Thursday, 16 June 2016

Giving Every Dream A Chance - An Akshaya Patra Initiative

Akshaya Patra serves wholesome nutritious meals to the children. The NGO for children aspires to be the mentor for these torchbearers, so that they would not be devoid of their dreams. Akshaya Patra understands that nobody is bigger than their dreams and that every dream should be given a chance. So the dream project ‘Giving Every Dream a Chance’ was propelled where dreams would become a reality and no dream would ever miss its chance.

Akshaya Patra Initiative

It is dreams, thoughts and aspirations that make a child. Every child dreams big, irrespective of their circumstances. Their dreams know no bounds. They dream of their education, ambitions, wealth and career. They aim to be an engineer, a police officer, a teacher, a nurse and what not! Not many would dream to be a chef, an astronomer or an actress. Let us meet some Akshaya Patra beneficiaries who dream to transform ingredients into delicious food, who dream of the skies that hordes the stars and who crave to recreate the world anew through acting skills in front of a favourite actor.

The project is an endeavour to make the dreams come true for the three Akshaya Patra beneficiaries who were exclusively selected out of the multitudes of children that auditioned across 40 schools in Bangalore. The NGO was proud to present the dreams of its beneficiaries Manjula, Shivu and Shekar on June 11, 2016 at Vivanta by Taj. Manjula aspired to be an actress; Shivu, an astronomer and Shekar, a chef. Recognizing their passion, Akshaya Patra assisted them with a two-month long mentorship program wherein the children were coached, groomed and guided by the experts in their concerned fields. The motive behind the project was to assure the children that their dreams are valid as well as promote their dreams to become true.

Manjula - Akshaya Patra Beneficiary
Manjula - The Debuting Actress
The founder of Bangalore School of Speech & Drama, Dr. Zulfia Shekh mentored Manjula. The mentorship programme not only nurtured her as an aspiring actor but also brought forward the opportunity of playing the role of “Kittur Rani Chennamma” in the play staged at the end of her mentorship programme Akshaya Patra further surprised her by managing to get the veteran Akul Balaji, her role model to attend her debut performance as audience.

Watch the video of Manjula's dream:


Shivu - Akshaya Patra Beneficiary
Shivu - The Aspiring Astronomer
Shivu was put under the mentorship of Ms Preethi Krishnamurthy, Senior Research Fellow in Astrophysics. Under her tutoring sessions and practical guidance on astrophysics, Shivu explored the marvels of the skies and the cosmos. At the end of the mentorship program Shivu successfully created a working model of a telescope followed by a presentation regarding constellations.

Watch the video of Shivu's Dream:


Shekar - The Aspiring Chef

Chef Ramasamy Selvaraju, executive chef at the Vivanta by Taj Hotel mentored Shekar in cooking.  He personally trained the boy in various kitchens of Vivanta which gave him a unique opportunity to work with the staff of Vivanta. Taj is even providing him financial assistance to pursue his education to fulfil his dreams. At the culmination of the mentorship programme, Shekar prepared a stylish spread that left the expert panel of judges mesmerised.

Watch the video of Shekar's Dream:


In India, the aspirations and dreams of the rich and poor are differentiated by the income of their parents. Everyone has a dream deep within but to make the dream come true is not a joke. So the NGO for children will continue to provide platforms for the talented children with diverse passions and interests in meeting their dreams. The aim of the project is to ensure continued support to children, mentorship programs to nurture talents as well as identify and nurture many more dreams across locations. The organisation aims at providing scholarship support to 100 children who dares to dream differently.

For more details on the event held at Vivanta by Taj log on to https://www.akshayapatra.org/giving-every-dream-a-chance

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