Akhil Ranjan
Did you ever see a small child begging? Did you ever see an old man struggling? Did you ever see a blind person trying to cross the road? Did you ever see a person with disability? Remember how did you feel about it?
This is a part of our daily experiences. In our heart, we know, that this is not right. We all believe that something has to be done. We all have the urge to lay a helping hand to those in need, for we are humans – the most advanced creatures of this planet. Most of us, try to do our bit, in such situations. We help a blind man cross the road, we donate to NGOs. We donate in times of disasters like Tsunamis and Earthquakes. Paritraan is about all this and beyond. It takes things to yet another level. Paritraan is a Social Not-for-profit Organization.
The Journey of Paritraan has been amazing and it feels great to be a part of this caravan. We have written this article in FAQ format which makes this post more readable and comfortable.
Why the name Paritraan?
The word ‘Paritraan’ in Sanskrit, means ‘To bring relief to those in distress’. One of the aims of Paritraan is to reach out to underprivileged people and welcome them to our Society.
With so many NGOs working, why do we need Paritraan?
NGOs are doing a great job in India and throughout the world. Whether you talk about CRY, Help Age India, Teach for India, Uva-unstoppable, or even regional NGOs like Utthan, they all have contributed to the development of our nation and the world at large. However, we believe that just by donating money, old clothes and toys we cannot run away from our responsibilities. By donating time and effort we give our 100%.
Education is the single best development investment a country can make. It contributes to better health, higher incomes, and increased participation in community life. Too many of the world’s children are still out of school or receive spotty, sub-par educations. Each one of these children has dreams that may never be fulfilled, potential that may never be realized. By ensuring that every child has access to quality learning, we lay the foundation for growth, transformation, innovation, opportunity and equality.
We as Engineers, took it upon us to give back to the world the things we have got from it – Knowledge, Friends, Family, Happiness and Joy etc.
What is Paritraan trying to achieve?
Paritraan’s aims keeps evolving to keep pace with the changing times. However, the members of Paritraan have a few common goals, such as:
- Paritraan aims to develop one million enlightened youth who will participate in the accelerated societal transformation of India.
- The aim of the Paritraan is nothing but to spread the message of love and humanity. It’s about performing your basic duties as a human – to contribute in the development of the society and the people. To lend a helping hand to those who need it! It’s as simple as that.
What are the tasks carried out by Paritraan?
The Team Paritraan organizes trips to Government Schools, Blind Schools, Schools for the disabled, Orphanages etc. We try to use our engineering resources to solve their real-life problem. We focus specially on Digital/Computer Literacy and Personality Development. We also organized trips to medical colleges when they expressed their dreams to become Doctors.
The goal of Digital Literacy is to teach and assess basic computer concepts and skills so that people can use computer technology in everyday life to develop new social and economic opportunities for themselves, their families, and their communities.
At Paritraan, we don’t just teach them syllabus. We try to come up with innovative methodologies to help students to harness their latent potential and channel their energies towards cultivation and sharpening of multiple dimensions of human competencies.
How many members are there in team Paritraan?
Paritraan has more than 50 members. Most of these members are students, alumni and faculty from BIT Mesra. To name a few – Zeeshan Zahid, Anjaneya Varshaneya, Shibani Rai, Asha Jyoti, Nirav Chadda, Shiv Kumar Jha, Ayush Kedia, Kumar Abhishek, Akash Sinha, Shraddha Chhabaria, Anubhav Agrawal, Abhishek Sadany, Manali Arora, Aditya Ranjan,Prasun Bhomik, Akhil Ranjan, Amritesh Kumar and last but the most important of all, our guide – Prof. Anup Kumar Keshri.
What do we gain from Paritraan?
Imagine walking down 800 acres of campus in BIT Mesra and suddenly a Gardner or a Peon or a Washer-man comes to you and says – “Bhaiya, aap ka bahut-bahut dhanyawaad. Aapne hum garib ke baccho ko sikhayaa. Ab wo school jaana chaahte hain. Wo seekhanaa chaahte hain. Bhagwaan tumhara bhalaa kare.” [Thank you very much. I know you teach our poor children. Now they want to go to school. They want to learn. May God bless you!]
Just imagine that situation! Feel the emotions. That is our reward and that is what we’ve gained from Paritraan. We have gained friends, we have gained families, we have helped to raise aware citizens, who may someday become Dhirubhai Ambani or Ratan Tata or Kiran Bedi or Dr Kalam!
How did Paritraan come into existence?
Paritraan is the best example of the power of co-creation. Like minded individuals came together to achieve a common goal, to convert a common ‘Dream’ into reality. It all began withVishal Gupta in his 2nd year of Engineering. He began by teaching under privileged children in his village, Saraipali in the Mahasamund District of Chhattisgarh. Slowly he expanded his efforts to schools in & around the BIT Mesra campus.
Vishal Gupta, better known as Aasthik [due to his famous blog], believes in the quote by Mahatma Gandhi – “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” As a true believer in the Goodness and Goodwill, he set out to achieve his dream of “Swarna Bharat” [Prosperous India]. We were drawn in by his dedication and commitment; and we together, i.e., Amritesh, Akhil and Vishal co-founded Paritraan. Against all odds, doubts and disbeliefs we successfully started a Social Revolution, which has been accelerated by our juniors, peers and seniors alike. We faced difficulties, we face our hurdles, but we looked at them as challenges and problems to be solved. After all we are Engineers… that’s what we do… that’s what we are the best at!
Conclusion:
Even an animal finds its food, sleeps, drinks and lives life for itself; if there is one thing that distinguishes them, from us is the ability for live for others.
So, we the Paritraan team would like to hear from you if you have any idea that can be incorporated in our mission to improve it. You can participate in this holy mission too. If you want to really contribute something for the society, please contact us and join us in taking this mission to a newer and higher dimension where it will prove to be a factor affecting life of many people and will be a concrete step towards the development of a civilised and educated society.
You can send your feedback, appreciation, comments and constructive criticisms at ourOfficial Facebook Page – Paritraan.
