Imagine Rajinikanth organised a lavish dinner

Arun Daniel Yellamaty, founder of Hyderabad based NGO Youngistaan Foundation, gave plenty of food for thought to students of Akshaya School in Chennai, at The Weekend Leader’s ‘Be the Change Challenge Series’ programme held at the school recently.

Lighting up the screen with images of a variety of delicious food items like biryani and kebabs, Arun asked the students to imagine that this was the food served at a lavish dinner organised by superstar Rajinikanth and they had been given the task of inviting a few guests for the feast.

Arun Yellamaty motivating the children to be change makers (Photos: H K Rajashekar)

Next, he showed a series of images - of a street kid, a destitute elderly person, a man eating food from a garbage bin, a beggar, a homeless person, and a girl with a deformed face.

Arun asked the children to identify one person from the lot they would invite for the dinner and explain why they chose the person.

Many responded. Each offered a reason why they thought the person they chose deserved to be at the dinner more than the others.

Arun Yellamaty with Ruth Eunice Anand, principal, Akshaya Global School and P C Vinoj Kumar, Editor, The Weekend Leader

“I would choose the person eating from the garbage bin, because the man is so desperate for food,” said one child.

Other children justified their choices.

Having heard them out, Arun asked the children if they had ever made an effort to help such unfortunate people they see on the streets every day.

There was pin-drop silence. Arun had driven home the message.

Children of Akshaya School with the guest speaker

The Weekend Leader’s ‘Be the Change Challenge Series’ programme is being held in schools to promote social consciousness among the children.

Earlier, P C Vinoj Kumar, Editor of The Weekend Leader, introduced the online magazine to the children and said The Weekend Leader focused on positive news and wrote about unsung heroes, and success stories of entrepreneurs.

Ruth Eunice Anand, principal, Akshaya Global School, addressed the students and appreciated The Weekend Leader’s initiative.

If you would like to have this event in your school, do get in touch with us at [email protected] – TWL Bureau