Bangalore: How do you bring joy into the lives of youngsters who get little opportunity to pursue their hobbies and interests?

With a little commitment and loads of enthusiasm — just what Kruti has done to gift smiles to some young boys and girls from a slum in Bangalore.

Kruti is a project conducting hobby classes for children in a slum on Bannerghatta Road. A group, including people working in the information technology sector and other professionals, took up the task of spreading joy among these children by teaching them certain activities through the project, while the facilitators found fulfilment through their work.

Kruti ran hobby classes for around 30 to 40 children/youth in the age group of six to 20 years. The children learnt painting, music, dance and photography every Saturday and Sunday.

According to the facilitators, the slum-dwellers are mostly into professions such as construction work, domestic, painting, furniture making and so on. Kruti was conceptualised by Veena, who has been involved in the software industry for the last eight years. The grand finale of the Kruti project came when the students displayed their paintings and the photographs clicked by them during the workshop at a festival, which was held at the slum recently. A song and dance event presented by the children who participated in the music and dance classes was also part of the festival. Prizes were also given to some of the best performances.

"We plan to register Kruti as a trust and expand it to other slums too," said Veena.

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