IIM B MBA Students’ ‘Prayaas’ To Raise Awareness About Spinal Cord Injury

IIMB’s MBA (One Year Full Time EPGP) students are partnering with The Spinal Foundation to organize ‘Prayaas Day’ which will include an awareness run, sports and art shows for the differently abled

The annual Prayaas Day at IIM Bangalore is being held on 24^th January. This year Prayaas (which means ‘endevour’ in Hindi) is ‘Celebrating Abilities’ and providing a platform for the differently abled to share their talent, spirit and achievements. 

Prayaas, a social initiative of IIMB’s Full Time MBA (One Year Executive Post Graduate Programme – EPGP) students, was set up in 2009 to make a meaningful difference to society. The Prayaas team conducts various activities through the year to touch the lives of many.

Prayaas Day, a day to commemorate the year that was and dedicate a whole day for service, is being celebrated this year on Sunday, January 24^th. Prayaas Day will feature events for raising awareness on spinal cord injury while promoting social inclusiveness for the differently abled.

Komal Kamra, Director (Development), The Spinal Foundation, says: “We at The Spinal Foundation are very excited to be associated with Prayaas Day and IIMB-EPGP. We are sure that institutes of repute such as IIM Bangalore taking a lead in championing this cause will bring in a renewed vigour in promoting inclusiveness. We hope that through this event, we will be able to showcase the immense potential that differently-abled persons have and celebrate some of the success stories.”

Scenes from previous Prayaas events

5 Minute GMAT Score Predictor

Traditionally, the Prayaas team has held Jaipur Foot Camp and Eyecare camps on Prayaas Day in the IIMB campus. Building on these successes, the team has decided to fund such activities round the year and re-engineer Prayaas Day as a platform for promoting social inclusiveness. 

This year, on campus, the day will dawn with an Awareness Run (10KM, 5KM), team events and indoor games for the differently abled and the students.

Cultural performances and art exhibitions will also be conducted.

Para athlete, Padma Shri and Arjuna awardee Malathi Krishnamurthy Holla, who will deliver a talk on the day, says: “We, the disabled fraternity, have problems with our bodies but our determination, ambitions and dreams are not paralyzed.”

In the afternoon, a panel, moderated by Justin Jesudas, an international para-swimmer and currently Associate Director, Cognizant, will deliberate on the topic, ‘Breaking down Societal Barriers’. The panellists are Nasreen S Wadia, Founder, Unlimited Freedom; Dr. Anand Viswanathan, Sr. Research Scientist, Cochrane, South Asia; and Pranesh Nagri, Director, Enable India. (Image courtesy of EPGP’s Facebook page shows activities from a previous years’ Prayaas event)