Manipal: Volunteer Services Organization (VSO) conducted the Daan Utsav events this year from October 2-8 while it marked its second event from School of Communication (SOC) on Saturday, October 6. The event was organised by a small but dedicated team of students from SOC volunteering for VSO, comprising of Rishita Agarwal, Vaishnavi Karnik, and Gandhalii Tillu, along with considerable help from the faculty coordinator, Praseed Nair, and the Director of SOC, Dr Padma Rani
Marking the 10th anniversary of the event, the team managed to collect donations amounting to Rs. 4700 from the students and faculty of the college over the days. They executed two of their three projects successfully, and took the seven housekeeping staff of SOC on a day out to Bharath Cinemas in Manipal to see a regional Kannada movie, followed by snacks and refreshments.
The team emphasised on the importance of understanding how trivial acts of kindness can largely make the day for people putting in a lot of hard work and effort to make our everyday lives comfortable. “Small things, even just on an individual level, such as a simple greeting, can come a long way to cause a change, irrespective of being involved in or waiting for any particular organised event to happen,” said Rishita Agarwal.
The seven staff members turned up excitedly for the movie, happy and intrigued. The event was a success in bringing in a positive outlook on the need to appreciate and recognize the deserving people working for or under us. “Small groups of students or close friends too can link up and try to initiate some acts of kindness, no matter how small, in turn making a big difference in the life of those deserving and under privileged individuals around us,” remarked Sayad Nabil, a volunteer for the event.
The event ended with all the staff members immensely happy and thankful for their much needed break, with beautiful smiles and warm hearts all around, highlighting the joy in the little acts of kindness.