1. Preamble
SHUKRODAYA ANIMATION SOCIETY
Shukrodaya Animation Society is a registered Charity NGO actively involved in promoting social awareness education, holistic health education, leadership formation and community development programs. As a part of the voluntary sector in India and in appreciation of its commitment to the progress of the poor and the underprivileged, Shukrodaya has been recognised as a charitable and educational institution both by the Government of India and the Government of Karnataka since 1985. Shukrodaya Movement was launched in 1985 by a group of dedicated persons, experienced in the field of holistic education and committed to the cause of human development. The basis for the active presence and social involvement of Shukrodaya Movement is that human civilization continues to suffer and struggle because of the crisis of character and the lack of holistic vision of life. A civilization run on self-aggrandizing profit system, mere consumerist life-styles and indifference towards the plight of the poor cannot ensure a new society. Shukrodaya believes in and aims at human enlightenment and networking so as to enable people of goodwill beyond national borders -- from different parts of the world -- to socially commit to the task of building a new society which would be animated and guided by human values such as equality, justice, love, understanding, compassion and common fellowship.
2. Aims and Objectives
Shukrodaya Movement serves as
:1. A centre for threshold education for people's initiatives for community development;
2. A centre for rapport between underprivileged and privileged children and rural and urban youth in order to breathe hope and kindle the kinetic energy within, and to actively participate in the struggle against ignorance, poverty and disease;
3. An initiator of leadership training programs so as to enable the trainees to involve in the task of building a new society without walls and borders;
4. An animating force towards promoting national integration, transnational multiculturalism, humanism and universal fellowship, and
5. A catalyst for awakening towards holistic living - a living free from self-aggrandizement and excessive consumerism, and a living based on sharing: The Indian Vedas say, 'Everything here is Divine', 'Sarvam Khalvidam Brahma''. From this flows equality of all human beings, their progress and happiness - 'Sarve Sukhina Bhavantu; Sarve Santu Nirmayah', irrespective of their nation, race, religion, or gender. And hence, Shukrodaya's prayer is the same as that of Rabindranath Tagore, our national poet:
"Where the mind is without fear… Where the world has not been broken up into fragments by narrow domestic walls… Where the clear stream of reason has not lost its way into dreary desert sand of dead habit… Into that heaven of freedom, my Father, let my country awake".
In tune with this spirit and quest, a Guiding Star has been chosen as Shukrodaya's emblem.
3. Governing Council
The founding core group members of Shukrodaya Movement were Dr.A.S.Dasan, Pére J.Jaunet, Mr.G.Bernard and C.P.Muthanna. Pére J.Jaunet passed away in 2000 at the age of 80 + and Mr.G.Bernard in 2002 at the age 76 +. Sr.Annette, then Principal of Teresian College, Mysore, and late Mr.T.V.Krishna Rao, a well-known advocate from Mysore signed as witnesses to the official formation of the Shukrodaya Animation Society in 198
. The present Governing Council of Shukrodaya consists of nine members. All the assets and the liabilities of Shukrodaya vest with Shukrodaya Animation Society, a legally registered body, and the Governing Council members are trustees only. Dr.A.S.Dasan, Dr.Manohar Amanna, Mr.C.P.Muthanna and Ms.Nalini Dasan are the core group members. Dr.A.S.Dasan, who is the heart and soul of Shukrodaya's social ventures, is the Honorary Director of Shukrodaya's projects, programmes and activities. A profile of Dr.Dasan has been added as part of this website. Mr.B.V.Raman, a senior High Court Advocate from Bangalore, Mr.F.Royappan, a businessman from Trichy, Dr.H.M.Balachandra, a pediatrician from Mysore, Mr.B.Pratap and Mr.J.B.Rodrigues from Mysore are the other members of the General / Governing Council.
4. Ongoing Projects and Programmes
After five years of involvement and experience in field works vis-à-vis urban and rural youth animation and guidance in Mysore city and at Varuna Village and surrounding areas, suburbs within the vicinity of 10 K.Ms. from Mysore city, Shukrodaya acquired an extent of five hectares of lands at Varuna Village, with the support of local patrons, so as to located its social projects. This Campus is, now, known as 'Shukrodayanikethan' - 'an NGO Academy for Education and Human Development'. Non-formal education and special coaching classes were organized for the benefit of deserving children from surrounding areas. In the initial stages, we tried to manage with small contributions from our local patrons and friends. Mme.Simone Polycarp, a French citizen from Algiers, Father Edmund Jackel, Father Alphonse Mertons from Germany and Father Abrham Joseph from the Nilgiris (India) came forward to offer help in their own small but significant ways to enable us to move ahead with hope in action. 'The World Vision - India', an aid and partner agency came forward to support a rural education project for more than six years for the benefit of more than two hundred children. 'Trocaire', another aid agency from Ireland, added its mite towards this venture. Friends and associates of a Danish Production School ( Brüsgard) from Rahners, Denmark, gave financial assistance to Shukrodaya to launch a Community Dairy Scheme for the benefit of select poor families. This project is self-supportive today. These projects were realized during the period between 1988 - 1992. With financial assistance from aid agencies - Missio, Acahen and Munich, Germany, Propaganda Fide, Italy thanks to late Bishop Joesph Roy of Mysore diocese, and individual contributions received from friends among the Montfortian Fathers of Germany thanks to our friendship with Fr.T.J.Raja Rao and Fr.Anil, and Ursuline Sisters of Somasca thanks to Madre Generosa and Sr.Umbertina, Shukrodaya was able to acquire a site at Alanahalli Layout and establish a Leadership Training Centre during the period, 1992 -1994. This Centre was inaugurated by Mr.Raj Mohan Gandhi, an eminent writer and grandson of Mahatma Gandhi. This Centre, christened as 'Shukrodava Animation Centre', may be considered as one of the landmarks of Mysore City for more than one reason. One important reason is that the windows of the octagonal-shaped seminar hall of the Centre artistically indicate the idea of common journey towards human goals through aesthetically - designed symbols. Its 18-piece grill-art-work is, indeed, an inspiration in itself which in turn inspires and urges people to actively participate in social action and gradually move towards a life of personal integrity and secular spirituality. Periodic seminars on crosscurrent issues and leadership training programmes conducted at this Centre which also serves as the Head Quarters of Shukrodaya Society. Eminent educationists, thinkers and social activists serve as resource persons during these programmes. A project for street children and children from broken homes was launched in 1995 thanks to the personal rapport and financial assistance from Pére J.Jaunet, an MEP missionary. He was also able to ensure a continued support from Les Amis de Mercy Home ( Mme.Marie Rose Vigneron and friends), France, and a Corpus Fund grant from MEP Society, Paris, thanks also to Pére C.Cornu. Max Wenk, Fr.Pierre Weiss and friends from Switzerland volunteered to support this project at the initial stages. Today, we have an excellent Residential Education Centre for these children at our Varuna Campus, surrounded by the bounty and the beauty of Nature, in memory of late Pére J.Jaunet and thanks to Les Amis de Mercy Home and other friends and patrons. Sr. Paola Iacovone of Hospitaller Sisters and her friends have also joined hands in lending support to a group of select children. Friends like Prof.Doireann MacDermot, Dr.Dolorous and Dr.Kathleen Firth from Spain have added their mite towards the Corpus Fund of this project. At present, 30 - 35 children are being covered under this project. They go to different schools for formal education. They reside at Shukrodaya's Premanivas in the campus of Shukrodayanikethan, Varuna. We have also a few vocational education programmes such as welding and fabrication, carpentry, and tailoring and embroidery for these children in the campus. Let us try to imagine the plight of children of the street: Can society afford to leave them to grow without being loved and cared for? What kind of citizens will they be in course of time? They are often prone to sexual abuse and incrimination. Can we help and enable them to grow in a human atmosphere? Shukrodaya is convinced that this can be done only by loving, caring and sharing, and hence this project. In fact, this project was envisaged when Pére J.Jaunet came out of his residence for a stroll after a good lunch but was confronted with the poignant reality of a group of children fighting with stray dogs for food in a dustbin in front of a restaurant near his residence.
5. Projects under Planning / Progress
1.Establishing Shukrodaya Centre for Holistic Health Education in collaboration with San Gallicanno Hospitale, Roma, Italy;
2. Maintenance of Shukrodaya's Ongoing Projects and Programmes;
3. Expanding the Leadership Training Centre with residential facilities for seminar participants;
4. Starting a Pre-University Education Centre for Rural-Urban Youth interactions and integration, and
5. A Multiculural Meditation Centre for Universal Fellowship.
Shukrodaya Centre for Holistic Health Education is a unique venture taken up in collaboration with San Gallicanno Hospitale, Roma, Italy. Dr.Aldo Morrone of San Gallicanno and Dr.A.S.Dasan of Shukrodaya are the initiators of this project. This project aims at responding to the aspirations and wishes of people from different parts of the world searching for ways of learning the art of holistic living. Holistic health embraces and involves several aesthetics, disciplines, techniques and therapies. It accommodates and integrates transnational and multicultural therapies in order to usher in a holistic living. This Centre is designed with facilities for single stay, family stay, group stay and community satsangh (fellowship) experiences. It has space for a mini swimming pool with facilities for body massage, yoga exercises and steam bath. It also has a compact dining hall with a continental kitchen. The plan is ready. The minimum budget required for the first phase of the project at the present estimate, is Euros -95,000.oo Maintenance of Shukrodaya's Ongoing Projects and Buildings requires an annual budget of Euros - 33,000.oo. It is often an uphill task to run and manage the projects and maintain the functional structures we have with our income or out of local sources. We do not have any local or Indian Government funding. All NGO ventures are goodwill ventures and they do depend upon goodwill contributions and patronage. All individual contributions, unless they are meant for a specific project, go towards this purpose. It is only such contributions that sustain and maintain the core staff members of our social projects. Expanding the Leadership Training Centre for seminar participants is another pending project. The present Centre can accommodate about 20 participants. We need accommodation for 30 to 40 more people. Participants coming from outside Mysore, other parts of India and outside India need to have basic residential accommodation. The duration of the seminar varies from three days to five days. The expansion will be done on the first floor of Shukrodaya's Premanivas. The estimated cost is Euros - 80,000.oo. Starting a Pre-University Education Centre for Rural-Urban Youth Integration is venture that has to be taken up for the benefit of the youth of Varuna and surrounding villages. There is no Pre-University Education Centre anywhere within a radius of eight KMs. Government agencies concentrate on primary and higher primary education only. Youngsters passing out of high school are constrained to travel to Mysore city for further education. Staring this Centre at Shukrodaya's Campus at Varuna would be a great service to the poor youth of the area. Nominal fees collected from students and local donations may take care of the monthly remuneration of the teaching faculty. We need class rooms, labs and administrative staff office rooms besides a few other basic infrastructures and equipments. The budget needed is Euros - 1,20,000.oo Building a Multicultural Meditation Centre is a dream of Shukrodaya for fairly a long time. It is part of a holistic vision of life. God and humanity, body and soul, matter and spirit go together in an ambience of cosmic spirituality and fellowship. Such a Centre will go well with the Centre for Holistic Health Education. Such a place is the need of the hour in an age of postmodernism and nihilism. Our technologies have not yet discovered medicines for all human ailments including stress, depression, marital discords and divorces, loneliness and suicides. This Centre will hopefully lead to solutions to some of these ailments. The budget estimate is Euros - 75,000.oo
6. Appeal for Support and Solidarity
Shukrodaya Movement is a voluntary effort. As a voluntary effort, the impact of our services may not by that effective or visible in a country like India with massive problems. They are little and tiny like a microorganism but yet we believe that they contribute their share to the process of transformation and fermentation. This is one meaningful way of building bridges in human relationships with support from people from different parts of the world. The vast earth has become a kind of village in terms of global communication. The social responsibility of building up a new society free from ignorance, want, disparities and exploitation has become a moral imperative and ethical necessity for the sake of cohesive existence and universal harmony and fellowship. It is with this hope in action that we continue to count on the patronage and support of all men and women of goodwill. If you, after browsing through this website, have a plan to help Shukrodaya Movement or wish to patronize the causes we espouse or associate yourself with the Movement, you are welcome to write to us or contact us at the address given here below:
7. Contact Address
Dr. A.S. Dasan Hon. DirectorShukrodaya Animation Centre8th Main, 16th Cross, Alanahalli Layout,Mysore - 570011 - INDIA
Phone 00 91+821+2471 833 Telefax: 00 91+821+2473 731Cable Shukrodaya, Mysore-570 011 - India.E'mail : sacdasan@sancharnet.in
Our Bank is UCO BANK, Devaraj Urs Road, Mysore-570 001 - India. Our Account Number: SB/ 4486 (Four Four Eight Six) Attn: The Branch Manager. When you wish to send contributions, it is better to draw a cheque or bank draft in the name of 'Shukrodaya Animation Society', A/C payee, payable at Mysore, and send the same directly to the address of the Hon.Director, Dr.A.S.Dasan. If you wish to send directly to our Bank Account, then please do so using the particulars given above and mark a copy of your letter to the Bank to us so that it is easy for us to do the follow up action
.8. A Profile of Dr.A.S.Dasan
Dr.A.S.Dasan ( b.1952 ) is Reader in English, University of Mysore, India. Besides having degrees in Western and Indian Philosophy and Christian Theology, he has an M.A. and an M.Phil. and a Ph.D in English Language and Literature. His doctoral thesis is on "The Poor and the Oppressed in the Novels of Dickens and Anand". He was awarded 'The Student of the Year' Prize in 1989 by the Irish Government for the highest distinction he had obtained in his higher studies in Dublin. He serves as Hon. Director of Shukrodaya Animation Centre, an NGO based in Mysore and involved in social awareness learning, holistic education, leadership formation and social action programmes that promote the cause of the poor in terms of their freedom and dignity. He is also actively associated with the cause of street children and children from broken homes, a project undertaken by Shukrodaya. Dasan learnt his outreaching social sensitivity from the legacy of his family, Christian way of looking at realities from Pere Dr. L.Legrand and Fr.Dr.S.Arulsamy during his days of formation at St.Peter's Pontifical Institute of Philosophy and Theology, Bangalore, literary aesthetics from Prof.C.D.Narasimhaiah of Dhavnyaloka, Mysore, who, in fact, inspired him to do a Ph.D level research, humanistic traditions from Dr.Mulk Raj Anand and during his higher studies and visits abroad, and a holistic way of visioning for life from Swami Dr.D.S.Amalorananda of Anjali Ashram, Mysore. He is a voracious reader on varied subjects, and he is committed to interdisciplinary and multidimensional approaches to know and understand truth and reality. Dasan spares time to be a Resource Person both in India and abroad on topics related to Literatures in English, Philosophy, Indian Aesthetics, crosscurrent socio-politico-economic issues vis-à-vis Human Development. As a Resource Person, he addresses topics such as socio-cultural analysis of issues such as globalization, consumerist life styles, rural-urban divide, illiteracy and poverty, violation of human rights, and implications of violence and terrorism. He develops a multidimensional and yet a holistic way of looking at realities and tries to promote the art of holistic living. Understanding poetry and fiction, and upholding cultural studies and humanistic concerns in the context of contemporary theories vis-à-vis language and literature are his areas of interest and specialization. As a free-lance writer, he has authored a number of articles on cross - current social issues. He has also published articles on Literatures in English and art and literary criticism. The book, India: A People Betrayed (1993), co-edited by him, has been acclaimed as a major contribution to the critical input on some of the burning problems of the people of India. The Odyssey of the Poor - a Comparative Study of the Novels of Charles Dickens and Mulk Raj Anand (a recast of his Ph.D thesis) and Insights and Experiences of Holistic Living are two other books scheduled to be published and released by May, 2005. New Approaches to Learning English, co-authored by him and Nalini Dasan, is another forthcoming book. Dasan is married. Nalini, his wife, is also Reader in English at Teresian College, Mysore. They have two children - Deepthi and Jeevan. Dasan can be contacted at: 'Shukrodaya', 8th Main, 16th Cross, Alanahalli Layout, Mysore - 570 011 - India. Ph.0091 + 821 + 2471 833 ; Telefax: 0091 + 821 + 2473 731 . E'mail: sacdasan@sancharnet.in
