Social Service for free?

What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you get to hear the phrase “Social Service”?
Last semester if you had asked me, I would have had responded with some of this -> “I am sorry?”. Uh well, most people would respond to this as donations, NGOs, free services, etc. But I truly feel that times are changing! At least I have a completely new outlook on social service.
Consider this, you do something for a social cause, then you get rewarded for the same! What I am talking about has nothing to do with donations and free stuff. Being an engineer I realized that in my field of expertise there is a huge demand of softwares for many groups of people. For these people things do not work out as good as for the “NORMAL” people.

Before coming to my exact and personal experience, I would like to defend my thoughts in advance so as to make it easier for me to prove the worth of my content. Just the name of this movie will tell the whole story what this article talks about. “TAARE ZAMEEN PAR”, directed and produced by Aamir Khan is a perfect example of commercialization of a social thought. The way Aamir Khan, one of the greatest actor and one of the most inspirational mind in Bollywood, presented his concern for the Dyslexic children, it is a clear indication that if you need to do good for some one, it is not necessary to go the monetary way. Whatever be the field we work in, there is a group of people who may need our support in one way or the other. The contribution can come through your work and it may not be for free after all!

Now coming to my experience as an engineering student, the word “SOCIAL SERVICE” rings the bells in the hearts of examiner once you begin presenting your work. I realized, it was not the difficulty level that justified my project’s worth as a final year project, it was rather the relevance! Innovation and uniqueness were the two qualities that “AUDIO CAPTCHA” has. Once you add a social service factor to it by adding the phrase “to aid VISUALLY IMPAIRED”, it gives you a winning combination even before the demonstration or explanation of the project begins. If you really feel I am boasting about it, I think my achievements with just this topic will inspire you to go ahead with a similar project in near future if you can.

1. 2nd Prize at Technical Poster Presentation, National Student Symposium, IEEE students’ branch, Fervour 2008, Bhartiya VidyaPeeth College of Engineering.
2. Fantastic marks in my own institute for evaluation as final year project.
3. 3rd Prize at University Final Year Project Presentation among IT department, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University.
4. Appreciation Letter from HOD, CSE/IT Department, Maharaja Agrasen Institute of Technology.

I think this evidence is enough to relate the topic with its success rate.

*Kindly note, this article in no ways of interpretations means that you should find such a topic and lure the examiners for prizes, marks and appreciation. This is to encourage your thinking towards people who are mostly forgotten in the society just because they are thought to be INCAPABLE and INCOMPETENT comparing with so called NORMAL people. This kind of view can only be presented by people who have a very narrow minded approach. But this is the ultimate truth of our society.

The point I wish to make is that in a fast and competitive world, if you give a little thought to the needy, trust me there is still room for such thoughts in educational as well as in commercial field. Medicinal R&D is another very good example of the same. The drug for cure of aids is a very noble cause. Hence, the companies going forth to achieve this mission worldwide have received tax holidays and redemptions. Ultimately when the drug is out, it will be sold with profitability factor. So I believe time is back when you need not SACRIFICE your life to serve someone. You can very well do that while getting handsome returns and a lot of appreciation.

** I will be writing more about the details of my project very soon.