Independence DaY
15 August 2020
IIT Jodhpur celebrated the 73rd Independence Day with a grand celebration both in-person and on virtual platform with activities ranging from rich cultural performances and felicitation of Covid warriors to premier screening of a documentary film and a tree plantation drive. The event started with the hoisting of the national flag by the Director, Prof. Santanu Chaudhury. The flag hoisting was attended by Heads and Deans while maintaining social distancing, and was livestreamed to the entire IITJ fraternity on the online platform.
After the flag hoisting, the Independence Day Address by the Director was delivered live from the Boardroom on the virtual platform. This was followed by wonderful cultural performances by students of IIT Jodhpur and children from Kendriya Vidyalaya IIT Jodhpur. The program was moderated by Suyash Maniyar, and the performances included speech (by Raksham Tiwari) and poetry recitations (by Neha Soni, Gaurav Kumar, Aman Prakash, and Rahul Singh). The event also included a ghoomar dance performance and skit on Unity in Diversity performed by Ek Bharat Shreshth Bharat Team of the Institute.
Before the event, the Office of Students had organized Drawing, Singing, Poetry Recitation, and Dance competitions for children on campus in different age groups, while the Student Cultural and Literary Society had organized Painting and Article Writing competitions for the students. The results of these competitions were also announced during the program.
In the midst of this global pandemic, IIT Jodhpur expressed its sincere gratitude to all the essential service providers and Covid warriors of IIT Jodhpur - the staff of Public Health Center, the housekeeping staff, and all the security personnels who have tirelessly, selflessly, and fearlessly served the IIT Jodhpur fraternity throughout the pandemic.
As the theme of Atma Nirbhar Bharat echoes across the country, IIT Jodhpur also acknowledged the contribution of Shri Kanha Ram - Security Guard posted at the Departments of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering - who has been instrumental in personally maintaining, planting and pruning of greenery the campus, especially those near Department of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering.
The program also included the film premier of another story of self-reliance, sustainability, gender and ecological equity - the documentary film Under Another Sky. This film, directed by Maverick Prem and Dr. Vidya Sarveswaran (Department of HSS, IIT Jodhpur), is a story about the village of Piplantri that celebrates the birth of every girl child by planting 111 trees. The film is situated at the intersections of environment, gender, mining, education and atmanirbhar or self-reliance as its themes. Watch Under Another Sky online at: https://youtu.be/OQZdDmC_W5w.
The virtual program concluded with a Vote of Thanks by Chairman, Committee for Celebration of Commemorative Days (CCCD), Prof. Kamajit Rangra, and was immediately followed by a Tree Plantation Drive in the campus.
The Evening Session of the program presented a Panel Discussion on Firsthand experience of Covid-19. The panelists shared insightful and moving experiences of their experience of fighting Covid-19 as medical professionals, security personnel and as patients. The panelists included Dr. Ronika Yadav (Medical Officer), Mr. Gaurav Nigam (Superintendent, Office of Students), Mr. Amit Sharma (Project Officer, Office of R&D), Mr. Shiv Narayan (Nursing Staff, PHC), and Mr. Sawai Bhoj Raj Singh (Security Staff). The discussion was moderated by Dr. Kshema Prakash, Deputy Librarian.
