Corporate Social Responsibility activity : The half marathon by the Pune FLO FICCI

A half marathon was organized by the Pune FLO FICCI. The aim was a fund raiser via FLO Marathon to support women empowerment – by increasing employment and encouraging entrepreneurship. It is their second year in Pune.

Let me tell you little more about FLO (FICCI Ladies Organization), from their official site  -

"FLO was established in 1983, as a division of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and industry (FICCI) which is the apex body of industry and commerce in India. As an All India Organization for women, FLO has chapters in Mumbai, Chennai, Coimbatore, Hyderabad, Jaipur, Guwahati and Kolkata with its head office in Delhi. Our members comprise of entrepreneurs, professionals and Corporate Executives."

It was through our company Amdocs, that we came to know about the marathon being held at Magarpatta. To support the cause, Amdocs sponsored the first 1500 registered employees.

The marathon was scheduled to be held in Magarpatta City on the occasion of Gandhi Jayanti on 2^nd October 2016. There were 4 categories – 3 kilometers, 5 kilometers, 10 kilometers and 21 kilometers.

For all the marathon runner there was an impressive goody bag which had the FICCI brochure, a t-shirt, a pair of socks, pen,head cap, safety pins, BIB, some discount coupons.

The assembly point was the Laxmi Lawns in Magarpatta City. The marathon was very well organized and setup taking care of the needs of the runners and facilitate them well. The route maps were provided prior with proper markups for first aid counters, toilet, ambulance point  and water stations.

This was first time that I was part of a marathon – and I decided to take baby steps and had registered for the 3 kilometers category. I was quite excited, yet getting up at 6:30 am was a herculean task  - had to drag myself up,literally!

The reporting time for the 3 kilometers run was at 7:15 from Laxmi Lawns – me along with a friend made it just on time. The run started sharp at 7:30 am. It was nice to see the innumerable people participating for the good cause. This I say owing to the fact that it was a Sunday and weather was cloudy, drizzling – the crowd turn up for participation was applaud able.

Through the run - they had setup water, juice, fruit counters for the runners. The volunteers were constantly on their toes, helping the runners to grab water,juice or fruits on the go.

For the route on the 5 kilometers onward - they had pulse and heart beat monitor counters setup, to avoid mishaps.Their BIB even had sensors which would give their approximate time for the run completion.

There was dhol tasha throughout – musical and surely pumped up the energy levels.
There were plenty of volunteers through the way - guiding and cheering the runners.

A marathon is one place you will find people of all ages participating – I was in total awe with the number of children who had participated, and all the more astonishing was the older lot of grandpas and grandmas who were part of the run. Kudos!!

At the end, I felt accomplished and it paid off to be part of this marathon.

There was provision for fresh and hot breakfast catered by Cocoon - perfect after a tiring run ain't it?! 😉

To many more and a new start, cheers!! 

Some points to keep in mind post run:

         1. Stretch.
         2. Drink lots of water, you need to stay hydrated.
         3. Eat something within 10-15 minutes of the run.

Few pictures from the visit:

Goodies

BIB

#marathon #ficci

Cheers to life!! 

~ How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment to improve the world!!

P.S All the above pictures have been clicked by me, except the ones with Amdocs/Blossom labels mentioned on it.

Corporate Social Responsibility activity : School Kit Assembly

Amdocs conducts various CSR activities through the year - and as every year, this year too it hosted the school kit assembly event at one of its tower in Magarpatta City(over the weekend on 04th June 2016).

The school kit assembly is an initiative by Seva Sahahyog - this year they aim to assemble and deliver about 60,000 school kits to the underprivileged. Intriguing right!! 
Seva Sahahyog have been conducting the assembling event at various schools and other premises for over more than a week now. A lot of patience and courage goes in to showcase such kind of dedication for the millions of the kids out there who would be enormously benefitted.
School kits delivered to these kids would change their lives in a way,we can't even imagine. In a true sense it would be a real life changer for them - a step ahead in life. :)
It is splendid how Seva Sahahyog through their contribution is touching and changing the lives of many of the youngsters. Kudos, way to go Seva Sahahyog!!:)

Coming back to the event, you will be astounded by the age groups participating - varying from kids aged three onwards to grandparents. Look at the age variance!!
The kids brought about a lot of enthusiasm which added to the vigor. :)
Applaud - for the parents, who have consciously involved their young kids to participate in this noble act. This in a way is ensuring a happy, generous and a well educated next generation - the future.

As we settled, we were made to sit in rows and were formed into groups. Then the lot of the school bags were given - which we had to inspect closely for any defects.
Next we started with wrapping up the dictionaries with plastic covers - to avoid any future damage to it. This was a true reminiscence of the school days, where before start of every academic year - all the books and notebooks were to be wrapped and name stickers must be put on. School days....bring about a lot of good memories afresh!! :) :)
We even rolled the calendars for the new academic year.
One of the crucial things explained by the Seva Sahahyog volunteers was how inspection and keeping an eye on what we were doing were integral - young kids are very delicate and have a tendency compare with the rest of the kids - if we happen to provide them with defective or blemished stuff, they would feel really downhearted.
It would be like "Mere friend ko toh achha mile, toh mujhe kyun nahin?! Mila bhi, toh bhi tuta hai ya kharab hai :("
To avoid the discontent and melancholy - it was important to do our task diligently and aptly - this would ensure a big smile on their face. We had to make our efforts count!! :)

There is a special feel good factor when you do even such small acts, which can contribute to the society in the any tiny-miny way. It is utterly gratifying.
With everyone running with time in a fast pace - from being busy at work to being busy with personal chores - these few hours that you spend here will turn out to be highly joyous.
 In addition you would also meet people from different companies, backgrounds - interact with them, make friends and perform group activities. It is exuberating!!

As in Amdocs they say:
Do good, feel great!!

Let's all join to contribute towards the society in our own way - with whatever suits us best. :)

Few pictures from the event:

Dictionary

Wrapping up the dictionaries

Kids being involved in such activities from such tender age!!

Look at the school bags we assembled in all!

Cheers to life!!

~Believe in yourself always!

P.S.All the above photos have been clicked by me.

Corporate Social Responsibility activity : School Kit Assemblyactivity : Classroom painting

As a part of "we are committed to doing good" being celebrated in our company, various activities were conducted. The activities ranged from library setup, fund raiser stalls, excursion - industry visit, industry expert speaks and classroom painting.

Classroom paintings were being conducted in our beneficiary schools, to make learning fun for the children in the schools. 

The one I attended was conducted at Epiphany school, next to St.Teresa church near Guruvar peth,Pune.

It was a fun filled event. Around 15 people had joined for the noble cause. It was just perplexing to see the creativity in the people in coming up with themes to be put up in the classes. 

Apart from all the sketching and the paintings, the best part was meeting the two teachers from TFI(Teach for India).They were the class teachers of the classes which were being painted by us.

It was very inspiring to see their dedication in educating their kids -  their vision, their thoughts, their ownership - always stating "MY" kids whenever referring to the students - it was just remarkable.

They provided us with themes, that they wanted for their kids in the classes.

It helped us understand how they are taking the path forward for transforming the thinking of their kids.

We had gone with a very rough idea to fill the place with cartoon characters and some flowers, trees and some quotes here and there. But after having a word with the teachers, we could totally connect with their breadth of view.  It totally changed our perspective as well.

So now with a mission,we filled the classrooms with inspiring thoughts, quotes , pictures and made them extremely colorful.

The theme of the class on which we were working was - CHANGE MAKERS.

"Be the change you want to see."

Also included were the four qualities that the teachers wanted to inculcate in their kids :

• Integrity
• Courage
• Hard-work
• Empathy

A lot can be learnt from these teachers and the way they take life.

It is surprising, how in spite of having a plush life, we crib, get frustrated with our life, with our numerous needs, wants and mundane tasks that we indulge in. 

The end result of it all is - we are in a state of un-satisfaction and grumpiness  - but after meeting these teachers it was like an icing on the cake. It was so beautiful and kindling to see how they were concerned about the learning of the kids,how they were dedicated to doing the good and being caring for others.

I really loved it, when each time, they mentioned "MY KIDS WOULD LIKE THIS." It was like they were the mothers who were just worried - how each picture/quote in the class would help mold the future of their kids. Kudos!

Someday, I wish I can also do this and feel content. :)

Do good, feel great! :)

Few photos from the activity:

Classroom paintings done in the earlier year

Classroom paintings done in the earlier year

Classroom paintings done in the earlier year

What was planned for this year, was even more amazing:

Chest of knowledge



Cheers to life!!

~Believe in yourself always!

P.S. All the above photos have been clicked by me.

Corporate Social Responsibility activity : Annapurna visit for the library setup

Annapurna is a residential school for the destitute children under the age of 15. It is located in the lush green heart of Phurshungi village with little infrastructural facilities.

It takes around 40 minutes to travel by vehicle to get there from Magarpatta City, taking the traffic in consideration.

The school not only teaches around 250  students from class 1 to class 10 but also houses them within the 14 rooms and looks after their needs. The staff compromises of a handful of dedicated faculty and helpers who live in the house to take care of the children.

The main objective of Amdocs is:

It is to provide the kids with the basic amenities and render help in better education of the children via the various voluntary activities.

So as a part of the CSR activity for library setup at the school in alliance with Akshar Bharti - we volunteered to pitch in our time for the noble act.

When we reached at the school, we saw this two storied building, where there were rooms running in parallel to each other. It was heartening to see the school.

It was even nice to know, that they were extending the school to include hall and hostels for boys and girls. What surprised me that the school was also equipped with a computer room, making the kids aware of the technological advancements and keeping them up to date, it is well taken effort. Wow!

By now the kids from various grades, lined up in front of us. Soon after that the volunteers from the school asked us to speak few inspiring words to the kids - it would lead them to study and read books a lot more than they do now.

So a colleague of mine chipped in to speak on our behalf - since he was the one who could speak in Marathi fluently. This helped the advises to be catered to all.

The kids looked highly motivated, it was purely in their eyes - that they were just just hungry for more words from us.

It was quite captivating to hear about the kind of books they wanted to read - voices ranged from "raja maharaja ki kitabein to baba amte to akbar birbal".I was highly intrigued to find their ranging interest.

The expression, the glow on their faces was worth a capture - seeing the books that would be available to them from now on, in their library.

We even received a vote of thanks from one sweet girl. Bliss!

To contribute little more, we were again requested by the teachers and volunteers from school, to recite few stories from the books for the library to the kids.

As soon as we reached their classes, it was totally an old school feeling where all the kids got up to greet us.  :)

"Good morning madame." :)

Well, I don't know if we really made much of a difference in that hour or two that we spent in the school, but we tried out best - with the activities like reading along with them, encouraging them to read, pointing out new words, spelling it out to them , helping them with the correct pronunciation. I hope at least 5% was contributed to their knowledge level, that they at least remember one word out of the 15 that we collectively taught them. :D

There was this burning curiosity in their eyes - more like a strong urge to learn and listen to more. Worth a mention!

Since they were more fluent in Marathi, we had to regularly take some help from their teachers for the translations. Hats off to the energy and dedication of these teachers - their willingness to help us help the kids. :)

We found quite a number of children taking interest in English, trying to grasp the words, their meanings and pronunciation. Their effort on a whole was appreciable. :)

To conclude, it was a joyful activity where at the end of the hour, both us and the kids were a happy bunch. 

Of course, I as an individual will try to indulge more in such CSR activities.

What did I take away from the activity - a sense of satisfaction to be able to help on a very small scale, adding to it my sense of gratitude. In a true way, a feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction was achieved after spending time with these kids. 

SO guys, let's all pledge to spend at least spend 2 hours a month for such activities. We never know how many lives we might be touching.

Do good, feel great! :)

Few photos from the activity:

Happy kids with the books

The books provided by Amdocs in alliance with Akshar Bharti

Classrooms

Kids checking out the books

Cheers to life!!

~Believe in yourself always!

P.S.All the above photos have been clicked by me.