Joy of Giving Week

Dinner of Joy

One of the most eagerly awaited events of this year’s Joy of Giving Week celebrations was the 'Dinner of Joy', organised by Nirmaan volunteers on the 7^th of October 2011. The dinner was served in one of the student messes, and all members of the mess staff and the chowkis were invited.

A sumptuous spread was laid out for them, including a variety of main course dishes and desserts. The volunteers exchanged roles to play host to our esteemed invitees. Even faculty members joined in the celebrations, and served alongside us which truly reflects the amount of unexpressed appreciation and gratefulness that everyone had towards the people who constitute a quiet background in our daily life. There were to be no compromises in any aspect of the event with music being played in the background, giving it a more ‘grub-like’ feel.

Serving them helped us to connect with them on a more personal level. It was evident that they enjoyed the food as many of them approached the volunteers and commended our efforts, which simply put- felt great.

‘Dinner of Joy’ is not so much as the workers experiencing the joy of having a sumptuous and delicious meal, but ‘Dinner of Joy’ in its most meaningful form is about them experiencing the ‘joy of knowing’ that all their efforts are not ignored and that it is that quiet background which makes our life infinitely better.

PS: Not that the meal isn’t great!!

Day of Joy

Another equally anticipated event of the on-going nation-wide celebrations of ‘Joy of Giving Week’, the ‘Day of Joy’ was organised on 5^th October for the Banjara community kids.

The day started off with the kids being presented with new clothes and then after having breakfast at the BITS market, they were taken to the Student Activities Centre (SAC) in the campus for a day of fun-filled activities.

The events for the day included a game session organised by the Department of Informalz; interaction with the kids while teaching them block painting and at the end a small competition to motivate them. After lunch, other clubs of BITS Pilani like the Music Club, Madhyansh, PCA and Marudhara gave wonderful performances which enthralled the kids and provided them with unlimited entertainment. After that, Nirmaan volunteers decided to put on their own show and played games with them. Drawing books and colour pencils were given to all the kids to complete the ‘joy’ful experience.

All in all, the day turned out to be an excellent one full of joyful memories for the children and the volunteers alike, the mere thought of which will give them immense satisfaction and peace. For many of the kids employed as child labour, it was a day when they could actually break free of their shackles and have fun just like other kids their age. And that was what the event was all about, to show the children what a carefree day of their lives can be like, even better- experience it for themselves!