NSS IIT DELHI

Ek Aur Dronacharya – A Stage Play by Antraal

2010-01-21T11:18:00.000-08:00

A stage play performance “Ek Aur Dronacharya" was organized by NSS IITD and Antraal at the Seminar Hall on Jan 9, 2010. The play was written by Shankar Shesh and directed by Akbar Quadri and Azam Quadri, twin brothers, alumni of Film and Television Institute (FTI), Pune. The 1 hour 40 mins. Play dealt with the serious theme of corruption prevalent in the society and tried to draw a parallel with Guru Dronacharya and was quite successful in its efforts, given the jam packed Seminar Hall, with people even occupying the seats upstairs and enthusiastic response and applause by the audiences.
The play threw light on the educational system entrapped in the web of corruption, sparing none, even the most disciplined find themselves compromising with the system. The plot hangs around the character of Prof. Arvind, a protagonist who was a man of disciplines and always stuck to truth, finds himself surrounded by the gigantic monster of corruption when he tried to report the act of cheating by the son of an influential person. The greed for fame, power, money and constant rebukes by his wife for a materialistic lifestyle overpower him, pollutes his mind and his professional ethics take a back seat. Finally, sinking deeper into the mud of hunger for fame, Arvind finds himself trapped in the cobwebs and is jailed with charges of corruption and is punished for his past deeds. This was a reinterpretation of the character of Drona in the light of modern educational system and it tried to bring into notice the biased decisions of Drona as a teacher, be it the Eklavya episode or being a party to the Draupadi's eve teasing by the Kaurvas. Drona, despite being a great maestro in his field, could never impart principles to his students, just to find himself betrayed by his own disciples in the end.
The play was a great success with impressive acting skills and humorous dialogues which had a long lasting effect on the audiences who were spellbound by the performance. The directors told that they practice in the premises of National Association for Blinds (NAB) during weekends and on a lighter note also complained about the sound systems of the Seminar Hall. The Antraal group has been very active in the past in directing plays themed upon the socials evils such as “Mausam ko na jaane Kya Ho Gaya”, “Jis Lahore Nai Dekhya Wo jamiya Nahi” which have been very successful in the past. they "EK Aur Dronacharya" was another feather in the cap and successfully conveyed the message, "Corruption is like a ball of snow, once it's set a rolling it must increase."
-Vaibhav Yadav

Courtesy - Board of Student Publications
http://www.infinityiitd.com

A Sneak Peek into lives of street kids

2010-01-21T11:06:00.000-08:00

Child abuse is the physical or emotional abuse of a child by a parent, guardian, or other person. Reports of child abuse, including sexual abuse, beating, forcing children to work, to beg on streets have jumped in Delhi and there has been a belief that the number of cases is largely under reported. An initiative seeing the kids of children being abused in such a manner was taken resulting in Development of Khoj Foundation. They studied deeply the life of street children, their aspirations and the general opinion of the larger society towards them.

Intentions of generating awareness amongst the students of IIT about the life of street kids, Khoj Foundation performed a 15 minutes overwhelming street play named “Rajdhani Beggars” focussing on sensitizing the larger society on the issues of children living on the streets. In collaboration with Khoj Foundation, NSS, IIT – Delhi is organising a teaching project in Ber Sarai. Also, there's a project been started in January,2010 in the newly built hostel between Zanskar and Satpura for the children of labor working there. What they all know is there’s a game called “gilli danda” and their parents (if they have) would be back in the evening and fed them, hopefully, with a meal. We don’t only teach the kids, instead, try to interact with the kids, try to make their lives meaningful, show them movies, play games with them, etc.
NSS- IITD thus invites enthusiastic volunteers to come up for the noble cause and bring a change in somebody’s life. Somebody’s waiting for you, unconsciously!

-Apoorv Jain

GOONJ TRIP - an overview

2010-01-21T11:02:00.000-08:00

My reflex thought about the GOONJ TRIP is 'AWESOME'.Something which makes you feel that one doesn't need resources to help but one needs the will to help at the first place.It was the mirror image of the fact that how one's thoughts and actions can give birth to new lives.Many of us become immune to the happenings around us .BUT SOME DON'T .They realise that someone needs their help gravely. A help which is vital for their very existence.The Goonj trip made us feel how even a bit of help can eventually turn out to be big. It makes us conscious that DISASTERS can deprive someone of nearly everything,'EVERYTHING'.We must be aware of the fact that many people in this world don't have a comfortable living as we have and we ought to help them and mind it, it's 'NOT YOURGESTURE BUT YOUR RESPONSIBILITY!'.The goonj trip made me feel good that some people are there who CARE but at the same time I felt that i should also have been a part and i am sure that everyone present there would have felt the same. Goonj organises cloth collection drives at various places and the shapes all the collected items into decent stuff. They raise funds for their execution by putting up stalls of handmade things.Isn't that GREAT?For me the goonj trip was really a "GOONJ OF THOUGHTS" and the thought which has really left an everlasting impact is"Take care of small things and the big things will take care of themselves."I believe you all heard a "goonj" and please don't just let it echo but leave an effect ,the one which changes you and hence changes the existing scenario where not just goonj but everyone is there to help each other."HATS OFF TO GOONJ !!!!!!!!!!!!!"

-Shachi Mittal

Discussion on “GOD AND GOOGLE” by youngest Indian Ph.D. Scholar

2010-01-21T10:51:00.000-08:00

NSS IITD added a new chapter in its saga by organizing a seminar on a neoteric topic “GOD AND GOOGLE” in association with the NRCVEE on the 12th of January. Dr. Ravi M. Gupta, aged 21, the world’s youngest Indian Ph.D. scholar, was the speaker. Today we thrive in such a touch deprived world where frontiers between internet and human relationships have become murky, the “i-factor” has become gravely associated with our lives and as a result GOOGLism has emerged as a vital and prominent aspect of our lives.The event was utterly backed by the students. The NSS mail was very well written,”He knows everything. He sees everything. He is present everywhere. He can give you anything you want. You might be thinking of God here, but i have someone else in mind - GOOGLE! In the age of the Internet nothing seems impossible and nothing is out of reach. Doing research ? No Books necessary. Need a Social life? Facebook beats travel. Getting Married? Well, you get the idea...”As a result there was too much rush with around 200 attending the seminar in the lecture theatre of the capacity of 130, showcasing truly the power of pen. Also many volunteers had to return back. The speaker was exceptional and mesmerized everyone with his speech and his logical views on the very theme of the seminar. People have even started to believe that Google should rightfully be given the title of “GOD”. The Church Of Google is an organization formed by such a section of people and they even produce nine proofs to prove their point by boasting of its omniscience, omnipresence, infiniteness, immortality and omnibenevolence. Dr. Ravi indubitably stated the idiosyncrasy between the God and the Google. He affirmed that the search engine is devoid of any feelings and bestows with information and not knowledge, of which God is a source. Information is just a transient data while knowledge (of which God is the only source) on contrary is permanent, universal, beneficial and something abstract which connects the works with our soul, he further added. God is the creator and the Google is human-created. He established that the Google had got such an importance in our lives due to our tendency to make relationships, our very innate nature. Googlists themselves claim Facebook, Twitter and their respective Spanish and Turkish counterparts to be among top five searches on Google in 2009, this very fact proves the point. Due to the deficit of seats students were sitting on the stairs and a lot of them standing around. Even though the students actively participated in the discussions and eloquently kept their points.
Furthermore, three movies were also screened, all with a noble purpose. One of them was a 4 min clip emphasizing the importance of eye donation with a motive to tell people that NSS is soon going to have an eye donation motivation event as well as a camp. The penultimate one, an 18 min clip aimed at AIDS awareness and the last one “PRAMBHA” (though was unfinished) served the same purpose. Undoubtedly, the event was a success and the audience would have surely returned with a new bunch of knowledge and thoughts to ponder upon!

-Chandra Prakash

Courtesy - Board of Student Publications
http://www.infinityiitd.com

An Overview of “Watering down Monumental Crisis”

2010-01-21T10:38:00.000-08:00

There was no legend in their past or present, yet they seemed like they’re the real legend. How often we talk of environment? How many of us have fought the cause? How many of us switch off the lights, laptops, fans when we leave our rooms? Probably only 5 % of the total people. Pulkit and Sejal are the couple who are no less than legend to today’s world. They have moved to smarter ways to protect the environment and people from environmental problems. Pulkit, an IT professional takes no less pride in cycling his way to office which is 5 kms away. Sejal, IT professional too, has increased her cycling capacity to 50kms a day given the fact that she could barely cycle when she started it.
Together they set an example in front of all the students who heard them interestingly. Because they say

“Many people have lived without love, but none without water.”

Did you know.. Delhi alone guzzles 4.5 crore litres of water for car washing! We are doing it at the cost of other humans who are facing water crisis, who have to migrate from their houses just in search of water and who die for lack of water!

Their message to the students was:-
In place of multiple ................................Use One
Plastic bags..............................................Jute/Cloth Bag
Disposable cups.........................................Mug/ glass
Tissue papers......................................................Handkerchiefs
Disposable water bottles..............................Reusable Bottle

Together in their tone students reacted enthusiastically and many supported to the idea of taking one’s own cup everywhere he goes so that he need not use the plastic cups provided at Nescafe/ Lipton or anywhere else. They are ready to make it today’s fashion statement in IIT Delhi to carry a cup each to their workplace, be it class or anywhere else. It’s no more a shame! People are moving forward to protect the environment. If you’re not then I’m sorry to say dude, “You’re out of fashion!”
Our choices tell who we are, not our capabilities. Realise that you’re a part of this world and contribute every bit to this cause.

“Only after the last tree has been cut off, and the last river poisoned, will we realize that we can’t eat money!”

-Apoorv Jain

Roli Poli Composting system. Wealth from Waste.

2009-09-13T07:03:00.000-07:00

Then came a bit of stubb’d ground, once a wood,
Next a marsh, it would seem, and now mere earth
Desperate and done with; (so a fool finds mirth,
Makes a thing and then mars it, till his mood
Changes and off he goes!) within a rood—
Bog, clay, and rubble, sand and stark black dearth.
- Robert Browning

The stench rises likes a thief and stealing over the perimeters of the dhalaos, slowly permeates every corner of it's vicinity. It spreads it's hooks insidiously till with time it seems to have settled into the very skin of the earth there. Flies buzz with monotonous depravity. Every surface seemingly crawls with the detritus of humanity. The heat putrifies the garbage to a black and green mess,rains spread the yellow sludge with an impartial air and the cold freezes the putrid remains into a gnarled mess. A vision of the waste lands of India.

Delhi combines within itself the best and the worst of most systems.Its waste-management system is no better, of the 20 landfill sites ear-marked by the government, 15 landfill sites are already full and 2 are suspended. The last 3 remaining (Bhalasawa, Ghazipur and Okhla ) are already overflowing. Each of these landfills contaminates land, water, air and delays decomposition. Delhi's current waste disposal needs, equire land which it does not have. The good news however is that 50% of the waste generated in Delhi is organic and therefore compostable. nother 30% is recyclable. Composting is generally considered one of the best ways of extracting value from garbage, but in a country like India, it faces the problems of space required and maintainence of the pit.

The IIT Delhi campus also grapples with similar problems. The entire waste is collected together with no segregation and dumped near the micro-modal complex where secondary segregation is attempted. This system is environmentally hazardous, wasteful and not sustainable. This is where the Roli Poli makes an entry.The idea is to try and solve the terrible waste management system inside IIT Delhi through recycling and composting. Roli-Poli is a composting system manufactured by Greenbandhu. The Roli Poli helps in converting kitchen waste into very useful and valuable compost in a hygienic and clean manner, it makes source segregation automatic, increases the reuse and resale value of recyclables, de-stressing the already stressed out waste management system. And all this is done in a very user friendly and convenient manner.

The Roli Poli has been introduced here, under the aegis of NSS IIT Delhi, as a pilot project led by Professor M.R.Ravi (as the NSS coordinator). Three units of Roli Poli are to be installed. The first was installed in M street near the Kendriya Vidyalaya school. The first unit serves the needs of twelve households, who will be segregating at the household level and'feeding the pig' with the organic part of their waste. The second unit will come up in Captain B.N.Yadav's (Head Security Officer) apartment and the third unit will be starting in Kailash hostel.

There was a small demonstration by Saurav Bardhan, the enthusiastic head of GreenBandhu. He regularly checks up on the maintainence and progress of the Roli Poli, devoting much time and resources to the spread of the personal composting system. Often he has to dig into his own resources to keep the project going. On being asked about the unique looks of the Roli-Poli, his reply was that he wanted to turn composting into something fun and attractive. Something that would make people sit up and think that composting could be fun too. He admits that he wishes to target kids in particular as they will go on to become the primary participants in the struggle to make zero-waste manangement possible.

--
Shruti

Courtesy - Board of Student Publications
http://www.infinityiitd.com

An Eye Opener

2009-08-29T09:14:00.000-07:00

An Eye-Opener

The IITD chapter of NSS, in association with the Blind Persons' Association(BPA), organised a very emotional one-hour(2-3 pm) seminar on the 22nd of August at II-LT2. The BPA, an organisation from Kolkata, is a front-runner in educating and training the blind people in India. The seminar was presided over Mr. Mazumdar, a member of BPA, and a blind person himself. The brave man has been touring all over India, right from his hometown Kolkata, and giving the people an insight into the problems faced the blind people in India and how they could help in making their lives better.

Mr. Mazumdar, informed that the people in India can be classified into two sets, according to their attitude towards the blinds. One are those who feel displeased in even helping a blind to cross the road. Others are those who unnecessarily sympathize with them. He clarified that, though blind people need some help from the world but they shouldn't be given embarrassing sympathy. It was asserted that the blinds can also serve the community with equal proficiency and fervor.

Mr. Mazumdar was later joined by Prof. Dr. M. R. Ravi, the NSS coordinator of IITD-NSS. They enlightened the IITians about how they could join hands in bringing the blind people into the mainstream of the society. Being a part of the intellectuals of the country, they can play a very vital role in recording books into audio CDs for the blind and in making presentations for various blind peoples' welfare seminars. Moreover, they can help the country's various NGOs through donations and fund-raising.

Check out http://www.bpa.org.in/ for more information.

Courtesy - Board of Student Publications

http://www.infinityiitd.com/report_13.php

Why Donate Blood ?

2009-08-25T18:26:00.000-07:00

Why Donate Blood ?

Another enamouring event organised by NSS IITD which called up over 100 students was held on 25th August with the support of Rotary Blood Bank. The event drew a bead on motivating the students to donate blood.

It led off with two movie screenings; one casting various doctors and experienced people telling about the wrong myths of the people. And the other was a sentimental movie sending us the message to donate blood even if it’s not your dear one who needs it because someday you might end up needing someone else who’s a stranger to you!

Mrs. Sonia, the representative from the aforementioned blood bank, threw a light in detail about the process called “Blood Donation”, its myths and benefits. Some of them included as follows:-

1) It doesn’t create weakness instead generates activeness and happiness is something you get free of cost after it!

2) The criteria to be able to donate blood :-

a) Age must be greater than 18

b) Weight must be more than 45 kgs

c) You should not have had certain diseases in the recent past like Dengue, Malaria, etc . These checks are done on the spot by the doctors.

d) Haemoglobin content should be more than 12 units and other factors are there which are told on the site.

3) The whole process is of 5-7 minutes including medical test and donation of blood.

4) You get a free test of various medical diseases like HIV, etc and get a medical report of it.

5) One unit of blood taken from you which contains 350ml to 450ml of blood is regained by your body within 24 hours.

6) For people who are fat – It helps reducing cholesterol :-)

7) Blood Donation reduced the possibility of heart diseases by 33 %.

8) Many lives are lost just because of the scarcity of the blood units. India requires 9 million blood units every year and collects only 6 million!

And the talk included other factors which you may not be knowing. In a nutshell Blood Donation helps both the donors and acceptors. So be a regular blood donor by donating after every 3 months or more. After all you don’t have to be a Superman to save lives!

Apoorv

2009-08-21T11:36:00.000-07:00

NSS-IITD & Rotary Club

"BLOOD DONATION CAMP"

YOU DON'T HAVE TO BE A SUPERMAN TO SAVE LIVES !!!

Venue: Ex hall, IIT Delhi
Time : 10 AM - 5 PM
Date : 26.08.2009 (Wednesday)

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."
-Winston Churchill

Trees and more trees....

2009-08-08T11:23:00.000-07:00

I am a nature freak. I love trees, rivers, hills and birds. "Shire" as described in "Lord of The Rings" happens to be my favorite place. NSS IITD provided me the perfect opportunity for planting trees this monsoon ( though we hardly had rains this time). Kalpvriksh had planned a Tree plantation drive this Saturday in nearby Navakriti school. Their plan was to involve nursery kids in planting of trees. So volunteers from NSS IITD decided to help out kids in planting trees.

It wasn’t a difficult job, but sun & humid conditions were making it difficult to work. But when going gets tougher, tougher gets going. Moreover watching small children (of the age 5-10) planting trees was so fun that sun hardly mattered to us. Digging some pits, getting ourselves dirty reminded me of my childhood days. After planting, it was turn to water them. So we picked up buckets and mugs & found water from wherever we could & then finished this job too in minutes.

I wish to have similar drive in IIT. Lets see if this can be done. “Every hand counts, even you can make the difference, what you require is just a will to do it.”

Ravikant Bhargav
ravikant.bhargav@gmail.com

To be ill and to be poor.....

2009-08-08T09:04:00.000-07:00

'Swine flu' might be the disease of the day, but there are plenty of horrifying diseases, ailments, illnesses and accidents each so horrifying that you won’t wish any of them for even worst of your enemies. Amputations, body burns, trauma patients, patients for kidney transplants, cancers, acid burns, industrial accidents and what not. The good thing between all this misery and suffering is the fact that India is fast emerging as the destination for medical tourism with private hospital chains like max, escorts that offer better than the luxury hotels in services. But poor are not the one welcome here, this luxury of treatment is reserved for lucky few having resources to pay for it. Diseases and Illnesses are not fair, they dont believe in equality, they hurt poor many times more, in ways more than one.

I happened to visit AIIMS Trauma center and Safdarjung Hospital to meet Mr. Sudhir. Mr. Sudhir is an IPS officer who runs NGO Sapna and helps poor patients stationed in govt. hospitals and he explained to me the situation there. Most patients are from poorest of districts, from Bihar, Orissa, Assam , Rajasthan. Diseases and accidents force them to migrate for treatments. Often they sell their fields and lands and have to set up a base around hospitals. Moving to a city is a culture shock and they usually find no work. Illiteracy makes it harder for them to negotiate the system. Their tattered prescription slips is the only guidance they get. The situation becomes worse when the only earning member is ill or the ill person needs constant care from family. With no work and no money they either fall under burden of debt or are dependent entirely on charity. Many times relatives desert their patients and leave them to their fate. It’s a choice between starvation and guilt for their loved one. To use money on a dying family member or so save it for their kids, is not a easy choice to make.

That is one part of the problem. Although the treatment is free in these hospitals, medicines for ailments such as kidney transplant can cost up to three thousand a week. There is absolutely no way for patients to gather such an amount. The other issue is that most of them do not know anyone in the city. It becomes impossible for patients to arrange for blood donations. With so many blood donation myths and apprehensions and often due to superstitions even near and dear ones refuse to donate blood. They often end up with touts who exploit their desperate situation and make blood donors available for as high as fifteen hundred for a unit of blood.

It was a strange sight at hospital, to see all the patients and their relatives weeping and crying in front of Sudhir Sir. They were falling on to his feet asking for medicines, clothes, shelters and units of blood. But even he can offer little and often nothing but sympathy.

One thing NSS has decided to do along with NGO Sapna is to arrange six Blood Donors from IIT Delhi to go to Safdarjung Hospital every saturday to donate blood. NGO Sapna will arrange for transport and ensure that the blood directly reaches the needy patients. I am sure students will come forward for this cause.

To think of it, to extend a helping hand is so much more than a NSS activity. To share pain of others, to help someone in need is important. At one level this is what makes us all human.

- Abhinav

kumarabhinavgupta@gmail.com

Welcome

2009-07-19T01:45:00.000-07:00

WELCOME..!!!

Congratulations to all Freshers.

NSS IITD extends a warm welcome to all first yearites.

We look forward to your active participation and support in all NSS Activities and a
year full of fun and learning.

kindly join NSS 2009 Google Group
http://groups.google.co.in/group/nss2009
for regular updates and information

For any kind of queries and doubts contact.
Abhinav Kr. Gupta
nssinbox@gmail.com
kumarabhinavgupta@gmail.com
Mobille No. 9868371533

Remembering Bhopal, Rediscovering Human Element

2009-05-27T10:54:00.001-07:00

IIT Delhi remembers 25 years of Bhopal Gas Disaster

Bhopal Disaster is in its 25th year now and there are many lessons to be learnt. While 2008 had been a year of significant victories the vision with which Bhopalis have been leading this struggle relentlessly still remains to be realized. Support for the campaign has increased manifold and especially from youth. While, 2006 onwards IIT engineering students have consistently showed doors to Dow Chemicals, they ushered in 2009 with renewed vigour and determination. To begin with, Chennai youth organized rock concert for Bhopal and now IIT Delhi students marked the beginning of the 25th Anniversary year in their own unique style. Notably, this is also the 50th foundation year for IITD.

Sufi Concert, 28th Feb, Dogra Hall, IITD

Board of Student publication and an absolutely Dow influence free group that prides in calling itself IITD for Bhopal organized a Sufi concert to support the Bhopal gas disaster survivors, and countering the Multimillion dollar Promotion campaigns by the Dow Chemicals that continues its tradition of lies and misspeak. Taking lessons from the Disaster, IITians pledged for ethical engineering marking the 50th Foundation Year of IITD.

The concert actually started with a workshop on Sufi poetry by renowned Sufi singer Madan Gopal Singh. This was first of its kind in the campus and was quite well attended.

He and his group later kept the audience captivated with the very soulful sufi music that goes beyond all tragedies and connects one to the other.

Remarkably, the concert was attended by a number of faculty members who also made generous donations besides taking a stock of current situation in Bhopal. In fact, students had decided to give special invitations to all faculty members; no wonder they were quite glad to see that their effort didn’t go in vain.

This concert was the brainchild of first year students and seniors were only consulted when needed. The event also saw Bhopal exhibition and grafitti. By the time evening came to an end, the group was much more bonded, much acquainted with Bhopal and so much more passionately involved with issues around. Just couple of days before the concert many of the group members were part of Yamuna clean drive. True to the spirit of the slogan given by one of the members, ‘Remembering Bhopal, Rediscovering Human Element”.

2nd March, Board of Hostel Management Night, IITD

Going one step ahead, for the first time Karakoram Hostel in IITD endorsed Bhopal as the theme for the BHM night. The Hostel Night marks the award ceremony to felicitate hostels and their residents based on year long activities and performance. On this occasion itself, there is yet another annual competition between the several different hostels (boys and girls included). Each hostel has to design a stall on any theme of their choice and the best one is awarded a trophy.

The residents worked whole day in getting the look and the facts right. Much debate happened on what should be the exact message and aim. What we hope to achieve and how do we go about this.

They voted for Remembering Bhopal, Redicovering Human Element as the theme for the stall. The stall staged the scene of the disaster. Pictures, captions and props led the visitors from Bhopal to 1000 Bhopals. Connecting Bhopal disaster and unlearnt lessons to the present situation of many more Bhopal like situations, the stage finally posed the much debated choice to the visitors- Lifestyle or Life? Greed or Need? Ethical Engineering or slave working!!

The students explained the link between the disaster, them, stall and IIT to all student and faculty visitors. They screened a short film on Bhopal, had factsheets and Closer to Reality- a handbook by Hindu College students for distribution. Finally, the result-

Karakoram didn’t win the trophy but rather the test of their convictions. Their moment of joy- Neelgiri Hostel, the one who did win the competition, started their own stall on ‘Upside Down’ with the iconic picture of the Bhopali child.

March 4, BSP Newsletter, IITD

Just in case you wondered what happened to the debate about screening of corporates in campus placement check out the newsletter by Board of Student Promotion (http://www.infinityiitd.com/index-2-3.php?pageNum_Recordset3=2&totalRows_Recordset3=27&id=183&sc=6)

I know what you are thinking, where will Dow hide when North and South unite!

- IITD4Bhopal

For regular updates http://www.bhopal.net/

PARADISE LOST

2009-05-27T09:56:00.001-07:00

That day, as I was heading towards my hostel lost in my own small world, my mind came to the girl standing in front of me near Himadri Lawns, her feet bare, her hair unkempt. But there was something about her eyes. And so I approached her. Seeing me her sister came rushing. I softly asked the girl if she went to school. “No” she replied. “Why not?” I asked. That’s when her sister replied “it is because we came here to work. She used to go to school earlier. But now………..” her voice trailed off. I asked the girl “till which class have u studied?” “Till class four” she replied. The pride in her voice was not hard to miss. And she just ran away leaving me there.

It’s time like these that really make you stop and question your own existence. Your morals, your principles, your life. For the first time in IIT, it was this day when NSS meant something more to me than just those 100 hours of it. I realized that my education alone isn’t the aim of my life. It’s that liberating knowledge that sets you free and ultimately shapes your entire life. And believe me, till now the face of the girl never really goes away.
Come on friends!! Stand up. Let us live this small life on this lonely planet as a family rather than enemies. Let us bring equality into our lives, into our minds. Let us become more cheerful and more satisfied when we see everyone living peacefully. Let us make this life count and donate to the cause of humanity, a better tomorrow.

We at NSS@IITD resolve to bring more equality and righteousness into human life and action. We dream to bring a change in human society and culture through our dialogues and action. We plan to grow each day and aim to achieve a utopia.
BE A PART OF US!!

Nikita singla
NSS IIT Delhi

Not just a piece of Cloth

2009-05-17T07:35:00.000-07:00

There are a few occasions in your life when you are touched by something, something that makes you think and wonder, something that brings untold enthusiasm in you yet make you feel guilty, something that scares you yet leave a string of hope, something that turns you against this world yet feel sorry for it. I was struck by all those chords, listening to a talk by Anshu Gupta, the founder of Goonj which is an NGO, (that collects clothes and distributes them to needy), in an event organized by NSS . That Wednesday, I left the venue still thinking about an issue which I(like everybody else) never thought about.

As we all know, our country has around 60% of its population below the poverty line, without food or clothes. What comes to your mind when you think of such a poor person? Torn, dirty, worn, muddy clothes (or no clothes at all), desperate eyes. The clothes symbolize his poverty, the same piece of cloth all around the year, through summer and winter, in the rains and the chills, unwashed. Okay, think of winters … imagine yourself walking bare footed, bare chested on the cold floor. That is the situation of many poor people in the rural India. Anshu's story about one such man, from old Delhi, who collects and disposes the unclaimed dead bodies touched me. Specially, the statement given by the man's 8 yr old daughter that she slept hugging the dead bodies for the heat in the winter as she had no blankets. This is the case of a family which has an earning member. There are a lot without even that.

We are not oblivious of the fact that women go through a menstrual cycle every month. Every woman needs a piece of cloth during that time. We all are shy to talk about it. Think of the plight of women in places where finding clothes to wear is difficult. How do you think she gets that piece of cloth? A survey by goonj indicated that many poor women use rags(because this is considered to be a symbol of dirt), jute, coconut fibres or even mud. Even hearing this gives the creeps. But all this is true. There are reported cases of women dying due to tetanus infection because she used a blouse piece with a rusted hook, another death due to a centipede entering the uterus. Goonj's survey in a region of rajasthan stated that more that 50% of the women had their uterus removed due to such infections. All this is about things which we think its wrong to talk about. Every year so much of money is released for reproductive health care but how much is spent for as basic a need as this, a sanitary napkin. Anshu's NGO goonj is the first NGO talking about such a thing.

Goonj collects clothes from the urban well to do sectors and distributes them to the poor. All the cloth that is collected is processed and repaired in centres designed for such a job (two of them in Delhi and Chennai).It makes sanitary napkins out of soft cotton cloth, quilts, mats from leftover cloth, school bags and purses from old tapes. It sell a percentage of these products in urban india and routes these profits to the rural side. Also goonj has a initiated a program in rural ndia, wherin people take up some community work like and are rewarded proper clothes in return. The results were profound and made me proud. A well dug, a school built, a road made, all these glimpses of hope in this dark world. The smile on a boy's face after getting new clothes, the pride in a man experiencing woolen for the first time in 45 years, are pictures that are etched in your mind for ever.

Let us all do our part of helping by giving clothes during the collection drive in the campus. Don't hesitate to give the clothes that are in your cupboard unworn for years, because your cloth might make someone happy, might save some one's life.

You can reach goonj at www.goonj.info

- Uma Parthavi

Kids at Ber Sarai...

2009-05-14T22:50:00.000-07:00

KHOJ- In Search of Love.........Chal ab "kaam" likh.......ab yeh padh.."kaan".....

Well, this is what i had been doing for the past 6-7 weeks. Actually, all this started when i joined a teaching project at Ber Sarai with an NGO called KHOJ to complete my NSS hours. After a really hectic and absolutely dull day full of boring lectures and Labs in the college, spending an hour with the lovely kids is amazingly refreshing and enriching. As days rolled by ,it started to mean much more to me than just a casual and mandatory activity to complete my nss hours.

For the first few days i was really confused and clueless. Seeing kids having Gutka, little kids speaking in a language too vulgar even for the boys hostels....learning abt kids who sleep on pavements many times on empty stomachs...begging and working all day....was a little too much to digest during the first few weeks. I am not sure if i had been able to teach the kids anythng but the kids have sure taught me about the brutal realities of the world in which we live in. Seeing all this plight right outside the gates of the temple of education "IIT" is a cruel joke which i am not able to get.

But the kids have proven to be very very worthy and caring friends.They get concerned when i seem worried and they have now started confiding their secrets in me. The Other thing which keeps inspiring me is the amazing learing capability of the few of the kids. In a few weeks, right in front of my eyes one of the kid Jamshed has grown from a street brat who could'nt identify alphabets to one of the most responsible kids who now understands the concept of words and sentences. Yes even i would have to admit that he has become my favourite student in the group. I had become so attached to all the kids in these few days that runnning to the centre is the first thing on my mind as soon as my lectures come to a close.

This experience had a profound impact on me and the way in which i see my world. I have planned to devote all the time i can spare to spend with the kids and in helping NGO's like KHOJ in their noble mission. This is a feeling much bigger than charity .i really feel my heart out that caring for the poor and the under priviliged is one the major social responsibilities that has been long neglected.

Suneet Kumbhat

Karakoram hostel