The Indian Institute of Technology Madras will conduct a social-awareness festival to celebrate happiness this weekend.
Sawera will include events that will be held on and off campus in the city. The students from the International and Alumni Relations body are organising jam sessions, donation drive, a run and other fun events. The students will donate to families from disadvantaged families in the city’s slums. The festival is a collective quest to build a space for individuals to converge and share their stories, dreams and happiness, an institute release said.
On Saturday, a run for happiness on the campus called ‘joy of running’ will be held. There will be a fun treasure hunt combined with fundraising. The jam session will have storytelling, poetry, an ‘open mike’ session and group jamming.
On Sunday, the ‘happy street’ will include zumba, yoga and music. Companies will organise an expo to explain their CSR activities in mental health. Non-governmental organisations have organised food and shopping outlets and there will also be a show of local art forms and art therapy workshop. Apart from music and street play there will also be fundraising besides a dance night by DJ.
Faculty advisor, International and Alumni Relations, Ashwin Mahalingam, said the aim of Sawera was to get every one on campus appreciate “the world we live in so that they are motivated to make positive changes to society.”
Ujjaval Neema, student secretary of International and Alumni Relations at the institute said, “Sawera aims to take students out of their rooms, engage them in fun activities and connect them with society to associate greater meaning to their life. Sawera aims to bring a positive change in students’ perspective of IIT Madras.”
