You Have Sight. Now Have a Vision.

What: Reading Sessions for Visually Challenged Students

When: All Sundays, from 10.30AM to 12.30PM

Where: PSBB,KK Nagar and Nungambakkam (annexe, near Vidyodaya School. NOT THE MAIN CAMPUS)

Why: Well, nature has given us the gift of eyesight, whereas some brothers and sisters are very unfortunate for not receiving the same. We can either carry on with our own lives or make it a bit worthwhile by investing a fraction of it in helping our friends achieve their ambitions.

What exactly you need to do: Just read out their lessons aloud for them. They are mostly Tamil/English literature students from various colleges in the city. [It's NOT compulsory to explain the lessons for them, but if you can, it'd be great.] Some students just follow the lessons, while some record them on tape. Some even take notes using Braille. Sometimes you might even be asked to write assignments for them.

What you gain: First and foremost, the satisfaction of helping people. There's no greater gain, IMO. Secondly, knowledge. You don't get to read for the same student every week. You'll be assigned to read out to a different student every week. Therefore, the chances of your gaining knowledge on different topics is very high.

What the procedure is: No procedure at all. Just walk into any of the two campuses on a Sunday morning (10.30) and tell them you're there for the reading session. The volunteers will tell you what you need to do, and allot a student.

Perks: You'll get a glass of tea and two biscuits around 11.30. :D And they also serve lunch for all after the session ends. Eating there or not is your personal choice. But trust me, the food tastes great. [This is how it used to be when I attended these sessions back in 2010. Hope it's the same now. Also, I've attended only the sessions at Nungambakkam. Never been to the KK Nagar campus. So I don't have an idea about the sessions there except the fact that they're held there as well.]

You'll get to know in what other ways you can be of help to these students once you attend a session. You can register your phone number with the organizers if you're willing to be a scribe, and they'd call you in case there's a need for scribes during exams. That's another great experience, I say. I had the opportunity of serving as a scribe once.

Well, I've summed up all the information required, I guess. Feel free to contact me if you have any other queries. Will be happy to oblige.

PS: The person who began this service has been doing it for more than 20 years. And I had the privilege of being a part of it for almost a year. I do miss these sessions a lot, and that's the reason I've been strongly insisting you guys at least to be a part of it.

The reading sessions have a break of 3-4 weeks when the students have their exams. You'll be informed of this beforehand if you attend the sessions regularly.

Also, there's a great demand for Tamil readers. So kindly attend the sessions if you can read Tamil well. தமிழ் இனி மெல்லச் சாகும் என்னும் கருத்தை உடைத்து, அச்செம்மொழியை வாழ வைப்போம்.

And do spread the word.

Service to man is service to God.

Cheers! :)