BENGALURU: Lakshminarayan has been working at the KPTCL for many years. However along with his daily duties at his job, he and a group of working professionals and retirees run a social project called the Abhyudaya that has been working for several years to uplift children from economically weaker backgrounds, by providing free scholarships at the college level and free tuitions at the school level.
On Sunday, the group organised Aarohan, various competitions for students from slums and villages in and around South Bangalore. As many as 1600 children participated in the competion that included 300 volunteers and judges such as actor Jaggesh.
Science exhibition was one of the main attractions of the event. A child made a model of the solar system, another made a rocket, a student from Bommasandra government school made a model of forest with the city on the outskirts. There were also essay competition, drawing and public speaking contest to name a few.
Laxminarayana, says, “Such events give these deprived children an opportunity to exhibit their talents. Once the talent of a child gets recognised there is no end to what he or she is capable of. That child will keep participating in several programme at different places. This is a way for them to build confidence and do great things in whatever endeavour they choose.”
With the help of Abhyudaya many children have enrolled to professional courses like engineering , medicine, adds Laxmanirayana. The organisation also gives free tuition from class 1 to 9. Anuradha Joshi, a retired banker and a volunteer at Abhyudaya, says,
“Everybody need not give everything but if everyone makes even a small contribution, it will bring a lot of positive changes to society at large.” Veena Bharve, a homemaker devotes her time daily at the Kalika Kendra (coaching centre) after completing her work at home. Other volunteers include people like
Vidyashankar, a visiting faculty at PES University, Chandrashekar, a finance professional, Bhadrinath, retired education official.