Socio-cultural Activities

SHREE ANIRUDDHA UPASANA FOUNDATION

Shree Aniruddha Upasana Foundation was incorporated as a charitable organization under Section 25 of the Companies Act, 1956, in April 2005. From the time of its inception, apart from pursuing its principal object of carrying out the Upasana of Sadguru Shree Aniruddha Bapu, Shree Aniruddha Upasana Foundation, along with its sister organization such as Shree Aniruddha Aadesh Pathak, Aniruddha’s Academy of Disaster Management etc., all of which are registered charitable organizations, has undertaken various socio-cultural activities, with the devine blessing and inspiration of Param Poojya Sadguru Shree Aniruddha Bapu, prominent among which are enumerated herein below:

1. Annapurna Mahaprasadam Project
Under this project, free mid-day meals are provided to children from schools in tribal areas and in municipal schools in rural areas. This is made possible by sponsors / donors who donate rice, wheat, pulses, oil, sugar etc. Presently, mid-day meals are being provided to nearly 4000 students across 31 different schools in the rural areas by our dedicated volunteers, who themselves cook the food and serve it to the students attending the schools. However, the single largest activity undertaken under the Annapurna Mahaprasadam Project is the Kolhapur Medical Camp, during which nearly 40,000 people, including nearly 7500 school children are served food in a single day.
Ever since the project has been introduced, there has been a marked improvement not only in the health profile of the children but also in their attendance, leading to improved grade.


2. Eco – Friendly Ganesh Murti

This unique project involves the making of Lord Ganesh idols from Paper Pulp. These idols are made from shredded paper of ‘Ramnaam’ notebooks used by the devotees, who write ‘Ramnaam’ and deposit the notebooks with the sister organization, Aniruddha’s Universal Bank of Ramnaam.

These idols disintegrate easily upon submersion in water, as compared to idols made from plaster-of-paris, which take significantly longer to disintegrate. A notable aspect is that, paints used are non-toxic, thus contributing significantly to the control over pollution of the environment.

The volunteers of Shree Aniruddha Upasana Foundation, Aniruddha’s Universal Bank of Ramnaam and other organizations collectively make these idols for the Ganapati festival every year. In the year 2008, the organization prepared and distributed nearly 3500 Lord Ganesh idols.

3. Medical and Healthcare Camp

For the welfare of the people in rural areas, medical camps are being conducted. For the past five years, a unique mega medical camp is being conducted in a backward area of Kolhapur District, covering nearly 200 villages. The medical team comprises of Physicians, Ophthalmologists, Dentists, Pediatricians, Gynecologists, ENT surgeons, Cardiologists, Orthopaedicians and General Practitioners.

Although the camp is held for one day, the planning commences months in advance. Post the camp, regular follow up activity is maintained, leading right up to the time of planning for the next camp। Date of every remote village and villagers covered by the camp is maintained by volunteers to meet exact requirements of the villagers. During the recently concluded 2008 mega medical camp, 16300 villagers from 200 villages, including 7634 school children, benefited from the camp.

Major Activities of the Camp:

• Free Medical Check-up of 16,300 villagers (including 7,639 Students from 108 schools) was conducted.
• Distribution of medicines free of cost, to the villagers and distribution of medicines, tonics, syrups etc. to school going children twice during the year.
• Distribution of used clothes to villagers and two sets of uniforms to school going children. During the 2008 camp, 15,268 sets of uniforms, which were stitched from the cloth prepared under the Charkha Yojana, were distributed to 7,634 students (2 sets per student).
• Distribution of caps, slippers, sports materials for school children – This year 7634 sets of slippers and caps were distributed among school going children.
• Distribution of hygiene material such as water purification liquid, anti-lice lotion, toothpowder, soaps, combs etc। and to make the village people aware about the importance of hygiene in their day-today life.

This year, the above mentioned material was distributed among 3600 families from 34 remote villages situated within a specified radius of the camp site.

4. Blood Donation Camps

A mega blood donation camp is organized once in a year by the Foundation with the help of its sister organizations. In the last camp held on 4th May 2008, twenty three reputed Blood Banks of major Government and Municipal Hospitals, such as Nair Hospital, KEM Hospital, TATA Memorial Hospital, J. J. Hospital Cooper Hospital, Bhabha Hospital,, to name a few, participated. In all, 2866 bottles of blood were collected. 56 doctors and 37 paramedical personnel also voluntarily participated in this event.

The Foundation also arranges blood donation camps on a regular basis in different areas across Mumbai and Maharashtra. In the year 2007, a total of 68 blood donation camps were organized by the Foundation, collecting 6059 units of blood.

5. Aniruddha’s Bank For The Blind

As the name suggests, this is a bank, but one that stands apart from the rest. This is a knowledge bank that stores knowledge in the form of Audio Cassettes/CDs for the benefit of the visually challenged. Audio Cassettes/CDs based on the academic curriculum are prepared and given to the visually challenged students of various blind schools and colleges.

Curriculum of courses meant for blind adults, viz. physiotherapy, as also technical courses like lathe training are also recorded on cassettes and CDs. The project has been targeted to reach out to the entire country over the next three years, wherein the cassettes/CDs will be prepared in different languages of the country, depending on the requirement. Volunteers, primarily ladies, record the cassettes/CDs sitting at home, which gives them an opportunity of balancing home and work, and in the process getting a sense of fulfillment. To date, this project has reached out to the needs of such reputed charitable institutions for the visually challenged, such as ‘The Kamala Mehta School for the Blind’ and the ‘National Association for the Blind’ and is now in the process of connecting with a wider user base. So far, more than 30,000 cassettes and CDs have been distributed to various schools and institutions, free of cost, across India and other countries. So far, the curriculum has been recorded on CDs and cassettes in 11 Indian languages, not only for school going students but also for people pursuing post-graduate and vocational courses.

Till date, nearly 65,000 students have benefited from these recorded audio books. Shree Aniruddha Upasana Foundation, through its 250 odd centers and thousands of volunteers, has commenced work in co-ordination with Shree Aniruddha Aadesh pathak and Aniruddha Samarpan Pathak for achieving the ultimate objective of Samartha Bharat – a strong and self relient India.

6. “Clothing with Charkha” (Charkha Vastra Yojana)
Even today there are many children, not just in villages but also in cities, who do not have enough clothing to cover their bodie. As a result, they abstain from attending school and remain deprived of educationIlliteracy breeds blind faith and wrong traditions, which in turn perpetuates poverty. The “Charkha Yojana” had been specifically implemented to break this vicious circle of poverty and illiteracy. Thousands of followers of parampoojya Sadguru Shree Aniruddha Bapu spin Amber charkhas for making thread. The hanks produced from threads are collected and converted into cloth.

School uniforms of various sizes are stitched from this cloth after proper processing and are distributed, free of cost, among the students, in order to motivate and encourage them to attend school Till date, 59,085 sets of uniforms have been distributed to 24,544 students। More than 1,43,000 meters of cloth have been prepared under the Charkha Project upto March 2008। Presently, a total of 3871 Amber Charkhas are in operation। The Foundation also conducts special camps at its affiliated centers throughout the year, in which devotees run the “Amber Charkha”.

7. “Round the year water, farming and fodder plan (Barmass pani-sheti-chara yojana – Gogras yojana)”

Under this scheme, people in urban areas, where water is available in abundance, grow “grass” in their houses and in open spaces, just as we do during the “Navarathri Festival”। It is possible to have a yield of sugarcane, wheat, rice and maize between 3 to 4 times a year. The grass so collected is sent to farmers in the drought stricken areas to feed their cattle. Till date, truckloads of grass has been distributed through our Pune centre in Purander Taluka.

8. “Raddi (used paper) Yojana”

Devotees of P.P Sadguru Shree Aniruddha Bapu, instead of selling old/used newspapers/magazines/notebooks as scrap, donate the same to the Foundation. These are then converted into such useful articles, as paper bags, which not only go a long way in solving the plastic bag problem but also contribute, in its own small yet significant way, in the conservation of the environment. Further, paper pulp made out of this paper is used to make articles such as Word chart, toys and alphabetical blocks, which are distributed to poor students as an incentive for them to attend school.

9. “Old is Gold”

The Foundation collects used (but not torn) clothes, old utensils, old text books and blank pages of notebooks (to convert them into new notebooks) and old toys (not battery operated) and many more. These articles are properly serviced and then distributed to the families of poor students, in order to encourage them to send their children to school. The clothes and utensils so collected are also distributed amongst the people affected by the natural calamities and disasters. The distribution is done in different needy areas all over Maharashtra. Thus so far, around 7,84,000 pieces of different types of clothes and around 3,00,000 utensils, have been distributed to more than 2,00,000 needy people. In addition, approximately 55,000 students from 182 schools have been given different articles, including clothing, for their use. Clothes and Utensils were also distributed in flood affected areas across Maharashtra and in Mumbai during the unprecedented and devastating floods of 26th July, 2005.

10. “The Warmth of Love Project” (Maayechi Oob Yojana)

Torn clothes or pieces of cloth are collected by devotees and converted into quilts, which are then gifted to needy workers, students, women and old persons। The volunteers, both men and women are imparted training on how to make quilts. So far, 2148 pieces of quilts have been prepared and distributed amongst needy people.

11. “The Light of Knowledge Project (Vidya Prakash Yojana)”

Under this program, candles and matchboxes donated by devotees are distributed free of cost to poor students in rural areas, where there is no supply of electricity, thus enabling them to study in candlelight.

12. “Ahilya Sangh Project”

Ahilya is the personification of the misery of the Indian woman; caught between the injustice of society and that of her husband. The Ahilya Sangh has been formed for suitably equipped women with the requisite strength and resolve to counter any exploitation and to face any adversity with fortitude. All the Indian martial arts needed for the self protection of women have been taught to a selected batch of 15 volunteers “free of cost”. These fully trained volunteers are now, in turn, training subsequent batches, each comprising of 80 volunteers. Besides, all women who have been wronged, or are facing a crisis situation in their lives, receive support from the “Ahilya Sangh”.

Women, who suffer because of the addiction of their husbands, also receive help from Ahilya Sangh. Till date, more than 800 ladies have been trained under the Ahilya Sangh Project. The Ahilya Sangh also undertakes tree plantation projects across Maharashtra. The sangh also takes care of the planted trees.

13. “Bharatiya Bhasha Sangam”

Out of all streams of knowledge, the knowledge of language is considered supreme, which is why the Foundation has been carrying out a project of the study of various languages. Each one is expected to learn a language apart from the mother tongue and languages that are already known. A facility to house this activity is being created. Around 1200 volunteers are already studying different Indian languages, apart from their mother tongue which, in time to come, will be of national integration in its truest sense.

14. “The Institute of Studies of Five Continents”

An Institute aimed at the study of the five continents, on the lines of the Institute of Regional Studies is being formed. The progress and politics of the five continents, scientific and educational progress, cultural progress and regression, all will be a part of the study. The study of the world around us only helps in doing a meaningful self-introspection. This Institute will produce social scientists in order to bring the disparate communities of the world together.

15. Re-immersion of Ganapati Idols, cleaning of beaches and cleanliness Drives

Every year, during and after the “Ganapati Festival”, the Lord Ganesh Idols that get washed on to the shore on following the day of immersion, are re-immersed into the sea by the volunteers of the Foundation in association with the volunteers of Aniruddha’s Academy of Disaster Management.

For the past four years, cleanliness drives have been undertaken at the city’s beaches at Girgaum, Dadar, Mahim, Juhu and Versova in Mumbai and also at Kalyan and Ulhasnagar in the suburbs, as well as at the entire shoreline of Maharashtra. During the 2008 celebrations, thousands of volunteers toiled selflessly to re-immerse approximately 10,000 idols, disposed off 45 truckloads of waste dumped on the beaches during the immersion proceedings.

Cleanliness drives are also undertaken on a regular basis at municipal schools, at the public places of worship and at an organization for mentally challenged children in Mankhurd, an eastern suburb of Mumbai.

16. Work in Mental Hospitals and Orphanages

Volunteers of the Foundation, in association with volunteers of sister organizations, regularly visit mental asylums at Thane, Pune and Ratnagiri, along with local doctors and attend to patients with varying ailments. Work is also going on in orphanages at Kolhapur and Mumbai, where the inmates are trained in physical fitness and are taught to recite prayers. Those desirous of pursuing their education are given tuitions. Seva is also being performed at the Sion Paraplegic Foundation, wherein the volunteers regularly interact with students suffering from mental depression due to their physical handicap and help them regain their lost confidence.

Reforming Juvenile Delinquents

This activity is carried out at the David Sasoon School for Juvenile Delinquents at Matunga, Mumbai, where children below 18 years of age, who have run away from home, or who have been disowned by their parents, orphans, or those who have committed crimes are provided shelter and education. The volunteers perform the following sevas in Mumbai, Pune and Kolhapur:

• Jaap and Upasana
• Periodic medical examination and provision of medicines
• Conducting regular classes for students
• Special tuitions for SSC students
• Distribution of sweets during festivals
• Physical training
  

17. Work in Hospitals

The volunteers of the organization assist the staff of TATA Memorial Hospital and Nair Hospital in Mumbai, as well as Sasoon Municipal Hospital, Pune, in their day to day work. The scope of work at these hospitals includes:

Registration of patients in registration department

• Guiding outstation patients by filling their railway forms, assisting them in terms of availing the available facilities
• Directing patients to various wards
• Arranging medicines for patients
• Assisting the process for admitting a patient in a ward
• Helping boost the moral of patients during the phase when they have to undergo radiation/chemo therapy. At the Nair hospital, volunteers accompany lonely patients and provide moral support.
• Cleanliness programs are undertaken at Municipal and Government hospitals, where the entire hospital premises, including stairs, toilets, wards, corridors etc. are thoroughly dusted, scrubbed, washed and cleaned.

Total no. of volunteers present for the seva at Sasoon Hospital on a regular basis are:
· Cleanliness Seva for the Hospital – 214
· Blood Donation – 278
· General Seva (above mentioned) – 250

18. Mobile Medication Facilities

Through this project, Shree Aniruddha Upasana Foundation and other organizations, with the help of trained doctors, offer free medical aid to the poor and under-privileged in Mumbai.

The mobile medical van tours various slum areas in Mumbai every week providing free medical checkup and distributing free medicines, wherever essential.

The mobile medical van covers areas of Worli Naka and Jijamata Nagar every Monday and Thursday, the areas of Mahim, every Tuesday and Friday. Teams of trained doctors, who are volunteers of the Foundation, make themselves available on a rotation basis.

The mobile medical camp is also carried out outside Mumbai, in the under-privileged areas of Virar. Mobile medication facilities, along with cleanliness drives, are carried out at around 9 schools at remote places in Virar, once in every 3 months. Volunteers of Shree Aniruddha Upasana Foundation clean the surroundings and school areas an medical aid is given to the needy children by trained doctors of the Foundation.

19. Work in Institutions for the Blind

The Social Services wing of the Foundation regularly carries out seva for blind children at the following 4 insstitutions:

1. National Association for Blind (NAB)-
Seva is carried out under two heads
a. Rehabilitation Department – Volunteers assist the children in English speaking, in preparing for various competitions and sports, and teach them cookery skills.

b. Providing Readers and Writers – Every year 20-25 volunteers offer seva as readers and writers for blind children. The readers help them read and understand various topics from their syllabus, while the writers help the children in writing exam papers.

2. Smt. Kamala Mehta School for the Blind (Dadar) –
At this school, which is exclusively for blind girls, volunteers help students from the 1st Std to the 7th Std in their day-to-day studies. The girls are also taught cookery. Doctors, who are volunteers of the Foundation, are present at the time of medical check-up of the students.

3. Victoria Memorial School for the Blind –
Volunteers help students from the 1st Std to the 10th Std in their day-today studies. Volunteers also help students to learn vocational subjects such as handicrafts etc. Doctors, who are volunteers of the Foundation, are present at the time of medical check-up of the students.

4. Nirmala Niketan College of Social Work –
Volunteers offer seva as writers for the blind students.

20. De-addiction centers

Daily sessions are conducted between 6.30 p.m. and 8.30 p.m. at various centers in the presence of volunteers of the organization and trained doctors. A combination of spiritual and medical therapy is used for the treatment. There is chanting of prayers and meditation on Lord Hanuman, after which the patients are checked and administered the necessary medicines. The prayer and meditation gives mental strength and fortitude to those who seek de-addiction. Till date, approximately 2750 people have benefited from the de-addiction programme and almost 70% (1950 people) have been completely cured. Currently, the de-addiction programme is being conducted at 26 Upasana Centers in Mumbai and all over Maharashtra.

21. Aatmabal Pragram for Women

Although our nation has been making steady economic progress, the state of the average Indian woman, who is the backbone of the family, does not seem to have improved appreciably. Keeping this in view, women are encouraged to attend classes, wherein they are imparted training in day-to-day requirements of life and a positive mindset is nurtured.

This free training program of 6 months encompasses a variety of innovative activities to make women self sufficient in the daily affairs of their respective lives. The training includes learning to handle bank transactions, cultivating and improving speaking skills in the English language, knitting, craft, beauty care, dramatics, dance and also other domestic activities such as changing of gas cylinders, small electrical solutions etc. The main objective of these classes is to develop and enhance the self confidence of women and make them bold enough to face any adversity / setback in their lives.

22. Training in Ancient Indian Martial Arts – ‘Bala Vidya’
(Bala = Strength and Power together)

Param Poojya Sadguru Shree Aniruddha Bapu is himself an exponent of the ancient Indian Martial Arts (Bala Vidya) such as Mudgal Vidya, Ashva Vidya, Suryabhedan Vidya and Yashwanti Malla Vidya, to name a few. Param Poojya Bapu believes that the energy acquired through these Vidyas can bring about major positive changes in the world. During ancient times, India was known and valued for its physical and mental health, to which the comprehensive study and judicious practice of these Vidyas made a significant contribution.

With the purpose of bringing back the bygone golden era and to make his devotees strong and self-reliant, Param Poojya Bapu has personally trained the Pratham Acharya in these ancient martial arts. The Pratham Acharya now trains sunsequent batches of dedicated volunteers.

23. Free Summer Camp for Children – DhangadDhinga

To nurture the potential and to explore the hidden talent of children, a fifteen day summer vacation camp by the name ‘DhangadDhinga’ is organized every year by the Foundation in collaboration with Sai Samartha Vidnyan Prabodhini. Children between the ages of 8 and 12 years are given 15 days practical training, keeping in view the overall development of their personality, which is commensurate with their age. In this campo, through free interaction and a playful atmosphere, children are encouraged to develop a positive and healthy attitude and to inculcate self discipline in them which, in turn, gives a tremendous boost to their self confidence.

24. Shree Sai Sachhcharit Panchsheel Examination

These examinations, conducted by the Foundation in collaboration with Sai Samarth Vidnyan Prabodhini are based on the “Shree Sai Sachcharit” – a compilation of the life and teachings of Shree Sai Baba by Shree Govind Raghunath Dabholkar – Hemadpant. The examination intends to instill human values and propagate the path of “Bhakti” to the public at large and to future generations in particular. Half yearly examinations, based on this spiritual text, are conducted free of cost. People of different age groups and from different walks of life appear for this examination. Till date more than 1 lakh people have appeared for the examinations, which ha five levels. These examination papers can be answered in Marathi, Hindi, English, Gujarati, Telugu, Kannada, Tamil, Malayalam, Oriya, Bengali, Punjabi and German languages.

Recently, the examination format was revised to bring it on the lines of an Open University concept, under which participants can write their examination papers sitting at home and send their answer papers either by post or even via internet.

25. Free Distribution of Notebooks

Every year, around the time when schools reopen, notebooks are distributed to needy and poor students. This year 1 lakh notebooks were distributed to thousands of poor and needy students in Maharahstra and Karnataka. Over the last 5 years, the Foundation along with its sister organizations has distributed about 7 lakhs notebook to needy students.