Anantha Jyothi: A Tribute to Mahatma Gandhi and Astute Gandhian Arutchelvar Ayya

The annual Remembrance Day of Arutchelvar Dr.N.Mahalingam coincides with the 152nd Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi. Kumaraguru Institutions slated week-long activities and events from 02 to 09 October 2021 under the aegis of Anantha Jyothi, as a mark of reverence to the two statesmen.  

Arutchelvar Ayya was an ardent follower of Thiru Arutprakasa Vallalar Ramalinga Swamigal known as Vallalar and followed the philosophy of Vallalar throughout his life. As a mark of remembrance of the devotion of Ayya towards Vallalar, Sanmargies from Sanmarga Sangam recited ‘Agaval Parayanam’ at Gnana Sabai in the campus. Creative talents among the learners were always encouraged by Ayya and the launch of Hope – an anthology of short stories on optimism and trust was truly a tribute to him by the budding student writers of Kumaraguru Institutions. To celebrate the 152nd anniversary of Gandhiji, the glimpses of the significant moments of Mahatma’s association with Coimbatore city and the state of Tamil Nadu was displayed at the Coimbatore International Airport by KCLAS in association with Young Indians, Coimbatore Chapter, from 02 to 07 October 2021. 

Arutchelvar Ayya always nurtured the technical prowess of the engineers and technologists and a Project and Product Expo to showcase the research outcomes of the KCTians was scheduled on 08 October 2021 at the campus. The Department of Physics, School of Foundational Sciences, during the remembrance week celebrated the 50 years of Women in Space through week-long events that included invited talks, ideathon and quiz for school and college students. Namadhu Pangu, the outreach wing of Kumaraguru has floated two programmes: PENCIL, a project on Professional Education to Nurture Children through Innovation and Leadership to inculcate the research and innovation culture in young minds; and KLEAP Phase 2, Kumaraguru Learning Enhancement and Assistance Programme to support and mentor the Kumaraguru Community Support Staff’s children in academics and career prospects.  

Ninaivendhal, reflections on the multi-faceted personality of Arutchelvar by the senior academicians as a mark of respect to Ayya was aired on KCT YouTube channel on 05 October 2021. KARE joined hands with an NGO to distribute Covid relief materials to the tribal settlements in the Annamalais on 09 October 2021. Further the student clubs and forums have organised a number of virtual events to pay their respects and enliven the ideals of the father of our Nation and our visionary Founder Arutchelvar Ayya. 

PENCIL 

PENCIL, a project on Professional Education to Nurture Children through Innovation and Leadership was conducted on 08 October 2021 at Panchayat Union Middle School, Chinnamettupalayam, which aimed to tap into the potential of school children by imparting opportunities through educational experiences and by instilling research and innovation culture in their minds to build a strong nation. Namadhu Pangu along with Prayogshala and RiG seeks to create a reimagined makerspace for young minds through array of DIY activities which shall enhance their hands-on learning process.  

KLEAP Phase 2 

KLEAP Phase 2, Kumaraguru Learning Enhancement and Assistance Program is a Virtual Programme conducted on 09 October 2021 which aimed to guide and mentor the children of the support staff at Kumaraguru Institutions through a module-based mentoring programme. The programme assisted and enhanced the learning process of the children with their school curriculum along with modules that shall augment their career prospects. 

Project Launch  

Project Launch, an expo to showcase the research outcomes of the KCTians was inaugurated by Mr.M.Palanivel, Joint Director and Head, IEDS, on 08 October 2021. Nearly 20 projects and prototypes were displayed  which  included agricultural drones for spraying fertilizers and pesticides, UV Disinfection Bot, indigenous electric bike and autonomous all terrain electric vehicle.  The multi-disciplinary projects reflected the technical prowess of the curious young minds and were encouraged to upscale the projects and prototypes into start-ups.   

KARE Projects 

Kumaraguru Action for Relief and Empowerment distributed 1500+ grocery kits to the tribal communities settled at Anamalai Tiger Reserve, Pollachi, as a part of tribal welfare measure on 09 October 2021.  Further, the student clubs and forums organised virtual events to pay their respects and enliven the ideals of the father of our Nation and the visionary Founder Arutchelvar Ayya. 

HOPE – Book Launch 

The students at Kumaraguru Institutions have come together and have authored an independent short story – Anthology book.  They have initiated and executed each step of the project including editing, designing, and publishing, showcasing their passion, commitment, talent and work.  The book is titled ‘Hope – Selected short stories about life during lockdown’.  The book has a collection of 9 stories written by 9 curious students of Kumaraguru College of Technology & Kumaraguru College of Liberal Arts & Science and as the name suggests, the book is themed on Hope, the much-needed medicine during this pandemic.  The student team launched this book during the weeklong Gandhi Jayanthi celebrations & Remembrance Week of our Founder Chairman Arutchelvar Dr N Mahalingam.  The book is set to be published in Amazon, Flipkart, and Notion press websites as a befitting tribute to Ayya, who always appreciated creative talents. 

RiGathon’21 

The laboratory forums Re, iQube, Garage of KCT in association with Emerald Industries organized a RiGathon’21 from 01 to 03 October 2021.  It was a 48-hour Hackathon  which includes 2 rounds of selection and 10+ Project ideas in the domains of Robotics, Software Development, AI/ML, Embedded & IoT, and Mechanical Designing, and it was well-received with the participation of more than 75 teams.  

Photo Exhibition on Life of Mahatma Gandhi  

As part of Annual Remembrance Day of Arutchelvar Dr.N.Mahalingam Ayya and the 152nd Birth Anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, a Photo Exhibition on Life of Mahatma Gandhi under three concepts as Remembering 100 years of the Gandhian Dhoti, Gandhi’s Tribute to Tamil and Gandhi in Coimbatore was displayed at Coimbatore Airport by KCLAS from 02 to 07 October 2021.  It was inaugurated by our Joint Correspondent Shri Shankar Vanavarayar and Honoured by presence of the Director of Coimbatore airport.  It was overwhelmingly appreciated by the public at large.  It served as a visual treat. 

Certificate Course in Soft Skills 

The Valedictory Function was conducted for the Certificate Course in Soft Skills conducted for the Indian Airforce Wives Welfare Association, 43Wing, Indian Airforce, Sulur.  This was the culmination of a 4-week Certificate Course on Soft Skills, offered by the Department of Visual Communication, Kumaraguru College of Liberal Arts and Science, Coimbatore, from 01 to 29 September 2021.  This was a custom-designed programme for participants across India in partnership with the Airforce Wives Welfare Association, 43 Wing, Indian Airforce, Sulur.

Club Events 

Natural Shades 

On the 152nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi, The Gandhian Youth Movement of KCT in coordination with the Rotaract Club of KCT organised a tree planting awareness activity titled Natural Shades on 02 & 03 October 2021.  The main aim of tree planting activity was to create awareness on the importance of planting and saving trees to the society, express our concern to the environment, and diminish the unfavourable effects of climate change.  Many participants took this initiative seriously and started to plant trees, which turned out to be a proud moment.  Each one of the trees planted will contribute to make our country greener and healthier.  A total of 50+ saplings were planted to make an impact in our society to lead a peaceful environment.  This served as an important step towards afforestation to maintain the ecological balance of nature. Such little steps taken together by the school students will surely help in fostering strong mental and social health amongst today’s children so that they get connected with their peers, elders, community and the environment.  

Connexion 

The Pudhupaavai Club of KCT conducted an event titled Connexion on 02 October 2021. It was conducted in commemoration of the 152nd birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.  In this event, there were two rounds.  In the first round, there were 15 questions and the clues for answers were given.  The participants were asked to answer the questions within the stipulated time.  The participants with maximum points were selected for second round.  In the second round, there were 10 questions, and the clues were also given.  The participants with maximum marks were selected as winners. 

Catechize Out 

The Gandhian Youth Movement of KCT conducted an event titled Catechize Out on 02 October 2021.  The event was organized in commemoration of Mahatma Gandhi’s 152nd birthday.  The main motto of the event was to enrich the knowledge of participants through the mode of Quiz.  This event was open to all, and it had two levels of Quiz – Prelims in the Quizzes Platform followed by Final Round in the MS Teams Platform.  There were seven finalists, and the topics chosen for the event were Life History of Gandhi, Gandhi’s contribution towards Indian Independence and National Movements.  The event went out well and the participants came to know about many National Movements along with their year and purpose.  They also gained knowledge on the unknown facts about Gandhi.  

Buzzword Arena 

The Haasya Club of KCT organized an event titled Buzzword Arena on the remembrance of Mahatma Gandhi’s 152nd birthday. The main objective of the event was to reach out Gandhian principles to the public.  As an easy way, memes were chosen to be the medium of communication, which are trending in social media.  In this new normal, by spending less time the observers can take away big concepts through memes.  The three themes for the event are Make a Meme using Gandhian Principles, How the Gandhian thoughts connects with our day-to-day Life and the Difference between pre and post-independence.  With this event, the participants came across the great principles of Mahatma Gandhi and remembered his principles and thoughts on his birthday, which would help them in many walks of their life.  

Verbal Serenity 

Verbal Serenity was a word game event conducted by the Department of Civil Engineering, KCT, in collaboration with NSS_RRC_VBC of KCT.  The game consisted of two rounds. First round was conducted in MS Forms with over 50 responses.  It was basically a Jumbled Word Quiz about the great legend Mahatma Gandhi.  The second round was confined to the top 15 participants.  A live quiz session on MS Teams utilizing the Quizizz portal was conducted.  It was an interactive rapid quiz session, and the winners were selected based on their performance.  The overall outcome of the event was that the participants got to know interesting facts about Gandhiji, and it gave them a break from the routine.

Gandhiyam 

The Bikers Club of KCT conducted an event titled Gandhiyam in the Quizizz app on 02 October 2021.  The event consisted of three rounds. Round 1 was the connexion followed by Round 2 named Finding Blurred Image and finally Round 3 was a Quiz about the Life of Gandhi.  Around 13 students participated in the event.  The outcome of the event was to inculcate knowledge about the life of Gandhiji and other freedom fighters. 

Perception Parley  

The Qubate Forum of KCT conducted an event titled Perception Parley on 02 October 2021.  The event started with a generic opening note about ahimsa.  There were 5 internal participants and around 20 spectators.  The event roughly consisted of 30 members including moderators and organisers.  Participants were given a specific role previously to discuss the pros and cons of the topic through the eyes of the personality allotted.  The participants contributed their part very well by preparing for the roles allocated to them.  At the end, spectators also voiced out their opinions.  Finally, the event was wrapped up with a conclusion on the topic. 

The Gandigi Edge 

The Gandhian Youth Movement of KCT in collaboration with Varnam Club of KCT conducted an event titled The Gandigi Edge from 04 to 09 October 2021 in commemoration of Mahatma Gandhi’s 152nd birthday.  This event focused on the persons with fascinated minds on digital art.  A competition to showcase the digital art talent on the theme Significant Events of Gandhi through Google Forms was conducted during the event. 

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