The NSS special camp for the year 2017 began on a wintry morning with enthusiastic NSS volunteers ready to add a plethora of life changing experiences and exposure into their lives.

The day commenced with a workshop on “Transforming Indians to Transform India :Youth Empowerment” by Dr. Manoj Khurana, from The Chinmaya Mission - Yuva Kendra who inspirited the volunteers with the feelings of patriotism and brotherhood for fellow citizens. He began by differentiating between emotion and intellect and how our culture and spirituality teach us the values of life. Dr. Khurana also conducted a short Quiz on India using an audio-visual presentation. His kind words instilled the motto of 'Transforming ourselves for transforming the nation' in the hearts of the volunteers.

Shortly after this Mr. Dhananjaya Tyagi, India's leading karate competitor took a brief ice breaking session on the need and importance of self-defense for girls 

This was followed by the Inaugural ceremony of the special camp which began with the singing of saraswati vandana and NSS Song by the volunteers. Dr. Ashok Gupta, the Vice Chancellor and Dr. Rakhi Gupta the Registrar of The University along with the Chief Guest Mr. Ashfaq Hussain,IAS  enlightened the students with the importance of being independent and empowered women in contemporary Indian society.

Ms. Chanda Asani, NSS faculty shared her experience of working in rural area during the  making of an audio visual center in south Gujarat, while she worked with SNDT Womens’ University , Mumbai and the power of advertisements to create insecurities. The camp participants were grouped and projects were shared.

After an one hour break for refreshment, the day progressed with a lecture on the “Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act (POCSO) 2012” by Ms. Lakshmi Ashok. During the session she shared with the students the issue of child sexual abuse and sexual harassment of children. She stressed upon the identifying symptoms, ways to help the victims, the child helpline and discussed about the children at risk for abuse.

This was followed by a highly captivating session on Gender issues by Dr. Meeta Singh, alumnae of AFMC, Pune and Chairperson of Dignity of Girl Child foundation. In her candid and interactive session Dr. Singh illuminated the campers with the origin and maintenance of patriarchy in Indian society, the ways to socialize young children with equality for both genders. She also emphasized on the violence associated with stereotypical socialization of boys who are forced to identify themselves as strong and muscular with a macho image and it's disastrous repercussions on the society as a whole. She also apprised the students on the effects of easy accessibility of porn on the minds and behaviour of today's youth.

After a 10 minutes tea break, the campers were divided in various groups for the nukkad natak presentation which was followed by a discussion with the instructor, Mr. Mahmood Ali, freelance Theater trainer. He told about the importance of Nukkad Natak as a tool for social intervention to bring about change in the mindset of people. The finer nuances of drama like emotions, story line, dialogue delivery and nukkad to captivate the audience on the street were taken up by Mr. Ali. These will provide the base for students to prepare for nukkad in the coming days for their respective issues of project.