The Art of giving day
Bengaluru : The fifth anniversary of the prestigious Art of Giving day was celebrated all across Bengaluru on Maay 17,thursday. As the name suggests, Art of Giving is a day to motivate people to give something to someone who cannot afford it. As part of the fifth anniversary celebrations, the Art of Giving volunteers decided to make it special for the construction labourers in the city.
In fact, the construction labourers are one of the often ignored communities in the city. The contribution of the construction labourers is very significant as these are the work force that is building the modern India. However, their working conditions are very poor and don’t even have access to hygienic food. Hence, it was a day well spent for the Art of Giving members understanding the plight and problems of the country’s workforce. The construction labourers were fed with sumptuous food and were given a thank you note. Speaking on the occasion, one of the construction labourers said, “We have been sweating day in and out but people hardly believe that we are even human beings. Though we build some of the finest buildings in the world, our living conditions are pathetic. As we are migrants, we are forced to have make shift kitchens and don’t have proper food. We were really thankful to Art of Giving founder Dr Achyuta Samanta for understanding our plight and making us feel special on the occasion of Art of Giving anniversary. You may think offering food is not a big gesture but let me tell you that all we need is recognition, a smile and a hug to understand that even we are human beings.” Mamata N Swamy, a volunteer of Art of Giving said, “You can eat food anywhere but no food can match the taste of mom’s food. The reason is that the food offered by mom comes with care and affection. Similarly, we decided to offer the same care and affection to these brethren who are often ignored by the society.”
Art of Giving (AOG) – a philosophy of life to spread the peace and happiness among the people in the society was founded on 17th May 2013 by Prof. Achyuta Samanta – an educationist, social activist, social reformer and Founder of KIIT and KISS. This year 17th May, the fifth anniversary of Art of Giving is being celebrated across the globe based on the theme “Preeti Bharita Oota” (FEEDING WITH LOVE).
The concept is “People’s Contribution, People’s Participation” This philosophy of life has been founded and propagated by Prof. Achyuta Samanta, Founder – KIIT and KISS who has struggled through an experience of poverty, hunger, humiliation in receiving and pleasure in giving from his childhood. He has become a self-made person overcoming all his struggles and gives the credit of all his success to “Art of Giving”. He has dedicated his life to eliminate sufferings from the lives of poor by promoting universal brotherhood and fraternity through peace and happiness. He has also been working relentlessly to achieve zero poverty, zero hunger and zero illiteracy since 1987. The 5th Anniversary of Art of Giving was celebrated all over India and 80 countries across the globe spreading over 20,000 centers. Nearly 10 million people worldwide including hundreds in Bengaluru joined the AOG movement by taking meals contributed by generous people inspired by the philosophy of Art of Giving.
