Seva Mela

‘Jiska Koi Nahi, uska to khuda hain yaro’

What a weekend it was! We made it to reach Zorastrian Club just in time at 11am on Sat, 6^th Oct for inauguration of 2 day Seva  Mela organized during ‘Joy of Giving Week (JGW ) celebrated during 2^nd to 8^th Oct’ 2012’.

67 NGOs had put up stalls in ‘Seva Mela’ that is a platform for connecting to society with aim of motivating new patrons & volunteers.

All specially able children from ‘Sri Vidya School’ in their costumes for  stage show were enthusiastically waiting near entrance for Ribbon Cutting by  Ms. Katherine Dhanani (Consul General of USA) . This was 2^nd consecutive year when Katherine dressed up in total Indian attire was spreading enthusiasm with her dynamic personality and passion for social service.

After delightful performance by students of ‘Sri Vidya’, Diksha took charge of the stage & invited all dignitaries of ‘United Way’ who were event sponsor. Diksha made sure that flow of program was maintained with professional perfection. The inspirational speeches by all dignitaries were crisp & conveyed their passion for giving back to society in various forms.

Inauguration was over in predefined time frame & delegates along with guests started visiting the stalls. It was heart touching to meet all volunteers of various organizations who were doing selfless service. If there is a will there’s a way… this was the message conveyed by all NGOs.

Each  stall was designed in different way to attract visitors. Some had games and few had attractive shopping options. Information about NGO & their needs were professionally conveyed so donors could easily decide about which option for donation to opt for. This enthusiasm also generated motivation for many new volunteers.

The NGO’s contribution to make the orphans independent , self-sufficient & confident reminded about Kishore Kumar’s song – ‘Jiska Koi Nahi, uska to khuda hain yaro’ (God will take care of you if you don’t have anyone to care for you).

Stalls & participants had variety of knowledge and information to offer for the people having right appetite. The main aim was to support destitute & orphans. In addition to this ‘Sahajyoga’ volunteers gave soothing experience of journey to self realization. The happiness and glow on their face conveyed a lot. If “When you are GOOD to others. . .You are BEST to yourself”.

‘I & Eye’ stall extended experience of using brail & day to day accessories like scale etc. for blinds. What an eye opening experience!

‘Adhya’ had innovative teaching methods with origami & puppets.

‘Thalassemia  Foundation’  created awareness about avoiding fatal disease with simple blood test.

Within no time, donations in kind & cash started pouring in. Enthusiastic team of Aurora Business School (ABS) motivated by Vardhaman Jain simultaneously sorted & passed on donations to needy.

With social message, it was time for entertainment too. Mainly young associates of various NGOs gave mind blowing performance in various art forms. The joy conveyed by orphan children ignited the whole crowd with new approach towards life.

Food Court was also organized by NGOs & offered lot of mouth watering but healthy cuisines. 

As  event entered in 2^nd day, more donations, better quality crowd was making the organizers nostalgic with satisfaction of successful event. As the evening approached, stage performances were driving the crowd crazy.  Finally it was time to say good bye to each other.

Many stalls had made tremendous profit and some had developed contact network; all this would boost their aim. 

Seva Mela will also form network of participating NGOs to compliment each other’s activities & reach enhanced sector of needy.

All the visitors left venue with motivation and inspiration from organizers & participating NGOs. 

Seva Counseling Centre

10K Excitement Continues

The excitement did cease after 10K run completion. FB photo update, email-exchange & SMS received lot of response from near and dear ones.

Depending on responding person’s profile, response varied. FB one liner comments were just amazing. To mention a few: ‘Dum hai boss’ (U have courage!), ‘SEVA is shining’ etc.

Those who are already participating in such events exchanged technical know-how about further preparation, care & guidelines. We are getting introduced to terminology like DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness), ‘Run-keeper’ on Smartphone, carbo-loading, feet pronation etc.

Some enjoyed above narration as live experience as they felt breathlessness with succeeding paragraphs. I assure all of them that real experience is much better & they should try the jog. ‘Are you Ready?’

Friend from Australia confirmed that experience seemed better than their ‘Sydney 9K Fun Run’. Isn’t it cool?

Few tried to equate physical efforts with weight loss as direct benefit & I realized my fixed deposits were still intact :)

However, I feel benefits are enhanced general health, mental peace, better time management & above all - newly developed caring buddy network. Workouts are occasionally followed by breakfast as added incentive.

Most of them have appreciated combination of fun, fitness & cause and promised to give it a try. This serves the purpose right?

SEVA Event

10 K Run - Fun, Fitness, Cause

What a life time experience, for first time we were receiving cheers from the crowd as we were passing ‘100 mt to go’ sign in last lap of 10K run.  We finished almost after 45 minutes since the Canadian had made it to finish line to win, however in such events every participant reaching the finish line is treated like a winner.

For each exiting timing chip (tied to our shoes), timing was displayed. Wow mine was 1hr 14min 22sec and Raj's 1hr, 12min, 39sec  (reconfirmed with the timing certificate) & all our group who had reached much earlier than us welcomed us with a wide smile of satisfaction.

Now it was time to pose for photos at various locations with various poses. We collected refreshments & finishing medal. Excellent medical facility was provided to those who were in need (at 2-3 locations in the 10k route and a huge tent at the people plaza). 

On this energetic Sunday morning (25^th Nov, 2012)  our entry to Necklace Road had coincided with heavenly sunrise at 6 am. Finally the day had arrived for 10 K run. We few friends had been practicing since one month for this event. Our group could be identified with SEVA T-shirts at the venue. 

At age of 44, I was not mentally prepared for such physical activity, however few friends from my ‘Morning Exercise Group’ encouraged me to ‘believe in my dreams’ and 10k was a cakewalk. The wonderful tips & encouraging physical activity schedule helped us to gain the confidence & perform as well.

Event organizers had done a wonderful job with meticulous planning of each and every detail right from parking, road arrangements etc. Our group had some crazy moments searching for each other in huge crowd as there was some communication gap but somehow we had started. At 6:40 am we had stepped on the mat to ensure activation of timing chip & run started with encouraging music & support from organizers. 

Within one km, we were greeted by cheer leaders dancing to tunes of ‘Gangnam Style’. Kingfisher water bottles, oranges, energy drinks (mixed with electoral) were supplied at many locations. It was fun all the way to receive cheers from spectators and waving to the cameras/videos. 

Marking of each km was such a relief & at half the distance our token numbers were once again registered. It was foolproof  mechanism. Some special participants moved ahead on wheelchairs and motivated us. More cheer leaders added to the fun. Felt like dancing with them but decided to concentrate on run. 

With completion, we had achieved rise in self confidence, excitement and satisfaction of goal achievement. Now the goal is enhanced to half marathon that is next step of 10K. What do you say buddies?

SEVA Event Details