THIRUVANANTHAPURAM:
Here’s a unique initiative by the students of Government Engineering College,
Barton Hill. ‘Vaibhav’, a talent fest, will be held in April, for the special
needs children. The event will be held simultaneously with the three-day
techno-cultural festival ‘Aagneya’.
The college
organises a ‘socially responsible’ initiative every year, according to Noufal,
the union chairman of the college. “Vaibhav is being organised by our
Innovation and Entrepreneurship Development Cell in association with the
Government’s Social Justice Department. A talent hunt searching for good
candidates to participate in the festival is being held. This is an idea the
students came up with this year,” Noufal said.
Auditions have
already been conducted in schools including the Government School for the
Visually Impaired, Jagathy and Marian Playhome at Mannanthala where the
organisers are searching for special children. “We also plan to hold another
set of auditions at NISH, after which we are looking at conducting a semi-final
competition at Vyloppilly Samskruthi Bhavan in the city. The finals of
‘Vaibhav’ will be held during Aagneya, our techno-cultural festival, and will
be its flagship programme,” adds Noufal.
For Noufal, the
concept of the talent hunt was born from the need to do something responsible
for the society. “The theme of the festival this year is resilience-turn that
pain into power. It is this same objective that we wish to fulfill through this
initiative. The talent could be as simple as singing or dancing, but the aim is
to let these children overcome their pain of being differently-abled and turn
that into a strength. Instead of letting them retreat into their own shell,
they should be able to walk along with the mainstream society. We are providing
a platform for them to showcase their talents in front of an audience through
the event.”
A few of the
activities the youngsters had done earlier include the formation of a library
in the Kottur tribal settlement and an anti-plastic campaign.”If ‘Vaibhav’
becomes a success, we will continue the initiative next year as well,” winds up
Noufal. The college recently conducted ‘Photowalk’, an outdoor photography
workshop with international photography contest winner Rex.
http://www.newindianexpress.com/cities/thiruvananthapuram/2018/feb/15/kerala-government-engineering-college-comes-up-with-unique-initiative-to-appreciate-special-talents-1773962.html
