Tuesday, April 21, 2015

Testimonial : LN Haokip @ ARK FOUNDATION- Melange 2015




Date:-19/04/15
Host: - Ark Foundation Staff and SMU, COX School of Business, Melange Volunteers
Activities:-Knowledge test, Peom,Story and Drawing Competitions
Total Nos. of Participant: - 62
Age Group:- 10-16 Years
Classes - 5th -9th

Today dated 19/4/2015, Ark Foundation and SMU Staff/ Volunteers organized Activities among children of 10-16 years old classes ranging from 6th to 9th . There were 62 students participants for the Competitions. Apart from poetry and painting competition there were also Multiples choice questions papers related to Mathematics, Science and Social Science. The main aim is to conduct such competitions is to evaluate their mental ability, Knowledge and general understanding of things around them. It also served to developing interest in study among the children. Competition begin at 10:00 AM and last up to 2:00 PM, First of all the organizer from SMU distributed Kits containing bag, Pencil, Eraser ,Color Pencil, Note book and also Drawing book inside it. They also distributed questions papers to their respective classes.

As children are from Government schools it seems most of them found the question Paper little bit difficult especially Math one. But all loves the drawing sections and drew very good Drawings. Many of them also enjoyed writing poetry or stories. Organizing these kind of event is really a very useful and helpful for the children, the competitions encourages children and teach them the importance of studies.

In the end Refreshment (Lassi, Ice-Cream, Cake and Sandwich) given to all and everyone enjoyed them a lot. It was very successful Programme and every child enjoyed the day and even some of the parent accompanying the children thank the host for organizing such a wonderful event and request us to do it next year.

Last but not the least Ark Foundation would like to thank you all SMU team including the volunteers for their great contribution for the betterment of the underprivileged children. Their hard work dedication and consistency has made this event possible. Looking forward to working with you again in the future.

Warm Regards
L H Haokip
Sr. Project Manager
Ark Foundation

Monday, April 13, 2015

SMU – MELANGE 2015: A step to inspire creativity in the society.

The Concept:

The SMU Cox Co2017 India batch came up with the idea of “Melange-2015”, the concept behind which is to bring smiles on the faces of young needy children while inspiring them to believe in the latent talents of creativity inherent in them and then probably go on to aspire to change the world with this spark of creativity. 

Creativity not necessarily is limited by the realms of poetry or music but it lives in every domain of maths and science as well. For example, Albert Einstein, James Watts, Francis Crick and modern day mogul like Steve Jobs- creativity led them to define a new world.  At “SMU Melange-2015”, we take a step to give the children a scope to connect with their talents- maths, science, writings, poetry, and drawing – our scope of operation for this year (however, we do intend to extend it to dance and music in subsequent years).  Who knows, we might discover our next Edison or Rembrandt who may go on to carve an entirely new world!

The Operation:

At SMU Melange, we first distribute school bags and stationary along with drawing kit and lunch boxes. The idea- first give them the basic resources and tools that they can use. After all, Vincent Van Gogh had to start with a brush and a drawing paper.  We aid each student in this lot of 150 kids in 3 Ashrams- ARK Foundation and Prakash Deep in Delhi and the Ahwan in Orissa with school bags, notebooks, pencils, pens, drawing utensils, lunch boxes etc.

The next step is that our team conducts a small competition which is broken into small segments over maths, science, writing, poetry, drawing and games and sports. We recognize performances amongst them but do not judge winners to set apart because our idea is – make them work in teams to cross the lines and then each one is a winner.  (to improvise a new education model for the children where we grade each student in different departments and then each student is gauged on a basis of collective performance). 

At the end of this, we give away gifts and goodies to the children so that they can feel a connect and be proud of their achievements- not as individuals but as teams because what Melange’s idea is the famous Hindi cliché, “paanch ungli jor ban gayi muthhi” .

We have the goodies and presents gifted by established authors and poets such as Amol Redij, Anjali Garg, Nitya Prakash and Anand Neelkanth, besides the lovely work on Indian poetry done by the students of NIT Warangal and Delhi University in 2012 by the name of “Wordsmith- India’s first national level poetry event”. We also have contributions by sports persons and beauty queens. Thanks to all who have made lend a small hand to the future.

The reason behind this effort was to give the talented children backing of the established persona to pursue their dreams. The concept – “I feel 10 times stronger and believe in my dreams of playing for India when someone like Milkha Singh says that I can run and win gold for India”.

We intend to provide snacks and refreshments to all these children for a simple reason –good food always lights up the day for each one of us. Nutritious food stimulates us. Just imagine the smiles on the face of a small girl when she takes a sweet curd and rosogolla ! We may not be able to do this daily but a small moment may inspire them that – “yes there are people still who care for me”.

The idea of “Melange -2015 book”:

We plan to conclude Melange with a small presentation in the form of a book which would carry the writings, poetry and drawings made by these children. This book will be presented to each of these NGOs and also live in the students’ library at SMU besides finding its base in the Indian literary market.  I believe, the memories of this book will be indelibly etched in the heart and mind of all who have made this event come true. I believe, when Rakesh sees his poetry in this book in years to come, he will always feel the energy to write more and who knows the same Rakesh may sign an autograph and present me his poetry book on an international platform tomorrow. Who know, a new Smriti may become the next Jhumpa Lahiri or who knows, when Faisal sees his drawing in the book 10 years down the line, he will remember where it all started for him to become the next Zakir.

The hope:

Melange is just a beginning for a better tomorrow, kicked off by the India batch of Cox MBA. Hope this pilot project is successful and certainly the model will follow its route to other nations and continents, furthered by SMU COX Net Impact division. A model that started certainly, will always be grateful to those who supported the vision. Besides, we can also get the scope to work with NGOs and other global organizations like UNICEF, UNESCO etc. to bring in projects and case studies relating to the society and try to put our minds into making a better world.

 NOTE - will be posting an account of the sponsors and cash contributors along with the details of the expenditure soon. Thanks to all those who have supported the cause. Lets draw smiles on our future.

                         ------------------------------------------x-----------------------------------------------

Friday, April 3, 2015

"MELANGE 2015 - embracing a creative society"





We may be engineers, scientists, writers, sports persons or an entrepreneur - creativity lies in us all and it is in fact this spark of creativity that led to innovations and designing a new world. Over the years, it is the collaborative effort of creativity mixed with the emotions for a better society that has led to spurs in technology, creation of rail roads or even asking for an equal society. It may be James Watts, Francis Crick, Albert Einstein or a modern day Steve Jobs - although they had different tools but a common cause - redesign the world with creativity and knowledge.


SMU MELANGE is an effort to dig deep into the society and inspire young minds to explore their creative side in writing, poetry, drawing, math or science. With hope to trace a new light in our society, Melange 2015 is a work that brings into good light the creative side of young kids who may have a rough life to fight but dare to dream.


An effort that took three months to its fruition, Melange 2015 is believed to have left its impact in the hearts of many. With ARK Foundation and Prakash Deep Foundation in Delhi and Ahwaan in Orissa, Melange 2015 has played its role in lighting the lives of 150 children by giving them an opportunity to realize their potential. Of-course the future is theirs to work upon, but we as outsiders can at least do our part laying the foundation for a better society, a greater society.


Melange 2015 is just an outlook to our commitments towards the society.


A beautiful presentation by the SMU COX SCHOOL OF BUSINESS CO2017 India batch that takes the readers of "Melange 2015" book through some of the touching yet delightful pieces of work will be published soon.