Business students run for charity

On Saturday morning, with the peacocks cooing in the background and a fresh breeze streaming through the Indian Business School (ISB) campus, 55 individuals, students and faculty, got together to run a triathlon for charity. Some completed all three events --- a five km run, a 15 km cycling run and a one km swim. Others participated in individual activities. All for the sake of charity — to raise awareness and money for Ashray Akruti, and the special children it caters to. It began with an ardent wish by students to do something productive over the term break. A few discussions over social networking sites, right in the midst of exams, led to an initial effort to organise the student body. Within a week, it had ballooned to 60 participants and volunteers, all of them willing to devote their time and money for this event. The school helped out wherever it could by supporting the students through donations, participation from faculty and providing any infrastructure needed. Donations poured in as interest and awareness grew. Many students felt these kind of events were something close to their  heart and a good way to spend the term break. “There was nothing more meaningful that I could have done over this holiday, “ confessed Archana Saseetharan, a student. Vivekananda Srivastava, a student, who endured a week of training in the hot sun, revealed, “ I competed because it was for a charity. I wouldn’t have done it if it were a race.” Asked if he would do it again in a few weeks, he affirmed completely. It was a hard task for everyone, but with the cheering and encouragement given to them by their colleagues and friends, they pulled through. Efforts are now being made to institutionalise this, to hold such events on a six-monthly basis in order to raise awareness, build a sense of social duty and raise money for charity.