deeds accomplished but in the little joys shared; and the joys are doubled if shared with children those are special. The trip to Harsha Memorial School on the children’s day narrates one such event.

It was the time to bring smiles, to bring something new and most importantly a change in the life of the little hearts that could not express, that could not ask for and could not demand, yet beautifully portray the various strands of life in their exceptionally striking art and crafts. The creative instincts in the kids were brought down in various forms of collages, abstract paintings, paintings depicting emotions, and leadership qualities.

The time spent with the kids was much more than painting and collage competition. We laughed, talked, shared and cared for each other and the time spent showed the true essence of life. It indeed was an amazing time!

On a personal note, cannot stop thinking to visit HARSHA MEMORIAL again!

Friday, November 11, 2011

Diwali Celebration @ Sneh (26th Nov 2011)

Diwali, the festival of lights, is one of the most symbolic festivals of India. It symbolizes the glory of light and the victory of good over evil. It is celebrated with pomp and show over the length and breadth of the country. Candles, Diyas and crackers ,all light up the atmosphere on this day. In a more contemporary context, the festival helps in promoting warmth, brotherhood and a sense of unity in the lives of the people.

The Social Responsibility Cell (SRC) of XIMB, took up the initiative to celebrate this joyous occasion with the not so privileged sections of the society. The entire team celebrated Diwali with the children at Sneh, an orphanage in Salia Sahi.We had a wonderful time with the kids there, who were overwhelmed with joy and happiness while celebrating with all of us. The smile and glow which we saw on their faces was of the purest form.

The team also distributed sweets and crackers among them. The kids sang melodious and beautiful songs for all of us. They danced on some popular numbers with our entire team. The hidden talent the kids possessed was a revelation of sorts. We also sang and danced with them and experienced true joy and happiness.

Despite their impoverished conditions, the innocence in their faces, the contentment and happiness was a lesson in itself for all of us. In a world driven by greed, anger, hatred, selfishness and corruption, these kids represented the dying human virtues of love, kindness, respect, sharing, camaraderie and goodwill.

It’s high time we all realise that the true triumph of “Good” over “Evil” is complete eradication of poverty, child labour and illiteracy so that these little underprivileged children can make merry and enjoy the festivities with childhood joys.The youth of India is bubbling with energy and we all should work towards channelizing our resources that facilitate economic growth, so that the festive spirit of Diwali is able to enlighten and bring happiness into the lives of all these people.

Friday, October 21, 2011

Flood Relief Initiative by SRC

There were devastating floods in most of the parts of Orissa. The life of lakhs of people was completely disrupted. Many organizations were struggling hard to support those victims. Red Cross played a major role in it by providing the medical help, food and relief kits in most of the villages. Social Responsibility Cell of XIMB provided the opportunity to XIMB students to be the part of the noble cause in association with Red Cross. Even I was the part of this flood relief team of XIMB. The job I got was to distribute relief kits consisting of a bucket with tap, two soaps, three metal mugs, dettol, a bed sheet, small rope, chlorine tablets for water purification, bandage and big size plastic cover, and create a summarized document of the whole activity.

We accompanied a supervisor from Red Cross Mr Sushant Patnayak and with 400 relief kits we visited a hamlet in Kendrapara district. There I was shock to see the situation in which those villagers were living. Water logged almost every were, hardly few huts were in their shape rest all was destructed. Villagers were in so much need that they literally ran behind the truck almost a kilometer. It’s very difficult to do the distribution work in that situation because villagers are in such a great need that they literally fight for those kits. Somehow we managed to do the distribution with the help of volunteers present in the village. And I also note down the beneficiaries’ details. It took us around six hours to complete the distribution process.

This was really a great experience, it taught me the lesson for my life time that in disaster situation people are so much affected that they almost forget rationality. They are in such a great need that it’s really impossible for any organization to provide a complete support. I want to thank SRC for providing me the opportunity, were I could develop such a useful insight.

Wednesday, October 19, 2011

Gramotsava 2011

The Social Responsibility Cell of XIMB got a unique opportunity to bring social awareness in sectors related to health and education during Gramotsava 2011- a rural marketing fair. The 2 day fair was organised in two different villages of Puri and Cuttak districts, one at village mandarbasta in district Khurda and other at chasakhanda in district Cuttack. The fair pulled up huge crowd of children, adults, and women. In order to bring social awareness SRC team members organised DART Game, Ball Game and Ring Game. Winners of the game were given prizes of daily use and additional information was given about the relevance and importance of use of product given as a prize. The game was so designed that after playing the game an additional socially relevant question was asked to them and only if they answer it correctly, a product of daily use was given to them. Team members also organised procession march in village shouting slogans of social awareness like “Ladka Ladki Ek Saman, Sabko Siksha Ka Adhikar”, “Saaf pani peena hai, humko jada jena hai” and inviting people to attend the fair in the villages. Members also performed Nukkad Nattak on social issues like gender discrimination, health and hygiene, women empowerment and education.

“A thing of beauty is a joy for ever”-linking this tagline with that village we found awesome landscape, paddy fields, developed roads with strong rural economy in terms of agriculture.At the outset, we have decorated with alluring decorative items in the stall. As the stall of SRC was the first stall, we have decorated nicely with balloons, ribbons, and some decorative flounce jorry works. We kept our games ready as before as possible taking into consideration of the enthusiasm of the villagers. The Sarpanch of the village came to our stall and inaugurated it by cutting the ribbon with huge round of applause. He had appreciated us much for our holistic approach towards social awareness and responsibility.

After one hour we have gone for rally to the village. We held our placards and slogans and shouted the slogans with aplomb. The slogans were mainly focused on many angles of social awareness like women empowerment, sarvasikha avijan, water resources, population control and hygiene factor. When we came across any villagers we have tried to give the message to them and invited them to our stall to visit to play. We have also stretched our co-operative hands to our RMAX team for promoting the rural marketing of the specific brands. Due to lack of ample time, we could not be successful to do the skit and nukkad natak.

In the stall we have had three games. All the games were entertaining and educative as well. The first game was rolling the ball game in which we have given the ball to the villagers and told them to roll. We have assigned six positions and prizes associated with it. Then we asked them questions related to social awareness factors like, health issues and diseases (malaria, dengue, chikungunya, AIDS, Cholera) hygiene factors, social programs (like NREGA, Indira Awas and some Govt plans), disaster management etc.

Similarly the other games were ring game (throw the ring to the items) and dart game (throw the dart to the dartboard). In all games we had to ask the people questions and if they answer correctly we have distributed the prizes like nail cutter, soap, tooth paste, pens, chocolates etc. The game was opened till 5.30 PM as the crowd was growing and growing. Finally we have packed our accessories and left for our hostel.
Rural India is the real Indian society where we had been successful by creating social awareness. SRC of XIMB believes that- A Smile is contagious...Lets spread it!!! And we had been successful in some extent by creating it this time with spreading the smile with entertainment through social awareness.

Joy of Giving Week: A helping hand towards Flood affected People of Orissa

“Sharing what you have is more important than what you have”

- Albert M. Wells

The Joy of Giving Week stems from this idea and advocates this concept. It spreads out the message of giving happiness to one’s own life by giving back to society in abundance. The very act of giving/ donating elevates us to a place where we get eternal happiness and joy and this is accomplished when we transcend caste, colour, creed, religion and other biases in our mind. The Social Responsibility Cell of XIMB organized the Joy of Giving Week from 21st September to 26th September, 2011. This is India’s festival of ‘giving back’ to society. From auto drivers to CEOs, from homemakers to businessmen, everyone is encouraged in contribute to society in any possible way. It has been started with a hope that it grows and becomes a grand festival of ‘sharing’ which will unite people from different walks of life on a common platform.

This year, Goonj and Bakul foundation in association with SRC, aimed to mobilize relief to the people of Orissa, in lieu of the devastating floods which ravaged many parts of the state. For this, SRC organized a collection drive and appointed several volunteers who acted as POCs for particular areas of the campus. They took the initiative, worked hard and gave their time to the programme. Collection drop boxes were placed in GR1, GR2, MTR, RMH, Cenderet, Studio Apartments and XIMB gates. There was overwhelming support from the faculty and students of the campus and they came forward whole-heartedly towards this effort. The items collected from the institute included old clothes, stationary items, bags, slippers, medicines, etc. All the proceeds were donated to Bakul Foundation, which would then be distributed to the flood victims of Orissa. Overall, the programme was a huge success and once again demonstrated the undying spirit of SRC and the XIMB community towards contributing to the society at large.

Orissa Heritage Development Program

Bhubaneswar's proud possession of magnificent sculptures and architectural heritage, coupled with the sanctity as Ekamrakshetra makes this one of the great religious centres of Orissa since early medieval days. Bhubaneswar has always been known as the “City of temples”. Temples like the Lingaraj Temple have put the city on the map. Together with Puri and Konark and, Bhubaneswar forms the Swarna Tribhuja "Golden Triangle", one of the most visited destinations in East India.

What is less common knowledge though, is the number of lesser known temples, scattered all over the city. Familiar only to locals, many of these temples date back to as far as the 8th century A.D. These temples figure in popular mythology, and are shrouded in stories and legends, however a significant number of these temples are in varying states of disrepair, and very little veritable information is available about them.

As a tribute to these pieces of exquisite architecture, a team of students from the Social Responsibility Cell, XIMB, created Wikipedia pages as well as mapped the locations on Wikimapia and Google maps the for 150 of these temples as a part of Orissa Heritage Development Program. This program is being organized by the Young Indians Group, which is the youth wing of the Confederation of Indian Industry (CII). The work is inspired from the book “Lesser Known Monuments of Bhubaneswar” by Dr. Sadasiba Pradhan which is also used as primary source for research for the content of the web pages, along with the ASI’s archives.

Some of the temples covered in this project were the series of Siva temples in Old town Bhubaneswar, Jain temples in Khandagiri, Astasambhu Siva Temples which is a collection of 8 Hindu temples dedicated to Lord Siva located in Bhubaneswar etc. A list of all such Hindu temples in Orissa can also be found in Wikipedia.

Sunday, August 21, 2011

World Humanitarian Day: Aug 19, 2011

Xavier Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar (XIMB), in association with Concern Worldwide, hosted the World Humanitarian Day Observation on 19th August, 2011. Organised by the Social Responsibility Cell (SRC) of XIMB, the theme for this year was ‘People helping People’. The chief guest for the occasion was Mr. T. Nanda Kumar, Member, National Disaster Management Authority; and the event was presided over by Mr. Dipankar Datta, Country Director, Concern Worldwide; Prof. S. Parsuraman, Director, TISS, Mumbai and Mr. Mihir Bhatt, Founder, All India Disaster Mitigation Institute (AIDMI), Ahmedabad.

The event started with a candle march by the students, and the eminent speakers discussed various topics ranging from the strengths and challenges facing humanitarian aid workers in India, various ways in which ordinary citizens could contribute towards helping humanity on a daily basis, and appealed to the audience, especially the youth, to commit to helping humanity on a daily basis.

Mr. Nanda Kumar spoke about the issues that lead to a delay in humanitarian aid, and also presented solutions that could help eradicate this problem like better delivery options, the leveraging of science and technology and public participation in humanitarian aid. Mr. Mihir Bhatt enumerated the problem of corruption in humanitarian work. He then suggested that in order to mitigate this problem and ensure a more accountable and transparent process, a multi-stakeholder approach is required where parents, businesses and civic society commit to eliminating corruption in humanitarian work.

Prof. S. Parsuraman announced the launch of a Masters Program in Social Work with a Specialisation in Mental Health, in association with XIMB. The SRC launched their Donate Blood campaign and Fr. P.T. Joseph, Director, XIMB inaugurated the software used in this campaign which lists the blood group information of the donors.

Participants from colleges such as United School of Business Management, Institute of Management, Bhubaneswar, Institute of Management and Information Science, PJ College of Management and Technology, Bhavan's Center for Communication and Management, Centurion School of Rural Management, Biju Pattnaik Institute of Information Technology and Management Studies, BRM Institute of Management and Information Technology, and Utkal University also attended the event.

Independence Day Celebrations @ Harsha Memorial School

"The soul is healed by being with children". A visit to Harsha Memorial school brought to the fore of consciousness the true meaning of these words of Dostoyevsky. On the morning of the 65th Independence Day, a batch of SRC members from XIMB set out for the said school which provides for the educational needs of children with hearing and speech disabilities. SRC, in collaboration with the Bhubaneswar Chapter of Rotary International, was to take part in the Independence Day celebrations of the school with the aim to make it a day of fun and frolic for the children.

The proceedings of the day was commenced with the traditional flag-hoisting and singing of the national anthem. One could not fail to notice the sparkle in the eyes of each and every child and their dimpled smiles as they watched the Indian flag being unfurled by the dignitaries from the Rotary Club.

A particular mention needs to be made of the sand casting of the map of India as well as a sand sculpture of the Father of the Nation-Mahatma Gandhi made by the children-remarkable concepts executed to perfection!

Next up was a march past conducted by the children. How to conduct a march past with a neat clockwork precision minus the fanfare of trumpets and drums was exemplified by the children looking neat and trim in their all-white uniforms. The Rotary Club dignitaries shared their fervour and enthusiasm through their eloquent speeches that were communicated via sign language to the students. After a quick snack arranged by the Rotary members, the children gathered in their classes to take part in the drawing competition arranged by SRC. Armed with all the required stationary provided by SRC, the children poured forth colours and creativity into their drawings. Not even twenty minutes had passed when a child from the junior batch came forth with his drawing all finished. The integration of the Indian map, a dove signifying peace, the Indian flag and a lotus in full bloom that was presented in the drawing with deft colouring and shading won our hearts!

A major portion of all the drawings were so captivating in terms of their beauty of conception and sincerity of execution that we were thoroughly convinced that what these children were bereft of in terms of their auditory and speech disabilities were compensated for by their individually novel powers of imagination. That an artist of the stature of Hussain or Dali could emerge from amongst these very children was not at all a baffling thought anymore! The events of the day were drawn to an end with the prize distribution for the drawings which had captured the attention of the jury the most. As we all bid adieu to the children, we could not help but think that these were indeed the children of heaven!

XIMB Candle March: Eve of Independence Day, 2011

Independence Day- the commemoration of the death of the ceaseless crusaders was celebrated at XIMB in its own unique style of candle light march. On the eve of August 15th, the Social Responsibility Cell (SRC) of XIMB organised the Independence Day event that witnessed mass gathering of our ever-busy XIMBians to serve the purpose and show the spirit of patriotism. Many volunteers shared their views on Independence and its relevance today, sang patriotic songs, took oath for being a better human for making India an even better place to live in. There was not one genre where the spirit of XIMBians looked faded.

Soon our enthusiastic XIMBians displaying the diversified cultures marched with the lighted candles signifying continuity, connection and courage.

Continuity- To continue doing the noble deeds in the path of our National leaders
Connection- For connecting ourselves to the destiny that our forefathers dreamt of steering through
Courage- To resist and courageously fight against the harmful social elements

The march itself was a challenge as the students faced a tough task of keeping the candles lit despite the blowing wind. This personified the obstacles that youth would face when they are in their righteous path towards goal.

The march ended as the students decorated a magnificent map of India with the lighted candles, symbolically representing ‘making India glow with pride’.

In a nutshell, the candlelight march, the brain-child of SRC-XIMB, portrayed the essence of ‘Unity in Diversity’ amongst the entire XIMB Community and the way we make the best out of it.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

SRC proudly salutes Womanhood

Just imagine having two jobs at one time. Different commitments and expectations would make it so tough. Now multiply that by 3, and those are the situations that the woman of today faces. A mother, a sister, a daughter, a wife, a friend – you name it; the Indian woman plays that role with great panache too. The woman of today is torn between the societal constraints and her own desire to embrace modernity. To celebrate this miracle, the Social Responsibility cell of XIMB celebrated Woman’s Day – a gentle reminder that despite the gentle and soft demeanour, the firm resolve of the woman of today is unshakeable.

This day should be celebrated with oaths by all sects of society. Men – to realize that without women, progression of society is impossible and for women to stand up with even more resolve to eliminate the societal gap. The achievements of women should be highlighted to spark the revolution in women. Ultimately, the day should serve as a constant reminder that the woman of today is here to stay and become even stronger.

Team SRC celebrated International Women’s Day, 8^th March, 2011 by conducting a Poster making competition called “Express Yourself”, for the first year students of both BM and RM. The overwhelming response that was received in terms of enthusiasm, creativity respect and gratitude shown by the participants was indeed heart-warming. The magnificent artwork comprising of slogans, messages and paintings, was judged by our esteemed professor Peppin, and BM- Section A emerged as the winner.

Wednesday, July 6, 2011

HOLI - FESTIVAL OF LOVE....!!!!!

To commemorate love and joy, the festival of Holi is celebrated throughout India with a carnival of colours. This opportunity was taken by SRC to spread a little joy and love to the young children at the orphanage in Salia Sahi, Bhubaneswar. Members of SRC reached the orphanage with colours and sweets for the children. The children were quite overjoyed to see this and readily came forward to play with a lot of enthusiasm. They happily applied colours on each other and on the SRC members. After playing for sometime, sweets were distributed among the children which was consumed gladly within no time. But it does not end there. The event also saw these young children performing song and dance routines for everyone else to see. It was quite a pleasure to see such amazing talent among such young children. Finally on their request, some of the SRC members also pitched in with the singing and dancing alongwith them, making it quite a memorable experience, both for them as well as the members.

Initiatives of such kind make us realize that how the small things in life can actually bring in so much happiness. Seeing all the young faces lit up with smiles and then bidding adieu with a request from their side to visit them again makes one realize how a little effort from our side goes a long way in bringing some joy to these love-deprived children.

Tuesday, February 1, 2011

Para Athlos

The Social Responsibility Cell (SRC), XIMB in association with Rotary Club of Bhubaneswar Metro, organised ‘Para Athlos’, a sports meet for differently abled children at the XIMB grounds on the evening of 26 January 2011, commemorating the 62^nd Republic Day of India.

The Para Athlos witnessed more than 100 participants of both senior and junior age groups from various schools in and around Bhubaneswar such as Shri Harsha Memorial School for Deaf; School for Deaf and Dumb, Palaspalli; and Orissa Association for the Blind. Trophies and certificates for the winners of different events were distributed by Dr. Gopal Krishna Nayak, President, Rotary Club and Professor, Information Systems, XIMB; and Mr. S.P.Patnaik, Secretary, Rotary Club. This unique event succeeded in bringing out innate talents of the specially-abled, as they participated in activities such as musical chair, 100 m and 50 m races, drum beating, sack race, toffee race, 3-legged race, throw ball and volley ball with exploding enthusiasm and commendable teamwork, even as the audience passionately cheered and motivated them.

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