Wikipedia Club Pune The Republic Day Workshop 26th January 2013

Theme/ Agenda: Creating & Editing existing articles on the Indian War Heroes (post Independence) in Marathi, as a homage to them.

The Workshop was carried out successfully on the 64th Republic Day of India. Keeping in mind the theme/ agenda as to pay homage to these great men who gave their lives serving the motherland. The workshop was organized in Pune’s most sought after & leading learning institution Janana Prabodini, with the consent of the principal of the institution Mr. Milind Naik. A seminar hall “Prabodh” and two computer labs were engaged. Volunteers from the institution in coordination with the members of the club assisted and helped for the smooth execution of the workshop.

Volunteer Coordinators from the institution Miss Priyanka Bhalerao & Mr. Hrushikesh Pathak were of great help as they helped with the permissions for the workshop and the bookings of the seminar hall and the computer labs which were needed prior to the workshop and were in constant touch of the Wikipedia Club Pune’s members. We thank them for their enthusiasm and dedication for the same.

The club members on the day of the seminar helped in setting up the venue, giving a very comfortable yet professional outlook to the seminar & seminar venue. The IntroductorySeminar was conducted by Mr. Abhishek Suryawanshi wherein the students were given information regarding Wikimedia & its sister project Wikipedia, precisely concentrating on Marathi Wikipedia. Knowledge about creating and editing the articles was given through a live demonstration over the projector projections. The students enjoyed the presentation which was followed by a very interactive session where Mr. Suryawanshi was able to solve the queries upto the mark.

The attendees specially belonged to student category, besides these the principal himself and many other teaches were present for the same. A very special attendee Mrs. Sulabha Marathe was present who works for the blind and is engaged in recording audios, so that the blind could gain knowledge through audible medium. She is currently on a project wherein the audio recordings of the syllabus is done and is provided to the blind for learning purposes.

After the informative seminar the students with the special attendees were escorted to the respective labs for the creation and edition of the articles. The workshop started with creation of the User Accounts and then creation/editing. We the members of the club were overwhelmed with the response of the budding Wikipedia Editors of the future!

Many articles on martyrs were undertaken the list is as follows: Major Rajesh Singh Adhikari, Cap. Vikram batra, Manoj Kumar Pandey, Ashok Kamte, Constable Tukaram Omble, Hemant Karkare, Lalit Rai etc. The workshop ended with an interactive feedback session where basic queries and complex questions were solved.

Following is the list of the club members and volunteer coordinators Abhishek Suryawanshi, Nikhil Kawale, Sanket Oswal, Abhinav Garule, Laskhy Gontla, Ravati Joshi, Saylai Borade, Niraj Suryawanshi, Priyanka Bhalerao, Hrushikesh Pathak. We appreciate and are very much thankful to the volunteer coordinators and the staff of the Janana Prabodini for the help provided. Also we are thankful to the club members who gave their precious time for the workshop, who helped it become a grand success.

Regards & Thanks, Niraj Suryawanshi http://www.facebook.com/niraj12 8149920120