The second anniversary of Art of Giving was celebrated at the KIIT here with much enthusiasm on Sunday with the participation of thousands of people. Eminent persons from different walks of life also joined the event.
The Art of Giving is a philosophy of life and all about creating unconditional, unlimited and sustainable abundance of love, peace, happiness and contentment for others through gestures of love, kindness and generosity, observed the guests.
In his welcome speech, KIIT and KISS founder Achyuta Samanta said the concept of this unique philosophy was propounded by him on this day in 2013. “Daan in Hinduism and Buddhism, tithe in Christianity and Zakat in Islam uphold the philosophy of giving,” he elaborated, adding that one must understand that “Happiness does not result from what we get but from what we give.”
Giving is not always giving only material goods which is just one form of generosity; but it is rather an attitude for being kind, attentive and honest in dealing with others; offering praises where it is due; giving comfort and advice where needed and simply sharing with someone, he said.
Samanta rose from the depths of poverty and deprivation to achieve phenomenal success as an educationist and a social activist. But he chose to dedicate his life for the uplift of poorest of the poor indigenous community of Odisha and used his success for this noble mission. His two and a half decades of relentless effort to empower the indigenous community through education has brought him several national and international recognitions. He gives credit for all of his accomplishments in life to the Art of Giving.
A garment nank, named Kompassions, was also launched on the occasion. The bank distributed 50,000 used garments among more than 20,000 poor people from 30 slum areas of Bhubaneswar and nearby places. The used garments had been collected from general public in a month-long drive. This would be an ongoing activity of the Kompassions.