A symphony of children to showcase Karnataka’s history

Kids from marginalised communities, aided by Makkala Jagruthi, will perform a variety of dance and drama, at Chowdaiah Hall, Malleshwaram.

Makkala Jagriti, an NGO working with children and youth from the underprivileged communities, is holding an event ‘Makkala Raaga’, at Chowdaiah Memorial Hall on February 2nd, 2018. The event marks the 15th year of Makkala Jagriti’s establishment and we believe that that this esteemed platform will ignite the dreams of several children from marginalized communities who have had no opportunity to perform in front of a huge audience and showcase their talents.

Makkala Raaga, meaning ‘Symphony of the Children’ is an ensemble of 500 children and youth from the underprivileged and marginalized communities to showcase the rich cultural heritage, diversity and inclusiveness of Karnataka. In this captivating two hour dance – drama musical, children will be portraying the philosophical and geographical heritage of Karnataka through a dance drama musical through classical and folk traditional dance forms: Kathak, Kamsale and Gee Gee Pada, subtly involving martial art and yoga postures as well.

Staying true to Makkala Jagriti’s mission of building a sustainable and equitable society, the theme focuses on bringing out unity in diversity through this dance drama musical. 500 children from across our Learning Centres in Govt. schools, community centres and govt. homes for children will come together to present this event. These children, who face deprivation at multiple levels, seldom come across opportunities to showcase their immense talent, apart from the annual Prathibha Karanji competitions, conducted by the Department of Education. The privilege of performing on a grand platform in front of a huge audience remains a distant dream to these children.

Makkala Raaga, will give children a once in a lifetime opportunity to come together on a stage and perform at the esteemed Chowdaiah Hall, Bangalore in front of a vast variety of audience. Having worked with underprivileged children for more than 15 years, Makkala Jagriti has witnessed the lack of opportunities and exposure to the underprivileged children. The event is a culminated effort of working with children to provide them exciting opportunities in non-academic avenues such as fine arts, performing arts, sports and martial arts to ensure their holistic learning and development.

The event is supported by Spark Capital as the title sponsor and with event sponsorship from multiple corporate organisations and many other individual donors, who have donated through crowdfunding on Global Giving, Impact Guru and other sources. The tickets to the show are also available on Book My Show. We are thankful for their support and contribution to making this event a reality for our children.

About Makkala Jagriti

Makkala Jagriti, meaning ‘Awakening of Children’ established in 2003 is an NGO that creates learning spaces, which transform children and youth from marginalized communities into confident, capable youngsters who can access mainstream opportunities. We do this by setting up Holistic Development Learning Centres in Government Schools and Community Centres. We have entered into a formal collaboration with the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyaan, Department of Education, Karnataka to set up Learning Centres within Govt. School to provide holistic learning and development, thus strengthening the public education system. We have also been working  with the Department of Women and Child Development, Karnataka to ensure the provision of good quality pre-school education at the Anganwadi Centres in Bangalore Rural and Urban.

By providing a safe, nurturing and conducive environment for children to learn and develop at their own pace, we provide increased exposure to different learning activities and encouraging them to pursue their areas of interest. We have been successful in integrating several first generation learners into the education system, by developing the confidence in them that can study and excel too. We have thus been able to bring significant improvements in their learning outcomes and create role models in the communities that they come from.

Our children have managed to carve a unique path for themselves in a challenging and competitive world! Our interventions have impacted nearly 23,000 children so far. We are currently working in 90 Anganwadi Centres for enhancing school readiness of children aged 3 – 6 years, 32 Holistic Development Learning Centres in Govt. schools and community centres for children aged 6 – 14 years and 2 Yuva Cafes for the empowerment of youth aged 15 – 30 years.

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