360 Degree NGO

The Katha Project

Our friend Chikku invites you to read with her, a story about her learnings and adventures about the world around her.

Since August, the Katha Project has been working on a lovely story written by a young writer, Malavika Manoj. It has been edited and illustrated in the most beautiful way! This story, while being fun and light to read will also teach us something valuable about the world around us, like all books that Katha Project will put out! Go check out the book, ‘A Little More Green’!

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Gift a Story

The Gift A Story project builds libraries that act as creative and learning spaces for deserving schools across the country.

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The Last Straw

The Last Straw Campaign is aimed at fighting plastic pollution by creating awareness and promoting mass action.

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Spread A Smile

The Spread A Smile project was initiated by 360 Degree as a part of its social outreach program.

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"Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty.."

- Gautham Ravindran, Founder

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In 2014, when I formed 360 Degree as a photography group, I never envisioned it to develop into what it is today. It transcended gradually but steadily, from a platform for a few youngsters to showcase their talent to a much bigger platform that has organised community and national level programs such as Model United Nation, Open Mic and much more.

During the stage of inception, 360 Degree was able to organize a few exhibitions from which a substantial amount was raised for charity. This made me think, ‘If five teenagers could do so much, just by following their passion, how much change can be brought to our society if a larger group of the student community came together to work for the betterment of our society!’ This thought is what laid foundation to 360 Degree as we see it today.

“Practice random acts of kindness and senseless acts of beauty”, is a thought that constantly inspires me and this is a philosophy that I imbibe into the working of the organisation through examples of my action. A lot of little acts of kindness can make a big positive change in the world we are living in.

The vision of 360 Degree is simple, it is to bring together as many youngsters as possible, to work on and find solutions to as many social issues as possible. The world we live in needs more positivity in it and that is why ‘360 Degree’.

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Featured

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Flood-affected school library gets a revamp

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Nature does its bit for charity

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Keeping playtime afloat

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.

MISSION

Communities of young minds across the nation, who can work on, and create solutions for local social issues prevalent in our cities. With a bigger network, major social issues that affect the country can be tackled.

VISION

Spread the concept of Volunteerism & Social Entrepreneurship among the student community. Transform them into socially responsible citizens who can contribute and bring about a positive change in our society, in whatever little way they can.

SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR?

Though the term can be defined differently, for us, a social entrepreneur is a person who pursues an innovative idea with the potential to solve a community problem. The most rewarding advantage of being a social entrepreneur is the impact you can have on society and implementing societal change.

#Humans of 360 Degree

My association with 360 Degree began a few months before the devastating floods hit Kerala a couple of years back. I got to know of Gautham who is many years younger to me but is also from the same school. Though I was based in the NCR, I was automatically drawn into their fold, supporting them in all aspects of their work. They have done great work no doubt. Read a story, rennovating school libraries, the last straw are all exceptional and unique projects that have great relevence in the present age. The latest addition to the Last Straw is the initiative to find a sustainable alternative to the use of plastic bags in shops and households. To take all these to their final stage, 360 Degree requires generous patrons. I have over the past couple of years tried and put in my best in every way. Much of this has been through our school network and my limited social network . Lots more needs to be done .Please do not forget that 360 Degree has just got on to the springboard. The strength of each spring has to be reinforced by each one of you in terms of support. My fervent request to each on of you wellwishers of 360 Degree is to keep funds and resources flowing in endlessy. There is also a need to build up a large team of focused , dedicated and long term volunteers who have the fire in their bellies to help them attain their goal. Let us all help 360 Degree to go places.

Wg Cdr NR Kanthy (Retd)

Benefactor

"When I had applied for the internship at 360 Degree, I honestly had no clue as to what they would make me do. I was anxious, if truth be told. But the experience has been very interesting, because it was the first time that I was working with an ngo. I got to do many things, I came to know the basics of how an ngo functions, even got yelled at by a school principal. Sure, I wish there was more I could do but I'm glad that during the short span of time I interned with them, I was able to be a part of the different ventures initiated by 360 Degree. Right from day one, they have been nothing but supportive and warm towards me and I would love to work with them again in the future."

Geethanjali Rajmohan

Intern, Delhi

"I met Gautam through a common forum, and I was hooked hearing about his vision to make a real difference to our society through Social Entrepreneurship. The team at 360 degree displays amazing passion and perseverance to do fantastic work and it is reflective in their actions till date - "Gift A story" campaign being a prime example. I sincerely wish this team the very best, as they continue to help redefine the patterns of social concerns in society, and be the positive change the world desperately needs today."

Abhilash Jayapal

CEO, Terrific Minds
Benefactor

Hey, everyone! My name name is Arnab Chakma. I am from Tripura. I have always been enthusiastic about traveling, photography and experiencing different culture. I came to Thiruvanathpuram, Kerala for my college education and thanks to my enthusiasm and eagerness to experience something different I got the chance to be a part of 360 Degree NGO. I joined them as a volunteer and this was the my first experience of volunteering and it was a great opportunity for me. I learnt new things, got the chance to meet new people and learn from them, the culture. Not being from Kerala, I thought it would be hard for me to volunteer. But 360 Degree made me realise I was wrong. They accepted me cordially and I became a member of their family.
Especially Gautham Ravindran (Gautham Cheta) helped and guided me throughout my entire Volunteering journey with 360 Degree.
This year I completed my graduation and it's time for me to bid adieu to Kerala, but the memories and the time I have spent here will be always remembered. One of the best memories will be the time I spent with my 360 Degree family.
I hope I get more opportunities to come back and work with 360 Degree in the future.

Arnab Chakma

Volunteer, Tripura

"I joined the 360 Degree Internship programme in November 2018. I’ve always wanted to meet like minded people who wanted to make a difference in the world and the internship seemed like the best opportunity to do so.
I still remember going into my first meeting all nervous. This was completely outside my comfort zone. The internship programme was in fact completely out of my comfort zone. But I challenged myself and decided to take on new experiences. My first event with the organisation was an exhibition including a lot of other NGO’s. I started off by making a lot of mistakes, but I got the hang of it after a while. I got the opportunity to talk to volunteers of other NGO’s which was eye opening to say the least. 360 Degree was planning to start a new project in a particular area and I was part of the field visit. I’ve always wanted to be part of something that made an actual difference in society and I believe 360 Degree was the right place to start."

Arjun Shanavaz

Intern, Trivandrum

" 360 Degree NGO happened to me during the second year of my college. And after 6 months with them, I had a truckload of fun and fruitful memories and a bunch of favourite people. The first and foremost thing that comes to mind is the really warm and supportive founder of the organization: Gautham. The effort he puts in at such a young age to run this organization is admirable, indeed.

As a team, my best memory is working for the Back to Books Week, especially the quiz. There were some initial shortcomings during the event. But the team took it up as a challenge and managed it very well. I still remember riding my scooter alongside Maria Chechi amidst a protest. It was chaotically fun. That day taught me a lot about teamwork and crisis management. I adore my days at 360 Degree due to such memories. It helped me to learn about my own strengths and weaknesses and the worth of compassionate people around. "

Karthika PB

Volunteer, Trivandrum

"You know that feeling when there's stuff, that's completely out of your control, going on in your country and its bad, real bad, and you wanna help but you don't know how? I hate that feeling.

Volunteering for 360 Degree got rid of that feeling for me. I was one of the volunteers for the Gift A Story campaign back in mid 2019. It was new for me. I hadn't been involved in any kind of NGO work before. I was pretty nervous, to be honest. But Gautham had a lot more confidence in me than I had in myself. He made sure I got all the help that I needed with my work. Amal and Geethanjali were there to help me. And it only motivated me more. Although, I volunteered for a short amount of time, it felt good to see that my efforts hadn't gone to waste when the NGO finally opened up those two libraries. I hope to work with Gautham and the NGO, and for the people again soon enough."

Mohit Gambhir

Volunteer, Delhi

"I grew up surrounded by books hence I was kind of hesitant when I joined 360 degree ngo because that would mean interaction with others and meeting new people. I started my first day of interning at the NGO with sweaty hands and the inability to speak. I just smiled a lot. I was made a part of “Spread a smile” project, an initiative taken by the NGO to visit orphanages and share even the tiny bit of happiness to them, I was never a fan of kids and the feeling was often mutual. So, I stood beside and watched the kids bonding with Gautham and just smiled but that did not last long, as the kids were too eager to know about my eccentric haircut and my nose ring. I was one among them within no time just laughing and learning how incredible it is to be a kid again. 360 Degree taught me to take a giant leap of faith and that you will find yourself amidst the secrets of the universe, taught me to voice out my opinions for humanity. 360 Degree is indeed the perfect place to start believing. I have grown since that very point and I am truly grateful for getting the opportunity to work with this very loved NGO."

Neha Ann

Intern, Bangalore

I've always admired people who were environmentally conscious. I've always wanted to contribute and help in every way possible. But it wasn't until I started l learning about the various initiatives of 360 Degree from Gautham and brainstorming with him on various topics that I learnt the true depth and gravity of each individual's contribution.
Being associated with 360 Degree has helped me broaden my understanding on a wide range of topics. I've learnt first-hand the pain of a child who's forced to grow up without a library to turn to for escape. I've explored the field of environmental sciences to learn about sustainable growth. In more than a single way, my association with 360 Degree has helped me become more socially-aware and woke. Every project with 360 Degree is a new lesson I can't wait to jump right into !

Adv. Shruthi Sreenivasan

Volunteer, Kochi

'Be the reason someone smiles' has been the philosophy of my life. So everybody I've associated with had this charm in them. I was always drawn to such groups of people. Interestingly when I was in Trivandrum for a project I was introduced to a 360 degree NGO and the group of youngsters who were leading it. These youngsters were all students and they were such talent bombs. Their enthusiasm, their drive to bring change in the society, their love for art, culture , entrepreneurship, development, their excitement to accept new ideas were all infectious. It was all about participation, unity, bonding and vibes that create indefinite resources and mustering all the energy they would conduct beautiful programs bringing smiles in faces. I feel so privileged and glad that I could associate with them for atleast sometime. Even now, on and off I get to be a part of many of their initiatives. My prayers and all positive wishes are there with them always.

Venesa Carmel Hermijil

Volunteer and Benefactor, Kochi