Having nothing to do on a Saturday evening, especially with all my friends busy with their families, I decided to take a stroll along the Marina. I was surprised to find youngsters dressed in white gathered around the Gandhi statue.
When asked, they said they had gathered to conduct a walkathon to create awareness on the importance of literacy for women. This was an initiative by Aakriti, the all-girls forum of the College of Engineering,Guindy.
Their motto being “Out of the dark”, Aakriti serves as a platform for girls to reach the limelight. Students are provided with emotional support and helped with their myriad problems.
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Not satisfied with just helping out their own college girls, they decided to extend their support to other girls too. Education being the key, they decided to conduct the walkathon to raise awareness about women and the literacy rate.
The two-km walkathon was an outreach programme for Techofes (the college's annual cultural fest) with the support of Vijay Shanthi Builders.
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Over 350 students from Government schools and Anna University took part along with 20 staff members of Vijay Shanthi. Children from various schools also turned up to show their support for the cause.
On reaching the end point (MGR memorial), the girls gathered and took a pledge to pursue their education under any circumstance, and to support other aspiring women to get educated.
I could not have asked for a better evening than this.
Vidhya is a IV Year B.E. Industrial Engineering student at College of Engineering, Guindy.