Ahead of Deepavali, HSBC inaugurated the 19th edition of its annual Helping Hands Mela at the bank’s Cathedral Road branch premises on Monday.
The theme for the mela was ‘Neer — Every Drop Counts’, with a focus on water conservation.
Products on display
The event, which is held at various branches of the bank across the country, aims to bring NGOs into the branches and display their products for sale to the staff as well as customers and the general public. Through this, the employees too are given an opportunity to interact with the NGOs and learn more about their work.
N. Ram, Chairman, THG Publishing Private Limited, Sunil Subramaniam, former Tamil Nadu cricketer, Abdul Rasheed, retired chief engineer, Chennai Metrowater and actors Ganesh Venkatraman and Priya Anand inaugurated the mela. Stephen Dique, senior vice-president and branch head was also present. “The focus on water conservation is a much needed and important one,” said Mr. Ram. He encouraged HSBC to bring out literature on their best practices which have been implemented with regard to water conservation at their offices and said that this would be useful for others in the long run. Mr. Subramaniam said that the growing concerns with regard to water in Asia were worrying and stressed on the need for timely initiatives to make a difference. Emphasizing on the need for effective water management like fund management as done by banks, Mr Rasheed encouraged everyone to act as water managers and take steps in their individual capacity for conservation. “There should be an added focus on attempts to reduce usage as well as recycle and reuse water,” he added.
Among the products on display are hand crafted jewellery, bags, wallets, home linen, lamps and stationery. The Helping Hands Mela will go on till October 25.
