Sankalp Foundation – Kolkata Chapter ..... It is a small start with a big goal

Please do not stop if you are interested enough by reading the title to go through this excerpt .

    I would say Sankalp foundation is a journey for a lot of people like me. Everybody has some core humanitarian values which they nurture since childhood.But most of them fail to implement these values in real life. Sankalp foundation is such an organization that provides these people a 'foundation' where they can apply their skills  for the betterment of the society. For details on the philosophy and activities of Sankalp Foundation visit http://www.sankalpfoundation.org. 

   For me Sankalp Foundation is a 'dream come true'. I have always wanted to  serve the society and do whatever good with my skills however limited they may be. I have started providing free tuitions to needy students helping them get into good engineering institues to the likes of NITs etc quite a long time back.But I wanted to do something more constructive.I wanted to start an NGO where there would be as many as good activities as possible. I joined the 'Teach India Movement' and joined Institute of Psychological and Educational Research where I used to teach underprivileged students of class v - vi .

   After I joined IBM, a friend of mine namely Krishna expressed his wish to serve the needy people. As his philosophy was aligned with that of mine we decided we set up an NGO in Kolkata.Meanwhile our college friends from Jadavpur University set up an NGO in Hyderabad and we decided to form a Kolkata Chapter of the same.

So , after more than two months of groundwork by Krishna Bajaj and me , Avisek Senapati, Sankalp Foundation Kolkata has started its operations in Kolkata in January 2009.It’s philosophy aligns with that of other chapters of Sankalp Foundation. The Kolkata members are dedicated to work towards the betterment of the society. All activities undertaken are done on voluntary basis.

 Our recent activities include :

1) Providing Basic Education

2) Career Counseling

3) Providing Basic Computer Education.

4) Providing guidance on a few professional computer courses like photoshop, pagemaker, MS-Excel etc which will help our students to find earning opportunities in future.

5) Tying up with organizations who believe in our ideology and working with them in Kolkata for the betterment of the society.

 Our volunteers ( most of whom work in different organizations or are students and work for our NGO ) are involved with various activities like teaching , workshops etc. All the courses taught are first conducted for a few weeks on the basis of the feedback the particular school provides and later after analyzing the students’ progress and needs, classes are customized to maximize the benefit for the students.

 

-- For example our members are now teaching ‘basics’ ( Mathematics, English, Spoken English etc ) and providing computer education to a large group of students/children of Dakshin Kolkata Sevasram ( an orphanage near Shishu Mangal, Hazra ).

 

--- Classes on Photoshop will start very recently in Dakshin Kolkata Sevasram .

 

 

We are also in constant talk with other institutions and even foreign nationals.

We are constantly innovating ways and working towards the betterment of our society in every way we can.

 

 If you are interested to join us in our journey  feel free to mail me at avisek.senapati@gmail.com

We need good people to come forward and take responsibility.

Thanks a lot for reading. Also feel free to post your comments and suggestions.

Is politics a profession ? or something more than that ?

    According to Oxford English Dictionary 'professions' involve the application of specialised knowledge of a subject, field, or science. So in that case we can definitely say that there are a handful of politicians who knows what good governance is all about. Even it's difficult to find any election without the involvement of hooligans.

     'Politics' to me is more than mere profession. It is more of a responsibility of the the entire populace who are voting and even not voting for a particular politician. An MP or an MLA etc earn a lot of money and enjoy various perks but do they do justice to their 'profession' ? ..Should there be an annual review on the performance of a particular MP or MLA and should that be published in the newspapers ?? ..Like people in every profession go through a year end review  of his/her performance, the values that he/she has added to his organization and also to himself and he/she is rated accordingly.. the responsible ministers should also have a year end review. People must know how successfully has the candidate performed his duties, which responsibilities he/she has failed to shoulder, what are his future goals and objectives etc.These would also have an effect on the politician's next elections.This may in turn help ( or even force ) him to perform better.

    

     On our part, when we are electing a particular person, we must be sure that he has that requisite 'skills' and knowledge to govern . My views may differ from others' but I must say that I would like to vote for a person who comes into politics not just to enjoy the tax-payer's money but who feels an urge inside him/her to better the society. 

ARE WE INDEPENDENT ...

What does FREEDOM mean to us?
Do we really celebrate it ?
Or pass it like a single day fuss..
Do we know our hero's name
Who has given Indians
A lot of pride and fame...

Even after sixty years
Have we wiped the billion tears ?
Who live with such pain
To make us think of
Our Independence again !

So what does freedom really mean
Is it the celebration of
Every Indian's dream ?
Or just as every day and night
15 August takes an ether's flight ;

Has India really awaken
From the dark patch
Of sixty years?
Do the hymns of the greatest men
Really resound in our ears ?
Have we ever in our life
Chanted the words"VANDE MATARAM"
Do we still stand up when we listen to
"JANA GANA MANN"

Are we the people who have
Taken "Things " for granted ?
Are we them who have
Taken Millions of deaths for granted ?
Because many of us have earned
Our freedom free -
And enjoy it like a spree :

But " freedom is our birth right "
And we must celebrate it
With all our might
But in the deepest core of our hearts
Many a question remains unanswered....

How will we contribute to
India's glory and fame ?
How will we make ourselves worth
Our " Indian " name ?
To make India in the truest sense
INDEPENDENT once again !