LUDHIANA: Channelisation of the energy of the youth is a sure way of bringing about change, which is precisely what the V-Mad Club of the city is doing by making youngsters of 13 to 24 age group engage in eco-friendly activities.
Club members motivated residents of Basant Vihar Colony not to use running water pipes to wash their cars. They have also planned several activities to commemorate "Sikh Environment Day" on March 14.
V-Mad believes in making difference to society by first transforming ourselves.
"V-Mad believes in the philosophy of making difference to society by first transforming ourselves. Earlier, I used to go to colleges to give motivational lectures to final-year students from various streams. However, I was discouraged to see that they did not seem to have a vision towards life and relationships. This frustration laid the foundation of Vmad, which is based on the idea of making youngsters more responsible in all aspects of life," said Baljeet Kaur, 33, director of V-Mad.
Elaborating on the success of the idea, she said the club saw a sharp increase in numbers in a short span of time. "Our numbers grew significantly from 17 to 60 in just a few days of forming the club. We have witnessed significant transformation in the minds of people. Many parents took the initiative to bring their children to be part of our activities," she said.
V-Mad is also working in the field of women's empowerment. Before starting the club, Baljeet, a resident of Pakhowal Road, had worked in the social sector for nearly 12 years. Club volunteers are bubbling over with enthusiasm to make a positive difference.
"We believe in an action-oriented approach and instead of debates and discussions we take the problem head-on. We go to public places, gardens and posh localities in groups and talk to people about problems like littering, air pollution and these days we are working up on saving water. It helps us to tackle the problem effectively and later we also keep a track on people to whom we had talked," said Jipinder Pal Singh, a volunteer and senior official of Vmad.
Harpreet Kaur, another volunteer, said, "Earlier, all roads of Basant Vihar were waterlogged. People used to waste several litres of water washing their cars. But now you can see the difference. People use less than a bucket of water to wash cars."
Frequent visits across the city have popularized Vmad activists, leading to swelling of their ranks. When they saw children doing good work, many mothers also joined the club. The Vmad club was instituted on January 26, 2012. It was initially started on pilot basis with only 17 youngsters.
