The Art Of Giving: A Social Entrepreneur Way

There are many young Indians who dream of being employer to many rather than being employee. However, after facing all hardships throughout life even to fulfill basic needs, creating a cluster of world class institutions, generating employable human resource and at the same time, providing education, shelter, training and food to more than 20000 tribal kids is a social revolution in itself. This has become a key instrument in curbing conversions and fighting menace of naxalism by a single handed initiative of Dr Achyuta Samanta.

Achyuta Samanta, Founder of KIIT & KISS, Bhubaneshwar www.achutasamantha.com

A rare combination of philanthropy, spirituality, revolutionary ideas and social entrepreneurial skills to provide space even for the man languishing in the lowest strata of the social order makes him a trend setter of different kind.

Samanta, who had the feel of being poor without his father’s hand on his head since the age of four, strength of shouldering agonies causes by the untimely death of his father, never ever shied away from putting a brave face to console his widowed mother, while still bleeding deep inside his heart. Samantha withstood the vagaries of circumstances to rise tall enough to dwarf everyone rich and influential, not by material richness, but by ethical values of life.

Setting up KIIT- a world class university all by himself with less than Rs. 5000 in his pocket is now history. It is no less a miracle to create an architectural marvel, spreading across 25 sq. kilometers of land in 20 wi-fi state-of-the art campuses, but it was not what he wanted to make. It was his experience that made him to think for millions of poverty-striken children. He dreamt of a world where poverty would not stand as an obstacle to one’s education. In his efforts, he created a slice of heaven on earth, christened it as Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), for fifteen thousand neglected and underprivileged tribal children living far away from out civilized world, as he strongly believes: Poverty creates illeterary, literary removed poverty.

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS) organised a mega guardian’s meet on Sunday February 2, 2014 with more than 50,000 parents and guardians of tribal students of the institution attending the meeting.

Assembly of such large number of triabls representing 62 tribes and 1 primitive tribals communities from Odisha and Jharkhand, Chhattisgarh, West Bengal and Assam, is one of its kind.

While expressing gratitude to KIIT and KISS founder Achuta Samantha for securing the future of their children by providing free education at par with top public schools, the parents also stressed the need for government support to better the institution that has more than 20,000 tribal children in its fold. A guardian committee is be formed to appeal to the government on problems faced by KISS.

—Panchanan Agrawalla

Appreciations

Incredible, unbelievable, inconceivable, awe-inspiring, amazing, mind-bogging, awesome, and astounding are the terms everyone use to describe KISS after their visit. From amongst the thousands persons of substance who were bewildered by KISS. Here are some representative comments:

“I am delighted to be here in KISS. I greet all the members who have contributed in establishing and growing this school for providing quality education to the thousands for tribal childrenm.” —Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, H.E., President of India (2006)

“KISS embodies Gurudev Rabindranath Tagore’s Bharat Tirtha and Bapu’s dream is realized here, in this Second Santiniketan.”

—Padma Vibhusan Mahasweta Devi, Ramon Magsaysay & Jnanpith awardee, Noted writer & social activist.

“Ten thousand tribal students in a campus is an international record in itself.”

—Dr Prakash Amte, Ramon Magsaysay awardee, Social activist.

KISS AT A GLANCE

Kalinga Institute of Social Sciences (KISS), Bhubaneswar, with an humble beginning in 1993 with 125 children, has become the largest residential institute for the tribals in the world, providing Accommodation, food, Healthcare, Education from Kindergarten to Post Graduation, vocational training and all other basic amenities of life absolutely free with a job after completion of education. Today KISS has:-

pCurrent Strength, 15,083 children (60 per cent boys and 40 per cent girls) as on June, 2011.

pLand Area – 80 acres

pBuilt-up Area – 8,00,000 sqft.

pStudents enrolled from 62 tribes of Orissa including 13 primitive Tribes.

pStudents from adjoining States

p5% reserved seats in different professional courses of KIIT University.

pLibrary in 15,000 sq.ft. building with over 20,000 titles

Dr Pothula Srinivasa Brahmanand eyes on breaking
his own Guinness World Record: Longest Speech

Marathonon message of Swami Vivekananda

Bhubaneswar(vsk), 16/02-Dr. Pothula Srinivasa Brahmanand is current Guinness World Record Holder in Longest Speech Marathon as he delivered a speech on central theme “Science and Technology, Society and Human Development” on September
8-9, 2012 for 33 hours and 46 minutes at KIIT University, Bhubaneswar, India. Swami Vivekananda inspires him with positive thinking and purity in thought and deeds and he opined that the message of Swami Vivekananda should reach all sections of our society in general and youth in particular. Presently our society is experiencing several challenges in the form of poverty, corruption, violence etc. which are manmade. Dr. Brahmanand, senior scientist with Directorate of Water Management (ICAR), feels this situation is caused by over concentration on science and technology without bothering about moral standards and ethics. Hence time has come to stress on spirituality which provides platform for ethics and value system. Dr. Brahmanand, recipient of Vasant Rao Naik Award for the year 2008 and ICAR Outstanding team Research Award for the year 2002-03, will speak on present status of science and spirituality, life history of Shri Rama Krishna and Swami Vivekananda, Chicago speeches, optimism principle, swamiji’s views on education, religion, women empowerment, karmayoga, rajayoga, bhaktiyoga and Jnanayoga, rural development, India’s leadership in spiritual awakening of the world. All are cordially invited to attend this marathon speech.

By Golakha Chandra Das, (http://visakeo.blogspot.in/2014/02/dr-pothula-srinivasa-brahmanand-eyes-on.html)

Life is highest expression of chemistry—Prof Lehn

Bhubaneswar:Chemistryis the science of matter and of its transformations, and life is its highest expression, Nobel laurete Prof Jean-Marie Lehn said Sunday while attending the 10 th foundation day of KIIT University. Chemistryplays a primodial role in our understanding of meterial phenomena, in our capability to act upon them,to modify them,to control themand to invent new expressions of them. Lehn said, who recivedthe Nobel prize for Chemistry in 1987. In the beginning was Big Bang, and physics reigned, he said. Then Chemistry came along at milder temperatures, particle formed atoms, these united to give more and more complex molecules, which is turn associated in to organised aggregates and membranes, defining primitive cells out of which life emerged, he said. Lehn further saidChemistryis also a science of transfers, a communication centre and lelay between the simpleand the complex, between the laws of Physics and the rules of life, between the basic and applied. If it is thus definedin its inter disciplinary relationships, it is also defined in itself, by its object and its method, he said. In its method, Chemistryis a science of interactions, of transformations and of models, he said. Adding, in its object,the molecule and the material, chemistryexpresss its creativity. Chemicalsynthesis has the power to produce new meterials withnew properties, he said. New indeed, because they did not exist before being created by the re-composition of atomic arrangements into novel and infinitely varied combinations and structures, the Nobel laureate added.