A carnival for a cause

Anahatalife organised DWiTiYA, a two-day festival at Rangoli Metro Art Centre recently.

The event was a fund-raiser and an awareness campaign brought together by a
group of scientists, photographers, dancers, and engineers on ‘rehabilitation of children in slums’ and ‘alternate means of employment for sex workers’.

All the volunteers of Anahatalife are from different facades of professional life.

They work as a team and set up platforms for budding artists and professionals who need help and recognition.

Many flea market vendors of Bangalore were willing to join hands by setting up their stalls at the event.

A wide variety of products like handicrafts, organic ware, paintings and photography were displayed at the carnival and the money collected as rent was used for the cause.

Joyeetha Das, founder of Anahatalife said, “Education can empower children of truck drivers and daily wage workers.

There will be social progress when such kids grow up to work in MNCs abroad.” She added, “It is emotionally hard for rescued sex workers to get back to their homes. For their benefits, we create self employment opportunities.”

Deep, a vendor at the carnival said, “I recently started this business at home and am pleased by the opportunity. I am here to reach more customers.”

Along with stalls there were also gigs organised to entertain people. The power-packed performances included classical music concerts, bharatanatyam performances and rock bands.

The invited guests of honor included Captain Arvind Sharma of Agni Aviation, movie fraternities like Ganesh and Imran, local models and so on.

Amidst cultural performances Anahatalife had organised tech-talks by start-ups to meet and showcase their new ideas followed by panel discussions.

Volunteers who brought this event together were all excited.

   Ajay, a lead engineer at IBM said, “All the ideas behind the event are Joyeetha’s, we just work according to her plans and ideas.” Adding to this, Diana, another volunteer said, “The support of talented artists and other NGO’s who are also a part of this event is remarkable. We are happy to have them amidst us.”

Many problems bother NGO’s working for the welfare of the society. Joyeetha said, “It is hard to run away from challenges. They are part and parcel of everything we do, whether a business or charity.”

She added, “From my own experience, it is clear that not money but a desire within people to help the needy motivates them. Hence NGOs like ours are still surviving.”