DISHAA VOLUNTARY SOCIAL

ORGANISATION OF IISER PUNE

We introduce DISHA...“I slept and dreamt that life was joy. I awoke and saw that life was service. I acted and behold, service was joy.”

-Rabindranath Tagore

You hear many inspirational stories about people who have struggled very hard from their childhood due to socio-economic burden; but have finally emerged successful from darkness like a phoenix bird. People like Dr. Abdul Kalam, Dr. Raghunath Mashelkar, and Babasaheb Ambedkar have set up an example for many children, especially those who live in slums and are willing to work very hard to be like them.

There are many children from slum areas who lack economic stability, but still have the spirit and mo-tivation to work very hard. But is the hard work enough? Why are only some of them able to make that jump and many remain helpless and poor? What do they lack? What do they need? “Luck?” No. What they need is proper direction to their work. What they need is ‘Disha’.

With ‘Disha’ we are not only helping the children, but also are helping in building a better future for our nation. We are not saying change will come straightaway, it will take time. But, as someone said, ‘even if you cannot run, it is better to walk slowly rather than stop and wait for someone else to help’.

In Disha, we not only focus on teaching and learning but also the overall development of students. We are trying to create a platform for all those children who lack quality education. All we are asking for is your little help in doing that. The question is, will you help? So, please join us for a noble cause.

Vision

Founded in 2010 by a group of IISER-Pune students, Disha is a voluntary organisation striving to bring quality education to the underprivileged young minds and to change their lives for the better.

We believe in making their childhood brighter and to let the children take their imagination beyond the grey walls of their class rooms.

We hope to bring light into their neglected lives and broaden their minds.

Our Activities

Regular Activities

• Abhyasika (Sanjay Gandhi Vasahat & Lamanvasti)

• Science Nurture Program

• Talk for Twenty

• Mind Spark

Yearly Activities

• Vigyan Mela

• Spread the Smile

Glimpses of Disha

Abhyasika

Laman vasti and Sanjaygandhi vasahat are the two abhyasikas run by

Disha volunteers for the children there. Every evening, volunteers from Disha go to these nearby

abhyasikas, to interact with the children and to help them with their studies.

The main aim of these abhyasikas is to help them in their stud-ies and help to pursue good education. Apart from studies we also focused on extra-curricular activities and some skill development

activities also.

We try to give examples and interesting activities to make the children come up with creative solutions to their problems.

Type of the activity: Regular - Monday to Friday

Coordinators:

Sanjay Gandhi Vasahat Abhyasika: Ameya Pore: +91 9960842797

Laman Vasti Abhyasika: Reema Nassar: +91 9960838904

Science Nurture Program is a unique program initiated by Disha for the

bright students in Disha Abhyasikas and some of the students from local municipal schools.

During weekends, Disha has organized afternoon classes where the children come to IISER Pune and do hands-on activities in sci-

ence and mathematics.

The goal or aim of this program is not just “To assist the children in their school studies but to enhance the good skills in them so that they can compete

in this world.”

They also actively participate in debates, art and craft and watch videos where they get a glimpse of the outside world and the future.

The program focuses on more dedicated students and takes their learning to a new level.

Here in the classes of IISER-Pune, our student’s imagination is no longer limited by their socioeconomic environment.

Type of the activity: Regular – on Sundays

Coordinators:

Pranavi Reddy: +91 9011037093

Saurabh Kadam: +91 9423236672

Science Nurture Program

A more recent activity taken up

by Disha, Mind Spark focuses on pre-paring around 25 selected 6th standard students

from 5 different Pune MNC schools nearby IISER-Pune for “7th class scholarship exam”-being conducted by Maha-

rashtra state government every year. It is being conducted 4 days in a week at IISER-Pune.

Mind Spark aims to prepare the students for the competitive world and widen their horizons.

It has been started with the aim of providing proper guidance and uplifting these students in this competitive world from earlier classes.

It is an interactive platform that gives a glimmer to student’s ideas and makes them enjoy what they learn.

We try to form a strong foundation which help them in developing competitive skills. Instead of giving emphasis on factual teaching, we assist them to observe

and experience things which helps in building scientific attitude.

Apart from regular lectures, we also organize guest lectures on different science topics.

Type of the activity: Regular - once or 4 days a week

Coordinators:

Aboli Ektare: +91 9987701199

Abhijeet Petkar: +91 9405593572

Mind Spark

Talk for Twenty We strongly believe

in taking every opportunity to inspire.

One such attempt is the 20 minute talk series on social and developmental issues across the globe.

These talks aim to provide us insights into great ideas and strong leadership around the world that have changed the course

of human history.

The topics range from education under globalisation, green India, problems faced by normal people due to different active groups, so-

cio-economic state of our country and social taboos.

We aim to bring eminent speakers to inspire our audience.

Talking about the work of these people and their great ideas will help us build a proactive attitude towards solving social problems,

the very concept on which Disha is based.

Coordinators:

Shubham Joge: +91 8806250970

Rajath Sawant: +91 8928003451

Spread the Smile

Spread the smile is an outreach activity of Disha which is organised once

in a year in the month of February.

This one-month-long activity is aimed at providing everyone an opportunity to interact with and understand

rural India by reaching out to village schools around Pune, on weekends with various educational activities.

Spread the smile aims to spread the “joy” of education among village children.

It provides “exposure” to the fascinating world of science and technology through experimentation and logical inference to these

kids.

This programme also aims at inspiring and promoting a pro-active attitude towards a social cause among youth.

Type of the activity: Once in a year – on 4 weekends

Vigyan Mela

Once a year, there is a special programme that is

organised in Sanjay Gandhi Vasahat and Lamanvasti.

Spanning over two days of fun, children participate in art and craft workshops, scientific demonstrations,

and competitions and interact with specialists from different fields.

The major goals of Vigyan Mela is to bring the children from both the vastis together and let the parents and the residents in

their neighbourhood see what their children can do.

This encourages them to understand the importance of quality education in their child’s lives.

If you want to join any programme of Disha, please contact the coordinator of the programme you are

interested in.

Type of the activity: Once in a year

Notable Events of DISHA

Disha students demonstrating a science experiment in front of President of India on the occasion of 3rd convocation of IISER Pune.

Three of Disha students from Abhyasika centers got a chance to present their models at GMRT science exhibition, Khodad, Pune.

Disha in News

GOAL•Improve the class-room atmosphere and infrastructure.

•Provide quality study material

•Host workshops

•Collaborate with schools and other organisations

We aspire to change lives. Our endeavours hopes to shape the young

minds of the country and their potential is our hope. Join hands in our

effort to open minds.

Our Collaborators

Visit us at- https://iiserpunedisha.wordpress.com/For any queries write to us at: disha.iiserpune@gmail.com

Contact us

General Coordinators

Abhijeet Petkar: +91 9405593572Prachi Atmasiddha: +91 9757310944Prasanth Chandran: +91 8547829905