Past Events

• Workshop on Mentoring

  The PGDM participants have been learning mentorship skills along with their management lessons. On 25th July, 2011 Abhyudaya organized a mentorship workshop for the PGDM First Year Participants. Prof. Rukaiya Joshi shared her knowledge and through various activities imparted the mentorship skills to these participants.

  The session began with a presentation on Leadership followed by an activity where they were given a leaf and were asked to feel it, touch and perceive it and write their perceptions about it. Here, the Leaf was used as a metaphor for the tender minds of the Sitaras who need gentle care and support in their growing phase. This activity was to sensitize participants to the needs of the little Sitaras they are going to mentor during the year. The various responses of the participants presented a similar theme, a theme of Growth, Love and Support.

• HASTANTARAN 2011: The Third Annual Mentor Mentee Meet

  Hastantaran marked the time of new beginning, nurturing a bond of affection and welcoming change and new relationships for the Sitaras and the PGDM Participants.

  The Sitaras presented Music & Dance Performances for their beloved Mentors and expressed their affection and gratitude. After their performance, The Hastantaran Ceremony began and it was a beautiful sight to watch as the PGDM2 Participants handed the Sitaras and a plant sapling representing the Sitaras to the PGDM1 Participants and PGDM1 Participants embracing the Sitaras with gifts. It was, however, an emotional moment for the old Mentors and the Sitaras. After the Ceremony, The PGDM1 Participants met the families of their Sitaras and established a good rapport with them during the Brunch hour.

  The new mentors then welcomed the Sitaras and entertained them by performing a skit, a musical medley, singing and group dance and the Program ended marking a New Beginning, both for the new Mentors and the Mentees.

  It was, however, an emotional moment for the old Mentors and the Sitaras had a dilemma on their way back home.

• Mentoring Support Workshop

  After the initial rapport building session and home visits, the participants were little apprehensive about the mentoring. To address their apprehensions a Mentoring Support Workshop was conducted on 20th August, 2011. Experts from the field Mr. Kaushik Gopal (Psychoanalyst) and Mr. Sanjay Doctor were present to address the Participants. Mrs. Neelima Deshpande, the Counselor at Abhyudaya, Prof. Rukaiya Joshi and Prof. Suranjan Das, the Faculty Facilitator of Abhyudaya were also present with the experts.

  The participants were addressed on mentorship process and were guided on how to face the challenges during mentoring. The participants’ unresolved issues were addressed by the experts. The workshop was enriching for all the Mentors and helped them relieve their anxieties about Mentoring Process.

• Learning to Read Right

  A workshop on Effective Reading Habits was conducted on 4th September, 2011. An expert from the field, Mr. Chandresh, conducted the workshop for the Sitaras to help them enhance their reading skills. The workshop focused on improving the reading speed and concentration of Sitaras. It was an innovative and useful workshop for the Sitaras.

• Equipping Sitaras with Effective Study Habits

  A session on “Effective Study Habits” was organized on 4th September and 18th September, 2011 for the Sitaras. Mrs. Neelima Deshpande, an expert from the field, acquainted the Sitaras with emphatic study techniques. The session was helpful in identifying Sitaras with hidden potential who needed guidance to achieve their academic goals.

• Messengers of Peace

  In the hard times faced by the world presently, with the rise of terrorism, the topic of “PEACE” was like a breath of fresh air. On the occasion of Mahatma Gandhi’s birth anniversary and the service week of Lions Club, a drawing competition was organized by the Lion’s Club of Carter Road on 8th October, 2011.

  The Sitaras’ understanding of Peace was depicted beautifully in their paintings. The winners of this competition will be competing at the National level now.

• Now, MBAs with conscience are new poster boys
  (Management schools are reworking their pitch. Being a leader is also about understanding human values and about being socially sensitive, say B-school faculty.)

  MUMBAI: The MBA programme has, for years, shaped the manner in which business is conducted. Assertive leadership, aggressive marketing, audacious planning, sharp strategizing and pumping-up profits were considered the best practices of successful conglomerates that hogged case studies on B-school campuses. Now, something inherent in the courseware is changing.

  Management schools are blunting the spiky approach. The MBA is becoming temperate. Leadership, for instance, was always just a function of winning; not anymore. Management schools are reworking their pitch. Being a leader is also about understanding human values and about being socially sensitive, say B-school faculty. The need to rebalance the programme has been long felt, said deans and senior faculty members who participated in a day-long workshop 'Rethinking the MBA: Business Education at a Crossroad' at the S P Jain Institute of Management Research (SPJIMR) on Friday.

• Half Yearly Medical Check-up Camp
  Abhyudaya had organized the Medical Check-up Camp to ensure the health of its precious Sitaras at Holistic Health Centre on 26th June, 2011.
  
  During the Camp, the Sitaras underwent CBC & Blood Group check-up, and general overall health check-up which also included measurement of height and weight.
  
  The doctors from Holistic Health Centre at Bhavan’s and the Members of Lion’s Club Mr. Jitendra Kaku who was assisted by Miss. Archana & Miss. Bimal for the CBC Procedure volunteered to give their services for making this camp successful.
  
  160 Sitaras participated in the Camp and underwent complete medical check-up. They were given prescriptions as per the requirements by the doctors and medical expenses were looked after by Abhyudaya for these Sitaras.


• Selection of Sitaras for the 4th Batch
  After the yearly meeting by our Honorable Dean Dr. Shrikant with the Principals of the schools the selection process for the 4th batch began. In all, 236 nominations were received from 62 schools of different mediums across the K-west ward. A non verbal psychometric assessment was conducted for the selection. 95 children were short listed for the second round of selection. Parents were interviewed and 50 children were finally selected.


• 3 Day Outbound Camp at Bordi
  Abhyudaya Sitaras were taken to Bordi for an Outbound Camp between 30th April, 2011 and 2nd May, 2011. The three days of outbound camp was full of activities and games for the Sitaras. Their day used to begin with Samuha Prarthana (Group Prayer). On the first day, Sitaras were taught Bandhani Printing, and Fabric Block Painting. Late evening they were taken to the Sea Beach for the Star Gazing Activity. On the second day, the Sitaras participated in Treasure Hunt Activity and an activity to combat their Fears. It was fun and adventurous day for all. On the third day, the Sitaras were given the message on ‘Shrama Daan” and they also practiced it by cleaning the surroundings of the Ashram where they were staying. Sitaras played many games, learned making Bracelets and had Musical Yoga Session too. The Camp was a memorable one with so many activities and skills learning sessions.


• Selection procedure for the third batch of Sitaras
  The selection procedure for the third batch of Sitaras started in April.


• Summer Camp for Sitaras
  A Summer Camp was organized from 21st April, 2011 to 14th May, 2011 by Abhyudaya for the Sitaras, soon after their final exams got over and summer vacation commenced. During the camp, Sitaras learned Yoga; they had sessions on Public Speaking & Personality Development, English Learning and also had interesting encounters with nature through Bird-Watching activity, and lecture on Wild-life and Environment, workshop on Waste Management, and 3-Day Outdoor Camp at Bordi.


• Annual Meeting with the School Principals:
  A yearly meeting with Principals of all the schools that Abhyudaya associates with was organized on 29nd March, 2011. Hon. Dean Dr. M.L. Shrikant, addressed the meeting and discussed about the project. Also the thoughts on how to enhance the project, how to improve the contact with academic guides of all the schools and how to make communication more efficient were discussed. With an overall positive response, the school teachers and Principals shared their observations about the Sitaras and improvement that Abhyudaya has brought out in them, in their overall personality and their approach.
  
  An expert, Mrs Rekha Vijaykar from Nrityanjali Education Services was invited as a guest speaker to give a talk on “Innovative Teaching Methods”. Mrs. Rekha shared her insights on making classroom teaching more interesting and fun. She suggested role-plays, out of the box thinking, encouraging imaginations, curiosity, learning with objects and practical learning methods rather than theory as some of the interesting ways to enlighten the students and develop their interest in learning.


• Scholarship Classes
  49 Sitaras of Std 7th appeared for the Maharashtra State Scholarship exam in March 2011. Two weeks intensive preparatory classes were held for these Sitaras.


• Felicitation of Mumbai’s 6th Grammy Award Winner Pt. Dhruba Ghosh by Abhyudaya
  It was one of the proud moments for India when the Sarangi exponent Pt. Dhruba Ghosh and his team won the 53rd Grammy Award for their album Miho-Journey to the Mountains. Pt. Ghosh is the 6th Indian to have won the Grammy Award and has beautifully waltzed his way to creating a History in the stream of Music.
  
  Pt. Dhruba Ghosh was felicitated by Abhyudaya on 20th February, 2011 at S.P. Jain Institute of Management & Research. This was also a day of Finance Meet and parents of all the Sitaras were present at the felicitation ceremony.
  
  The Sitaras pursuing Music under Pt. Ghosh sang Guru Vandana in his praise. Pt. Ghosh addressed parents of 134 Sitaras and shared his success story giving them a message of encouragement for the young and bright Sitaras who have the potential to make a mark in the pages of History.


• A Talk on Parenting
  A talk on parenting was conducted for the parents of Abhyudaya Sitaras on 20th February, 2011. Clinical psychologist Ms. Supriya Nair was invited to deliver the talk. She shared her valuable insights on parenting and also gave some tips for handling daily life stress and on prioritizing things in life. Relevant examples given by her were beautifully chalked out and similarities in the situations of everyone and still how they mean different for different families was a point of discussion too. She explained the importance of sharing quality time with the children and also how positivity it can change their daily living. The session turned out to be an enriching one for the parents with an opportunity to share and discuss their difficulties.