V is for Victory

A festival that lasts a week, is one that is of tremendous appeal to children, especially if it allows them to indulge in activities and exposes them to opportunities they may otherwise be deprived of. So it was for the students of Shiamak Davar’s Victory Arts Foundation. Shiamak and his band of committed volunteers, ensured that the JGW 09 was special for them and for those they encountered during the course of the week. The VAF ensured that the week had something for everyone: animal lovers, health and dance enthusiasts, those who like children, those who love partying.

This was seen in the varied activities the VAF came up with , from a dance display by children with special needs in Bangalore, to a dental camp in Mumbai, a visit to an animal shelter in Delhi, walking the strays , fund raising at the Chartered management Institute to sponsor education of the needy by teaching its employees to dance, a game of Housie in Pune, where winners were taught dance movements when they won a prize, and of course a performance by VAF Yuva students at JoyFest in Ahmedabad . With such variety, both Shiamak Davar and his students must have had some of the most joyous moments of their lives. Is it any wonder then that they call it “The best thing that’s happened this year” , and now that the giving has started, they would like it to continue.

And continue they will every year as they give freely of themselves during the Joy of Giving Week.

Coming Alive

Decades ago, the Bee Gees released a popular album called Staying Alive. They sang:

Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive / Well now, I get low and I get high ... Somebody help me, yeah / Life goin' nowhere, somebody help me, yeah / I'm stayin' alive.

The lyrics came to one’s mind while reading about Akanksha’s JGW 09 event. Akanksha, a NGO working with vulnerable children in Mumbai, to ensure they lead a life of dignity even if they are on the streets, had an event called Be the Change: Come Alive. Held on the 2nd of October, the concept fitted in beautifully with Gandhiji’s “Be the Change you want the world to be.”

Basically, Akanksha tried to inspire “people to reach out to others they would normally not interact with by engaging in activities they are passionate about”, and in the process helping them to Come Alive. Infected with energy and enthusiasm, both the volunteers (357 of them) and the participants came alive through varied activities as dancing, singing, staging street plays, playing with animals, photography etc.

The participants learnt a lot in the process and overcame their inhibitions to participate wholeheartedly in sharing their passion and in the process, making the world a better place, because for those few hours they were all people who were alive and as Thurman says “the world needs people who are alive.”

Safety First

Joy is multiplied manifold when education is combined with entertainment and appreciation and reward. Adults the world over, work towards inculcating intrinsic discipline in their children, hoping that they do something because it is good for them. As adults, some of us follow rules without being reminded to and some of us, well.. follow rules only when we fear being caught. Nowhere is this seen more clearly than on our roads.

This was addressed in Pune, by a bunch of 40 committed volunteers, who took to the roads in Pune to appreciate and reward those drivers who maintained road discipline and safety. Called Roadstar: Positive Ticket Campaign, it aimed at identifying those who followed traffic and safety rules without being reminded to and they were “recognised and rewarded for their positive contribution and influence others to adopt similar behaviour.” Those identified were rewarded with appreciation certificates and a discount coupon ranging in amounts from Rs5 to Rs20. These coupons would entitle them to a discount on their insurance renewal. Launched on the 19th of Sept. 2009 as a part of the Joy of Giving Week, this campaign reached out to more than 1000 people at 5 main traffic signals in Pune and was so well received that it continued much after the week had come to an end..

While those rewarded would have definitely felt thrilled, what of the volunteers who co-ordinated the event ? What were the lessons they learnt and what was their reward? They learnt to deal with strangers and build good interpersonal skills but more important they learnt that being intrinsically motivated to do something is infinitely better for good work does get recognized. As for their reward, what can be better than seeing the look of puzzlement change to incredulous surprise be replaced by sheer joy on the faces of those rewarded. That was their reward; the joy, the Joy of Giving.

Dancing for Joy

East met West and Bharatanatyam met Ballet in the course of an enchanting evening on the lawns of the residence of the Belgian Ambassador, in Delhi. In the open air, under a full moon, Geeta Chandran and her troupe gave the mesmerised audience of diplomats, celebrities, corporate heads and individuals a chance to view their dance performance titled 'Visions of Inner Space'. The highlight of the evening was a a dance in the Bharatnatyam style, set to the music of Swan Lake. The distinguished audience at the evening's performance glimpsed the change of seasons through movements and dance ad music.

The entire event was organised by Can Support, a NGO set up to offer pallative care for patients with cancer, as a part of its fundraising and advocacy campaigh during the Joy of Giving week 2009. The evening raised around 4 lakhs for the organisation.

While the audience enjoyed both the performance and the dinner, what of the dancers? They were happy too for as Geeta Chandran put it, she was happy to be associated with the evening for the resources raised would bring much needed medical, nursing and emotional care to patients with cancer and their families.

Combining aesthetics with entertainment with the aim of raising resources to those in need: truly a wonderful way to spread th Joy of Giving.

Spreading Warmth

It is surprising to discover how a small group of committed people can spread joy, when they choose to do so. Of the many stories that have been shared with us from all corners of our country, here is one from Ahmedabad, where a group of 7 students from The Calorx School, under the guidance of 2 teachers, managed to reach out to 350 people. The event, called 'Bringing Back Warm Smiles', raised Rs10,000 which was used to buy blankets that were in turn distributed to those who needed them, in and around the city. Some blankets were also sent to those affected by the floods in Andhra Pradesh.

What was the reward for those whose only thoughts were to spread some warmth in other's lives? That is best expressed in the words of one of the volunteers: "I would like to tell you that it is a great moment to see joy on the faces of people whose hearts you have touched. We were very happy with our hard work."

And so were the teachers who were involved in this for as they put it, the students learnt to manage and organise the event, learnt to care, but most important, learnt to empathise with those in need. And snug in their own beds, the students must have felt joyous that they had managed to protect others too from the cold. That is joy, the Joy of Giving.

JGW and Earth Day

Today, the 22nd of April is Earth Day and we at the JGW team are proud that as a part of JGW 09, many initiatives have been taken to nurture our planet. Last year, in interior Maharashtra, during JGW 09 the Forestry Department, undertook some activities to protect and nurture precious resources of our planet:

Some interesting things done in Maharashtra by kids were:
3288 kgs of castor seeds were planted alongside sewage canals
1,67,727 cloth bags were made from used cloth and distributed
94324 Notebooks were made of old unused pages of notebooks.

Remarkable effort on the part of theose who conceptualised these ideas and motivated children to carry them out, especially considering the little time they had to plan and complete the enormous task they had undertaken.

Some other innovative ideas were:
Kids from Buldhana district got 5517 pledges from the elders to donate their eyes 5517
In the Aurangabad Circle 19.5 liters blood were donated by officers and staff.

The adults and the children who were an intrinsic part of the whole excercise, are so enthused and derived so much joy from it all, that they have already begun to plan for JGW 2010 and this time they plan to involve all the Zilla Parishad heads to co-ordinate and follow-up on spreading joy by giving of themselves to others, during JGW 2010. In India, a majority of us look down upon the government and think that those who work for the government are indifferent to the needs of our society. We do hope that our perception changes for stories like these rebuild our faith and sustain our hope for a better future for our country.

Platters of Joy

Tamilians across the globe usher in the New Year today, the 14th of April, and as they prepare to gorge on traditional delicacies, many also make it a point to donate in cash and kind to their favourite deities and to their favourite charities. One hopes that the generosity Tamilians show today, matches that displayed by the Chennaites last year at the Battle of the Buffet held as a part of JGW '09. As the name signifies, the battle is related to food, but the prize for the Battle was not the signature dishes that were lovingly prepared by Master Chefs, but the satisfaction one got from donating to a worthy cause. An initiative of Mr.Mahadevan of Oriental Cuisines and supported by 5star hotels, the event turned out to be one of the biggest fund raisers of the JGW '09 with over 50 NGos benefitting from the 90lakhs raised. More than 1800 participants paid around 5thousand each to enjoy an evening of food and music by noted singers and the money raised went to various charities. The evening was so successful that the organisers ran out of food and the volunteers had to do without. Not that they were complaining for as one of them Aarti Madhusudan, a volunteer for the JGW put it " What was interesting was that ..... it was the event where individuals, who were completely new, were giving,”

The photo has Mr.Vaghul with Mr.Mahadevan and Suhasini Mani Ratnam in Chennai. All of them have been very supportive of the JGW and Mr.Vaghul hopes that the JGW helps to create " a society where the privileged can take care of the underprivileged,"

These are words we should remember as we prepare for JGW '10 between the 26th of Sept. and the 2nd of October.