Sarathi Socio-Cultural Trust
About Us
The name Sarathi is popularly associated with the most vibrant Durga Puja (Durgotsav) in Bangalore. We have been organizing various socio-cultural events in Koramangala, Bangalore for several years. Since 2004, the Durga Puja and Diwali celebrations have been held at the Mangala Kalyana Mantapa, on 80 ft Road, near Forum Mall in Koramangala.
The 5-day cultural extravaganza during Durga Puja, called Sammad, has become an extremely popular and well attended cultural fiesta in Bangalore, featuring events for kids, students, corporates, homemakers - young and old. Both the in-house cultural programs, performed by members, and the glitzy professional events attract equal crowds and applause.
Sarathi Socio-Cultural Trust is a forum of like minded, cosmopolitan, and enthusiastic people who have come together with a vision to create a forum for organizing and enjoying cultural functions centering around some major festivals.
It started with a group of nostalgic Bengalis who wanted to have a feel of Calcutta during the Durga Puja in Bangalore. Starting in 2003, the initial group was subsequently joined by a number of other people from various backgrounds and speaking different languages, but with a shared interest in art and culture.
Sarathi now has grown to a big organization, and was formally registered as a Trust few years ago. It is run professionally by its members, who have volunteered to take up the extra workload for the sake of some fun and entertainment for the innumerable people of Bangalore.
The main events of Sarathi are the Durga Puja and Diwali (Kali Puja) celebrations. The five day long cultural program during Durga Puja has become very popular with the young IT crowd of Bangalore. The events are planned such that everyone has something to enjoy. All days are packed with fun-n-food-n-frolic. If you're not there, you're surely missing something! We would like to extend the invitation to each and every Bangalorean to participate in the celebrations. Do keep checking this site for details of the different events planned this year.
Motto
Our motto is to provide a forum to the people of Bangalore for various social and cultural activities throughout the year.
We believe in a cosmopolitan atmosphere.
We strive to imbibe and nurture strong cultural and intellectual feelings among everyone. With the world moving at such a fast pace and most people not having enough time to spend for any cultural activity, we thought of providing all of them with a much sought after relaxation, that they might be hankering after throughout the year, and a space where they can feel at home, immerse themselves in music, drama, dance and any form of entertainment for the few days during the festivities of Dussehra, Durga Puja and Diwali. In most companies and schools and colleges people generally get a few days of holidays. So why not fill these few days with so much fun and frolic that they all can enrich themselves for the rest of the starved year??
That's it. And that's what we intend to do.
At the same time we also want people to be be aware of their social responsibilities and duties to our country and society. There are many small things that we all can do in our daily life to make our society a much more wonderful place for others, specially for the ones who are not as privileged as most of us. That's why one of our mottos is also to deliver our duties towards social welfare.
We, at Sarathi, have been associated with NGOs like "Seva in Action” (http://sevainaction.org) & "Institute for Youth & Development” (http://iyd.org.in) since our very inception. We have also, from time to time, made one-time or periodic contirbutions towards various initiatives, like upgrading a children school for the police in Koramangala, helping migrant labourers during Covid, helping people impacted by cyclones in West Bengal, etc.
It's our motto, and social responsibility too, to do whatever possible for the welfare of the society. We all understand that the three most important fundamental things that are of utmost importance for any country or society to prosper are education, health care, and infrastructure. We at Sarathi have decided to contribute predominantly towards education and empowerment of people with disabilities.
History
Sarathi Socio Cultural Trust has an interesting history. Sometime in the middle of 2003, Mr. Asis Paul had gone to meet Mr. Shyamal Sen at the latter's printing press to discuss something related to his business. In course of discussion Mr. Paul mentioned to Mr. Sen that he had been organizing Saraswati Puja at Raheja Residency in Koramangala for quite some time. Upon hearing this Mr. Sen casually asked, "Why only Saraswati Puja, can't there be a Durga Puja in Koramangala?"
That was the seed!!
After a few days some twenty odd people met at the Koramangala Club to discuss about the prospect of a Durga Puja in Koramangala. In the same meeting every one gave an assurance of raising about ? 3 lakh among themselves. That was the first fund raising.
In 2003 the Durga Puja was organized in a small Kalyan Mantap near the Koramangala Police Station. The event was quite humble compared to what we'd in 2007. But the enthusiasm of the people was sky high. From 2004 onwards the venue has been always the spacious and centrally located "Mangala Kalyana Mantapa".
Compared to the meagre ? 3 lakh rupees raised in the first meeting in 2003, the funds kept on increasing in successive years. Hence there was a necessity to register the association. In 2006, Sarathi Socio-Cultural Trust was formally registered.
For the past many years we've maintained our accounts very professionally. We conduct financial audits to make sure that the funds and transactions are clean. Since 2006 we've incorporated corporate culture into the organization. We strive to maintain the highest levels of integrity and professionalism in the organization.
Sarathi has now become a very familiar name in Bangalore. Our Durga Puja celebrations is one of the most attended and popular socio-cultural events in Bangalore. It sees participation from a wide range of people spanning across various professions, backgrounds, languages and ages. In 2007 we've got very good media coverage. Our programs were publicized in Radio City, with our Cultural Secretary going live one morning to explain the entire event to the people of Bangalore. Headlines Today & Aajtak have showcased our event in their channels. The newly launched 24 hour channel on real estate, Real Estate TV, did a small program based on our event. Going ahead, every one can expect even more from us!!