Foundation Day 2020

        15^th Foundation Day   

          For the entire nation, the 26th of January is a day of national importance - it honours the date on which the Constitution of India came into effect in 1950. But for the members of the AASRA family (as we like to call it), this day also signifies our birth anniversary, the day on which AASRA was founded in 2005 by our alumni with the aim to help the underprivileged sections of the society.

   

            To commemorate the occasion, we celebrate our Foundation Day on January 26 each year inside the campus of NIT Rourkela. We call in kids from our workplaces and provide them with a

platform to showcase their talents. In contrast to recent years, the 15th Foundation Day was celebrated in the Community Centre entirely. The event was brought to life by a wonderful set of anchors in the presence of esteemed guests, namely, Prof Seemita Mohanty, Prof Abanti Sahoo, Prof S.K. Patel, Prof Paresh Kale, Prof Thirugnanam, Prof J Sivaraman, Prof D.P. Acharya, Prof R.K. Biswal and our very enthusiastic alumnus Anup Agarwal (2012 Batch) who inaugurated the event. The

President of NITRAA, Mr. Prabodh Ranjan Padhee also joined in with Anup Bhaiya later that day. The national anthem Jana Gana Mana was sung which was then followed by unveiling and presenting AASRA’s annual magazine to the guests. Prof RK Biswal stepped up to deliver a very motivational talk and ensured his words reached to the members and kids alike. 

Here is the link to the AASRA annual magazine:         Annual Magazine 2020

    Prof Thirugnanam then proceeded to give cash prizes to three students who performed well in their matriculation exam, a very noble gesture from his side. Also maintaining the tradition from last year, Anup bhaiya distributed the award for the best boy and best girl. The prizes uplifted the spirits of the kids and motivated them to work harder to achieve their dreams.

  

   The anchors then proceeded with presenting the most awaited events for the day – performances of the children. Kids from all workplaces put up quite a talent show in the form of dance, songs and skits. The liveliness and dynamism of the performances surely set the stage on fire and got applause from the members, judges and even from alumni witnessing the event via live streaming. The judge panel consisted of members from fellow clubs Synergy, Pantomime and Heartbeats.

They diligently assessed each performance and expressed their gratitude for being part of the event. To grace the occasion, students from Birsamunda Vidyapitha along with their mentors and teachers – Tapaswini Mallick ma’am and Barsharani Veer ma’am also joined with us. Their energetic students also put in very remarkable and praiseworthy performances. After the end of the displays, all the children quickly rushed in to savour the delicious lunch that had been prepared. The lunch surely seemed to revitalize the tired souls as the children sprung into making the atmosphere energetic again and took part in a plethora of photoshoots with the members.

The conclusion of the events for the day was marked with first declaring the winners and runners-up in different categories. An overall prize for the best performance was also awarded. A grand photoshoot of the entire AASRA family with the kids and members in the open ground adjacent to CC followed the prize distribution ceremony. It was ensued by the dispersal of children to their homes. 

Lastly, the final event for the day marked the passing of baton to the newly formed Executive body of AASRA. A conventional announcement of the new post-holders was made along with their responsibilities, thus paving the way for a new session in the functioning of AASRA.

                  The event owes its success to each member of the AASRA family who voluntarily put forward efforts to shape up the event, be it the members who voluntarily cooperated in the organizing team, the anchoring team, the backstage team, the invitation and permission team, the food and transport in-charges amongst others or the children from the workplaces who practiced and gave their best performances on stage on the D-day or the alumni who constantly guided and supported us in various ways to make the events a huge success. The sense of unity and collectiveness has made AASRA achieve all the fame and name it has today and the same attributes shall drive AASRA to empower the society for the greater good in the coming times.

                                                                                                               -Amlan Ranjan Sahoo