Social service, waste mgmt: Bada Mangal bhandaras are learning opportunities for youth
Youngsters are joining various NGOs, where they get hands-on training in social service and get a certificate in return. On Bada Mangal, interns make an effort to involve volunteers more actively and spread the message of cleanliness and environmental friendliness to the public through the bhandaras.
'This is the best way to utilise my break and learn skills, which I wouldn't learn in the corporate world. I participated in two bhandaras this year and helped serve food during peak hours and remove garbage. I wanted to learn how people come together and manage large-scale events. This is something books or office can't teach,' said Saroj.
Shubham Kumar Verma, 22, a Lucknow University M.Sc. (Maths) student, who has seen multiple community events in his family but never participated in them, said: 'In last two bhandaras, I have been to over 10 stalls with a group of 5-6 people where we served food and managed crowd. To learn these, I joined an internship where I understand the values of contact, dialogue, and service.'
Saurabh Verma, 19, a BA (English) student of Bappa Sri Narain Vocational PG College, said: 'Our group visits bhandaras across locations and sees if waste is being managed properly. We ensure that the crowd is well managed and the place is neat and clean after the bhandara is over.'
Swikriti Agrawal, 20, a B.Com final year student, chose the hybrid mode of Internship. 'Despite having a leg fracture, I was able to contribute from home by coordinating with volunteers.'
A city-based NGO 'Mangalman Abhiyan' is running an internship programme 'Mangalman Internship Programme' for the past few years engaging college and university students.
'Last year, over a 100 interns, aged between 18 and 28, participated from various colleges and universities across Lucknow. They received internship certificates upon completion,' said Ram Kumar Tiwari, convener of Mangalman Abhiyan. 'Big bhandaras are associated with us and they reach out to us for extra volunteers and coordination with LMC in waste management post the event. The interns oversee logistics, from planning to execution,' he added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Time of India
5 hours ago
- Time of India
Konkani Text Corpus project launched to preserve language online
Mangaluru: In order to treasure the original language and ensure its presence on the digital platform, the World Konkani Centre, Shaktinagar, is undertaking the Konkani Text Corpus Project. The project, which is already underway and is likely to be completed within a few months, aims to add 2,000 small sample write-ups of 100 words each in GSB Konkani, along with equivalent translations in English. It will be available online, accessible from anywhere in the world. B Devadas Pai, coordinator of the project, explained the need to go digital with the Konkani Text Corpus. He said that before Portuguese rule began in Goa, Konkani was the spoken language of those who migrated southwards. Over the past five to six centuries, it has been losing its linguistic documentation. As a result, the GSB Konkani people here have been distancing themselves from the Konkani of Goa. This unique dialect is considered the original form of Konkani, closely related to Prakrit. The World Konkani Centre is now actively working in this direction and has undertaken a project to prepare a large-scale text corpus. The project involves collecting around 2,000 samples using sources such as Konkani traditions, the day-to-day life of GSB Konkani-speaking individuals, wedding rituals, folklore songs, and selected parts of literary works by authors. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Access all TV channels anywhere, anytime Techno Mag Learn More Undo The project will also include subtopics such as cultural rituals, funeral rites, naming ceremonies for babies, and lullabies sung while rocking a cradle. "We have selected an age group above 40 to 60 years for the project, who will write and provide the sample text. The exercise will provide us with Konkani sentences as well as a large vocabulary collection and help to preserve the language," he said. To carry out the project, selected individuals from various parts of undivided Dakshina Kannada, including Konkani graduates, postgraduates, and literature enthusiasts, have been trained over several rounds to prepare 100-word articles from various fields. Each article will have a headline with at least four words, ensuring it is easily available while browsing. These writings will be in the Devanagari script registered with the UGC, accompanied by an English translation. Nandagopal Shenoy, the president of the World Konkani Centre, has taken a special interest in this initiative, according to Pai. The corpus will assist in studying which words are most frequently used in the language, collected from various sources. Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Friendship Day wishes , messages and quotes !
Time of India
6 hours ago
- Time of India
From fading ink to print, Bhagat Singh's life to be on bookshelves
1 2 Bathinda: Bundles of loose papers, yellowed with time and the ink fading on them, tell the story of the enigma and legend that's Bhagat Singh. These scattered bits of an unfinished biography by the freedom fighter's brother Ranbir Singh were shown to the public at the inauguration of a Bhagat Singh Memorial Hall at a pre-Partition-era public library on Sunday, and will now be turned into a book. Written mostly in Urdu, the papers were collected from Bhagat Singh's nephew -- Major General Sheonan Singh (retd), Vir Chakra, a hero of the IPKF Operation – and are now the treasured collection of Rampura Phul town of Bathinda, some 200km west of Chandigarh. A professor has decided to have them translated and published in English, Punjabi and Hindi. Ranbir Singh was only 6-7 years old when Bhagat Singh kissed the gallows on March 23, 1931. He began chronicling Bhagat Singh's life in the early 1940s, tracing his life from his childhood at Chak 105 Bangay to his youth and the events leading to his sacrifice in 1931. Ranbir also collected documents pertaining to his trial. After Ranbir's death in 1988, his wife handed over some of the documents to Bhagat Singh's comrade Shiv Verma, a revolutionary and Kaala Pani survivor. Eventually, the papers passed to the hands of Ranbir Singh's son Major General Sheonan Singh (retd), a Para Commando who is himself a Special Forces legend after leading a 28-hour firefight against overwhelming numbers of LTTE terrorists. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like She Was Everyone's Dream Girl In 90's, This Is Her Now The Latest Article Undo Speaking to TOI, Sheonan Singh said: "I had seen my father taking notes in Urdu for years, writing down accounts from family members and acquaintances, and from documents procured from authorities or court. He used to talk to elder brothers and sisters and those who knew Bhagat Singh to learn more and more about him. As I got busy in my work with Indian Army, I could not keep much track of all this." "After the demise of my father, my mother got to know that Shiv Verma was writing about the freedom struggle and freedom fighters, and needed authentic documents. We handed some of the documents from the collection to him. Later these were handed over to Chandigarh-based publisher Harish Jain and now Prof Chaman Lal has got them," Singh told TOI. Bhagat Singh's niece Gurjit Kaur (daughter of Bhagat Singh' sister Parkash Kaur) attended the event at the library and was overwhelmed with emotion when she leafed through the documents for the first time on Sunday. "Even though my maternal uncle had jotted down these a long time ago and these remained with my cousin, I am seeing these for the first time," she told TOI. Prof Chaman Lal said, "Ranbir Singh though wrote a lot but couldn't preserve each and every note due to which the work remained incomplete and could not be given the shape of a biography or a memoir." "As I can read Urdu to some extent, and by using the services of those who know Urdu well, I will minutely go through these papers and will bring out whatever Bhagat Singh's brother Ranbir Singh noted down and will try to bring those documents in public domain," added the professor. Harish Jain said after going through the documents, they published a book in Punjabi and now want to publish one in English. 'Build Society On Bhagat Singh's Ideals' Bhagat Singh's niece Gurjit Kaur Gurjit Kaur, speaking about a govt plan to set up heritage street at Khatkar Kalan, said we need to go through the ideals of Bhagat Singh, who wanted equality. Instead of setting up such things, govts need to work on building a society as per the ideals of Bhagat Singh and ensure quality and affordable education and healthcare in everyone's reach. She also criticised the state govt for its land pooling policy. Gurjit Kaur inaugurated the Bhagat Singh memorial hall at the public library, set up in 1939 at Rampura Phul town of Bathinda. It will have on its shelves historical books about freedom struggle and revolutions across the world. Prof Chaman Lal has provided hundreds of books for the memorial hall along with eminent writer Baldev Singh Sadaknama and journalist Baljit Balli. Freedom fighter Dr Saifuddin Kitchlew had visited this library in 1953. MSID:: 123075636 413 | Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Friendship Day wishes , messages and quotes !
Time of India
8 hours ago
- Time of India
CBSE begins preparing students for board exams
Ranchi: Schools have begun to orient students for next year's board exams on the basis of sample papers and marking schemes which has been recently released by the Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE) for the academic session 2025–26. According to the official CBSE circular, there has been no change in the exam pattern or marking scheme from the previous academic year (2024–25). This year, the CBSE released the sample papers earlier than usual, providing students more time to familiarise themselves with the structure of the upcoming exams. Alongside the sample papers, the marking schemes were also made available on the board's official website: Ravi Shekhar, academic coordinator at Oxford Public School, said, "These resources aim not only to aid exam preparation but also to strengthen classroom learning and conceptual understanding. CBSE has encouraged schools to integrate the sample papers into regular teaching practices." According to the circular, the sample papers cover all subjects, with most provided in both English and Hindi (excluding language-specific papers). by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like Is this legal? Access all TV channels without a subscription! Techno Mag Learn More Undo The board examinations for both classes will be conducted in Feb 2026, with general instructions, section-wise distribution, and maximum marks clearly defined in the sample documents. "CBSE's sample papers guide students preparing for competitive exams. It fully incorporates NCERT content. Students should start early and understand these papers thoroughly to perform better in boards," said Jaya Chauhan, Principal of Delhi Public School. An important change highlighted in CBSE's new approach is the decision to conduct Class X board examinations twice a year starting 2026. The main examination will be held in Feb–March, while a second attempt, termed the improvement exam, will be conducted in May. Following this, concerns emerged among students regarding possible changes in marking patterns, which the board has now addressed by maintaining consistency in the marking scheme. Principal of Gurunanak Higher Secondary School, captain Sumit Kaur, said, "To begin with, teachers need to thoroughly understand the sample papers and adjust their teaching methods accordingly to help students practice efficiently. When students become familiar with the exam pattern early on, it becomes easier for them to grasp the concepts and perform well in the exams." Aarav Kumar, a class X student at Dani Public School, Khunti, said, "The early release of CBSE sample papers has really helped us understand the exam pattern and focus on important topics. It's like a roadmap that guides our preparation and boosts our confidence for the board exams." Get the latest lifestyle updates on Times of India, along with Friendship Day wishes , messages and quotes !
