Daan Utsav 2014
CHENNAI: It is that time of the year when the entire country discovers the collective joy of giving. What is the country’s largest festival of giving has got a new and, perhaps, politically correct and indigenous nomenclature — Daan Utsav. To add native flavour, every State will additionally have a tag line in the local language. In Tamil Nadu, it is Daan Utsav, Kodduppom, Maghizhvom, from October 2 to 8.
Entirely volunteer driven and publicly owned, the festival provides a platform for every Indian desiring to reach out to the less privileged. In 2013, around three million people across 100 cities and towns in the country participated in 900 registered events from small to those involving a lakh, according to M Aarthi, a volunteer. “Everybody wants to do good at some point. This festival shows them how they can do it. And the benefit goes 100 per cent to the beneficiary and, of course, the giver,” she said at a media briefing here on Tuesday.
In Tamil Nadu, the activities ranged from a family inviting their daughter’s school van driver for lunch to a four-year-old kindergarten student emptying her piggy bank and donating her savings of `100. Add to that employees of a leading multinational volunteering their time to pick up garbage off the beach, to children in villages of Kanchipuram and Viruddhunagar districts engaging in annadaanam and hospital cleaning.
As the festival enters its sixth year, several interesting activities lie in wait for eager and service-minded volunteers. Selva Ganapathy, volunteer coordinator, is planning to mobilise volunteers to offer spoken English sessions in 50 public spaces in the city like parks, beach, railway station. “The small group sessions will primarily be aimed at vendors, auto drivers, and, in fact, any passerby to help them speak some basic conversational lines in English,” he said.
Children’s Parliament
An interesting and unique initiative of the festival is the Children’s Parliament, where young children from villages and towns form themselves into a ‘mock parliament’ and address real concerns of the area they reside in. Take for instance, 18-year-old M Sasikala of Arunvayal village, Tiruvallur district. Presently a B Com student, she has been a volunteer since she was in the fifth standard.
This year, her parliament has ambitious plans: From a `1 campaign in every village, where the collection raised would go to charity, to children in the village helping rebuild the damaged home of a resident, to organising a sports/fun camp for all the kids from neighbouring villages. “We are also planning for a trophy that will be given to the parliament that did the most innovative giving activity,” she said.
Drivers of Makkal Auto will offer free rides to the elderly on any one day of the week. They will also participate in a blood donation drive.
Battle of Buffet
If the joy of giving is here, can the ‘Battle of the Buffet’ — a leading fundraiser for NGOs be far behind? “There will be corporate participation in the event that will see five-star and other hotels in the city coming together to offer a fundraising platform for NGOs,” said M Mahadevan, founder, Chennai Mission Trust. “The event raises over `2 crore for over 50 NGOs and is a zero-cost event for the NGOs,” he adds. A feast to the eye and palate will be a 1,000 kg photocake baked by French Loaf. All proceeds from the sale of the cake will go to charity. “Each kilo will cost `1,500 and the proceeds of `15 lakh will go to two NGOs,” Mahadevan said.
Interestingly, Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal, has planned a ‘dinner with difference’ on October 8. It will involve guests who will be completely blindfolded from the start of the meal to finish. What is more, they will be seated next to strangers and will need to serve themselves from the buffet table. “The aim is to build empathy towards the issue of blindness,” said V Shankar, executive director, Sankara Eye Hospital
Entirely volunteer driven and publicly owned, the festival provides a platform for every Indian desiring to reach out to the less privileged. In 2013, around three million people across 100 cities and towns in the country participated in 900 registered events from small to those involving a lakh, according to M Aarthi, a volunteer. “Everybody wants to do good at some point. This festival shows them how they can do it. And the benefit goes 100 per cent to the beneficiary and, of course, the giver,” she said at a media briefing here on Tuesday.
In Tamil Nadu, the activities ranged from a family inviting their daughter’s school van driver for lunch to a four-year-old kindergarten student emptying her piggy bank and donating her savings of `100. Add to that employees of a leading multinational volunteering their time to pick up garbage off the beach, to children in villages of Kanchipuram and Viruddhunagar districts engaging in annadaanam and hospital cleaning.
As the festival enters its sixth year, several interesting activities lie in wait for eager and service-minded volunteers. Selva Ganapathy, volunteer coordinator, is planning to mobilise volunteers to offer spoken English sessions in 50 public spaces in the city like parks, beach, railway station. “The small group sessions will primarily be aimed at vendors, auto drivers, and, in fact, any passerby to help them speak some basic conversational lines in English,” he said.
Children’s Parliament
An interesting and unique initiative of the festival is the Children’s Parliament, where young children from villages and towns form themselves into a ‘mock parliament’ and address real concerns of the area they reside in. Take for instance, 18-year-old M Sasikala of Arunvayal village, Tiruvallur district. Presently a B Com student, she has been a volunteer since she was in the fifth standard.
This year, her parliament has ambitious plans: From a `1 campaign in every village, where the collection raised would go to charity, to children in the village helping rebuild the damaged home of a resident, to organising a sports/fun camp for all the kids from neighbouring villages. “We are also planning for a trophy that will be given to the parliament that did the most innovative giving activity,” she said.
Drivers of Makkal Auto will offer free rides to the elderly on any one day of the week. They will also participate in a blood donation drive.
Battle of Buffet
If the joy of giving is here, can the ‘Battle of the Buffet’ — a leading fundraiser for NGOs be far behind? “There will be corporate participation in the event that will see five-star and other hotels in the city coming together to offer a fundraising platform for NGOs,” said M Mahadevan, founder, Chennai Mission Trust. “The event raises over `2 crore for over 50 NGOs and is a zero-cost event for the NGOs,” he adds. A feast to the eye and palate will be a 1,000 kg photocake baked by French Loaf. All proceeds from the sale of the cake will go to charity. “Each kilo will cost `1,500 and the proceeds of `15 lakh will go to two NGOs,” Mahadevan said.
Interestingly, Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal, has planned a ‘dinner with difference’ on October 8. It will involve guests who will be completely blindfolded from the start of the meal to finish. What is more, they will be seated next to strangers and will need to serve themselves from the buffet table. “The aim is to build empathy towards the issue of blindness,” said V Shankar, executive director, Sankara Eye Hospital
CITIES » CHENNAI CHENNAI, September 29, 2014
Updated: September 29, 2014 09:34 IST
Up & About: Watch what you eat? Maybe, not always
Lalitha Rajaram and her husband have dined at restaurants several times, like most people.
But, for the first time on October 7, they will not be able to see what they eat. “We will be blindfolded right at the entrance to the restaurant, and will eat the meal blindfolded,” she said.
And, she is understandably both excited and anxious.
Lalitha will be among those who will participate in ‘Blind Date’, a fundraising dinner for Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal, hosted as part of ‘Daan Utsav’ or Joy of Giving Week, set to begin on October 2.
Aarti Madhusudan, volunteer, Joy of Giving Week, said this was their first attempt at such an event.
“Close to 30 donors will spend around 90 minutes eating the meal blindfolded at Copper Chimney in Taramani. The idea is to cultivate a sense of empathy towards those without eyesight. It is not planned as a ‘fun’ event. It is for people to experience darkness,” she said.
One of the dishes, she said, would have a surprise ingredient, which diners would have to guess. “It will be a little unnerving, but it is part of the experience,” she said.
Updated: September 29, 2014 09:34 IST
Up & About: Watch what you eat? Maybe, not always
Lalitha Rajaram and her husband have dined at restaurants several times, like most people.
But, for the first time on October 7, they will not be able to see what they eat. “We will be blindfolded right at the entrance to the restaurant, and will eat the meal blindfolded,” she said.
And, she is understandably both excited and anxious.
Lalitha will be among those who will participate in ‘Blind Date’, a fundraising dinner for Sankara Eye Hospital, Pammal, hosted as part of ‘Daan Utsav’ or Joy of Giving Week, set to begin on October 2.
Aarti Madhusudan, volunteer, Joy of Giving Week, said this was their first attempt at such an event.
“Close to 30 donors will spend around 90 minutes eating the meal blindfolded at Copper Chimney in Taramani. The idea is to cultivate a sense of empathy towards those without eyesight. It is not planned as a ‘fun’ event. It is for people to experience darkness,” she said.
One of the dishes, she said, would have a surprise ingredient, which diners would have to guess. “It will be a little unnerving, but it is part of the experience,” she said.
Blind Date – an awareness event about Avoidable Blindness
With 80% of blindness being preventable or curable, it is unfair that people continue to be blind in such large numbers. The reasons for this situation are lack of access to affordable eye care. During this year’s Daan Utsav period, Sankara Eye Hospital has joined hands with Copper Chimney Restaurant to bring about awareness of avoidable blindness through a novel event. Christened “Blind Date” the event is a dinner with a difference where guests are blindfolded at the entrance to the restaurant and made to go through some interesting experiences so that they get a firsthand feel of blindness. In their case, the simple expedient of removing the blindfold would restore their vision.
The intent is to emphasize that in a similar way, if we could assist in the removal of cataract, which is the equivalence of the blindfold for the less fortunate, we could help such people also see. A small sum of Rs 1000 is adequate to cover the residual cost of a cataract surgery and an endowment of Rs 10,000 could contribute to one person getting his/her vision restored every year in perpetuity.
Through this experience the sponsors are hopeful that a greater awareness could be created on avoidable blindness and the value of sight when it is restored
Article published in Cosmic Times
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