Halli Habba - Village Festival

"Halli Habba Festival", which is a village festival, was organized on the special occasion of "Daan Utsav", or "joy of giving week". People from all walks of life are encouraged to do the acts of giving during this week. The Halli Habba festival was organized by the NGO Vidyaranya on the 3rd and 4th of October at Freedom Park, Bangalore. 

At this festival urban folks had the opportunity to experience village traditions of different states. The event focused on rural food, games, art and culture, as well as rural life. All to benefit guests, as well as less fortunate people - truly a win-win- situation! 

Support from expat friends :)

Not only urban locals, especially youth, but also expats had here the opportunity to truly experience Indian rural culture. Even though it is quite easy for us expats to stay in our comfy zones, some paid a visit to the festival. Many of us expats can also afford to help out by buying some fabric etc. In my opinion, there is only good causes to support when it comes to attending these type of events, especially since many beneficiaries most often are the lowest social strata of the community. 

Funds raised from the Halli Habba event will be utilized for infrastructure development of a residential school for the mentally challenged at Mandur. Women and girls were also empowered, as former victims of sex trafficking attended the event and sold handicraft. In addition to this other less fortunate people benefited from the event, such as vulnerable children, disabled people, elderly, marginalized girls and women, amongst others. 

Politicians also paid a visit to the event, and I managed to greet the Minister of Transport. The NGO and event also got a lot of good and well needed media exposure. Below are some of the organisations that Vidyaranya partnered with.

IndiaCares http://icfn.in

Reaching Hands http://www.reachinghand.org