a visit to Nirmal Hridaya/ Nirmala Niketan orphonage..

[Note: hmmm... slightly personalized post with "I" - since there was no other way to capture and describe this JGW event/happening]

Wanted to share this story of a bunch of an extremely energized/energizing youngsters. I got to know a little about them within the last few months during the "India Against Corruption" campaign in Jamshedpur… correction: actually, I got to know only the main campaigner – that too through our mails - and invited her for the Unveiling of the JGW: Jamshedpur JoyFest – that’s when we met for the first time in person… and met a couple of them for the first time, only yesterday after their visit to Nirmal Hriday/Nirmala Niketan Orphanage)

They had decided to visit them… spend time with those abandoned kids, take some biscuits/ lectogen, etc., for the Srs to the good work they are doing … and sent me some of these very heart-warming photos of their visit…

Timken gifts for the poor

Timken Ltd, is among many companies who join to celebrate The Joy of Giving Week: Jamshedpur JoyFest.

Yesterday, they contributed about 20 cartons of clothes, ration, and medicines to our central collection point in XLRI - and also donated 200 mosquito nets to Kalamandir. Some of those nets could be immediately given to the beneficiaries (members of the SHG groups), since they had come to attend the training workshop, conducted by the XLRI students.

Some pics:

Mr Indra Kumar (left), General Manager, Timken Ltd, with associates



mosquito nets being gifted by Mr Gouri Shankar Roy (Head-Mfg) and Mr Jagjit Singh (Head-HR)

with Mr Amitava Ghosh, Secy, Kalamandir

Joyfest links pills to the poor

Oct 8th, Jamshedpur (The Telegraph): To mark Joy of Giving Week, hosted by XLRI, a Jamshedpur-based NGO has taken the onus of collecting medicines and distributing them among the underprivileged.

The organisation, Cause for a Change, initiated the innovative community drug take-back programme on Sunday at the East Singhbhum district civil surgeon’s office. It will be collecting unused medicines within their expiry dates and then distribute them to those in need.

This is an addition to Joyfest, based on the premise that most middle class homes have unused medicines lying at home.

Volunteers roped in for this drive showed great imagination by linking Durga Puja festivities with the medicine collection drive. Besides door-to-door collection, medicine drop-boxes were also kept at 15 community Puja pandals of Jamshedpur.

Eleven Baridih High School students and 14 other volunteers have already collected 10 cartons of medicines.

“The cartons will be sent to government hospitals, private nursing homes and primary health centres in rural areas. Prohibitive cost of drugs is often the reason why healthcare is the last priority of the poor,” said NGO member Joydip Paul.

“Volunteers need to be careful. I’ve instructed them not to use opened or used medicines, which may be contaminated,” said district civil surgeon Vibha Sharan.

Registered pharmacists from her office will help the NGO to pick medicines that may be used.

Serving Those Who Serve Us...

XLRI is an institution (and not just as a mere b-school). It survives and thrives on the selfless support of so many “invisible”/unrecognized souls – didis, bhaiyas, bahadurs, secretarial help – who make Life@XL so much more cherishable for all of us, the "floating population" - the faculty and students…

Today was the day to give back to them who give so much to us for the other 364 days a year - with an unmatched care and concern… just as a small token that we value their contribution that they make our lives (from tying sarees for a particular class, appearing to help out just at the right moment, getting the class handouts ready in time to terrorise students, etc., etc.)

So, the XL students planned an afternoon with/for them, served them a lunch… some snapshots…







...and then had a friendly football match (joined by our exchange students from some 4-5 countries) with them...












Needless to say, XLRI won the match!! :)

Children's Day Out

"Children's Day Out"... children from an orphanage in Ghatshila (and from XL :0) had a fun time yesterday... they went to the zoo - where the curator was kind enough to come just for their visit (this was his vacation/holiday time) and gave them guided tour of the zoo.

Later in XLRI, students served lunch to the kids in the XL hostel mess, and then spent time sketching/painting/watchin​g movie in the common room...

The Gift of Time

Like every year, "The Gift of Time" happened... a group of XL students visited and spent time with the abondoned souls at Nirmal Hridaya... talked with them, sang and danced with them, or just gaved them a loving hug...

Musical JoyFest to raise funds for Orissa Flood Relief Operations

The Joy of Giving Week: Jamshedpur JoyFest 2011 will end with an Inter-school Musical Evening on Oct 8th, 2011 (5:30pm -9:30pm) in Tata Auditorium. The proceeds from the show will go to Orissa Flood Relief Operations.



Please also help us to sell passes if you can. Thanks.

Ps: last year the Musical JoyFest had raised Rs 77,000/- for the Leh Floods Relief from XLRI.

Support Education of a Tribal/BPL Child

Dasmi Kishu,Kuni Sabrin, Deepak Sabar, Hemlata Oran, Basanti Sabrin, Ravi Hebmrom, Geeta Soren, Suraj Mardi are just a few children among 25 who study in two remote schools of Jharkhand:

St. Thomas School is located in the middle of nowhere in Gandedungri in the East Singhbhum District of Jharkhand. It has been run by Jesuits since 1998. It caters to 650 tribal children from far flung areas between classes I to X, 350 of whom are hostel dwellers. Every year more than 50 children appear for Secondary School Examinations under Jharkhand Board and almost all of them clear the exams. Fifteen meritorious but needy tribal children at St. Thomas School, Gandedungri are on the verge of dropping out of school because their parents' meager income cannot support their education. Their annual fee is between Rs. 1200-1500.

Holy Cross School is located in Chowka, Chandil, where 10 Savar community children belonging to Dhusra village of Patamda got admitted through the help of Tribal Cultural Society – one of the key delivery arms of Tata Steel. However, they are unable to afford even the subsidized education being offered to them. Their monthly fee is Rs 90/-, and since they have to stay in hostels, the hostel fee varies between Rs 600-700/month (for girls and boys)

As a part of celebrating the Joy of Giving Week: Jamshedpur JoyFest 2011, one initiative is to get 25 benefactors to take care of the annual fee requirements of one child – at least for one year. The progress of the child will be communicated to the benefactor on a regular basis.

Already, seven XLRI students have made the commitment for one child each – and we hope that more will come forward with their support and help.

If you are interested, please contact:
Sweta None (na11047[at]astra[dot]xlri[dot]ac[dot]in +91-99 34 50 59 46) and or
Neelkantha Mukherjee (b10032[at]astra[dot]xlri[dot]ac[dot]in +91-72 09 53 69 78)

UPDATE: Thanks to many who came forward, we got benefectors for all 25 kids for one year. Total amount raised was Rs 84,955/-

A Community Drug Take-Back Program

This year, one of the unique initiative which was launched by the local NGO, Cause for Change, is to collect the Unused but Usable medicines, sort them and then distribute them to the health camps, NGOs who organise rural clinics, etc.

Joydip Paul and Mritunjoy Bhattacharjee, who run Cause for Change, are organising the collection drive by placing medicine drop-boxes in 15 Pooja Pandal's across the city. They have also run a collection drive in Telco Colony and in Sakchi Area with the help about 15 volunteers from the Baridih High School.

(and if you want to contribute or run a collection drive for them, you can call up Joydip Paul (72 50 27 19 37) or Mrintunjay Bhattacharjee (91 62 33 52 00) - causeforchange[at]hotmail[dot]com

The quiet "Samaritan"

Every year, during the Joy of Giving Week: Jamshedpur JoyFest, XLRI students visit Nirmal Hriday – a “home”, run by Missionaries of Charity, and which gives shelter to the destitute. They take gifts and sweets for themselves, spend time with them, talk to them, sing and dance with them… and come back with a sense of wonderment about Joy of Giving: what price, happiness?…

This year, they also wanted to carry things which can be useful for the Home, and asked the sisters what would be useful for them. We have clothes donated by the city, but they did not need it (“we get enough of those”) – no blankets, etc. either. But sisters said if students can get them one month’s supply of sugar, phenyl and detergents etc. that would be helpful… if not, that too is OK, as long as they can spend some time with those abandoned not by the society – and in some cases, by their very own one’s.

So a list was made.

45kg of sugar, 60kg of detergent, 75Ltr of phenyl… it all came to Rs 12k-13k…. hmmm. Yes, we can contribute, raise it from faculty, staff and students – to some extent… perhaps…

That’s when we met this quiet Samaritan… Dheeraj, who runs the “Shyam/Choice Store” in the backyard of XLRI – a kirana shop/ “fancy store”/ mobile re-charge center… all rolled into one…

I had gone to ask him if he would put up the JGW poster in his shop – which he readily accepted to do (and even posed in front of it too, since I insisted :0)

Hoping that he will be able to give us a good price for the sugar/ detergent/ phenyl – maybe at the wholesale price rates – I showed him the list, trying to explain the “concept” of The Joy of Giving Week etc., and about the visit by our students to Nirmal Hriday…

…somewhere in between my explanations/ descriptions I was cut short by him – almost as if he was not even listening to me… and he said:
"मैं पचास किलो शक्कर का बैग दूंगा... आप बताइये कि स्टुडेंट्स कब आयेंगे"(I will donate 50kg of sugar – tell me when the students can pick it up)

And I do know that his is not a “roaring” big business… it is just a small shop in service lane in CH (circuit house) Area in Jampot...

Gift to the city: Clean a public space

Oct 3rd, 2011 (The Telegraph): While the denizens of Jamshedpur are celebrating Durga Puja, aspiring managers are in the business of getting their hands dirty by cleaning the city walls.

As a part of the third edition of Jamshedpur Joyfest in the Joy of Giving Week (October 2 –8), the students of XLRI are busy painting public places of the steel city. A group of 12 students on Sunday embarked on their first project — painting the walls beside Novelty restaurant in Bistupur.

“This is the first wall that we have chosen to work on because this is on the main road and is easily visible. We might take up other walls too,” said Suraksha R., one of the volunteers.

The students aim to put up pictorial messages for the benefit of those who can’t read. “Though many people cannot read, pictures and artwork will send across the message of keeping the city clean and maintaining the public places of Jamshedpur,” she added.


New initiatives have been included in Joyfest this year.

The B-school organised a bike rally to mark the start of Joyfest. Both faculty and students vroomed across the city and distributed biscuits and fruits to the needy.

Apart from a clothes collection drive in association with a New Delhi-based NGO Goonj and giving dry ration to the needy, the campaign will see people pledge their eyes through XLRI and city-based NGO Roshni.

Schools such as ADLS Sunshine and Motilal Nehru Public School have already taken part in the Joyfest by collecting foodgrain and clothes for the needy.

"Silent Auction" generates Rs.15,000 for Sikkim Disaster Relief

Organised by the CII Young Indian chapter at XLRI, "Silent Auction" raised Rs 15,000/- for Sikkim Disaster Relief.

Faculty and students donated artifacts (books, CDs, Pens, bags....). On Oct 2nd evening, they were put on auction, and students bid for the items...

Training of SHG Members launched

2nd October also saw the launch of training workshop for SHG members on "business planning for micro-enterprises" by the SIGMA students' team of XLRI. This initiative is in association with Kalamandir, who organise SHGs and provide them livelihood opportunities in Potka and Dumuria blocks.

The one-day training module will be rolled out on Oct 2nd and 3rd and then 7th and 8th during the Week, and will continue across next few months.

Bike Rally kicks of Jamshedpur JoyFest

On Oct 2nd morning, the Bike Rally by XLRI students kicked off the Jamshedpur JoyFest.


They drove across the city, creating awareness about the Joy of Giving Week...


...and gifting sweets and biscuits on the way..