Project Pratibha nurtures rural talent
Here is a mega stage extended by Rotaract District 3192 for government school students, mostly from rural areas near Bengaluru, to showcase their extracurricular talent and hone their skills to succeed in their chosen life path.
Project Pratibha, a 10-year-old talent show, is growing bigger and livelier each year as district Rotaractors pull all stops to make it a grand success each year. “We had the one-day fun fiesta on Feb 1 this year, which attracted 625-plus students from 25 rural schools around the city. We had a day full of cultural events and literary programmes at the Dwaraka Auditorium at the Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences (RUAS) which were thoroughly enjoyed by the participants,” says Sangeetha Prabhu, project secretary. Before 2014, the event was held in a small manner by RAC Presidency College. But after noticing its popularity, the District Rotaract leadership of the then RID 3190 stepped in to make the project a mega event with more resources and publicity.
However, in the last two years (2022–24) they could not hold the much awaited talent show “as we could not get the nod from the government to hold such a marquee event for students in one of our college campuses,” she says. They made up for the missed events, “with a grand show at the RUAS with a line-up of art competitions such as group dance, solo dance and singing, mono acting, stage plays, and literary contests like essay writing, elocution, poster-making and debates.” The one-point focus of Rotaractors is creating a sense of patriotism among students “as nation-building is foremost in our mind.”
Around 250 students were screened by a team of doctors at the general health check-up and oral hygiene camp held on the sidelines of the main event.
Project Pratibha offers a platform for “rural students from Class 5–9 to build character, leadership traits and nurture diverse talent through lively interaction,” says Sangeetha, also director, District Community Services. Having been in Rotaract for three years now, “I enjoy helping children from lower strata of society to upskill themselves and move up in life.”
An IT professional and member of RAC Bangalore Bhuvaneshwari Nagar for three years, she wants to do more service activities being in Rotaract, “before joining a Rotary club in the next 4–5 years or so.”
District Rotaract secretary Rakshith Shetty says local legislators in and around Bengaluru provide material and moral support to Project Pratibha as “we have over 20 cultural shows and games that hone the skills of rural students who rarely get such a huge opportunity that will shape their lives.” A data analyst in an IT company, Shetty, a Rotaractor for five years and from RAC Swarna Bengaluru, has plans to join a Rotary club next year.
