Delving deep into Constitution to educate citizens on rights, duties

CHENNAI: Even as we gear up to celebrate the Republic Day with fervour and enthusiasm, a few organisations in the city have announced quizzes and heritage walks to educate Chennaiites about their rights and duties. The events promise to provide fascinating snippets from the past related to the process of drafting the Constitution and the people involved.

Scolympics, which organises a series of events that attempt to give a rich variety of learning opportunities, is presenting its 22nd Republic Day quiz in association with The LatentView. Rajiv Rai and Gopal Kidao, co-founders of Quiz Foundation of India, are the quiz masters for the event co-sponsored by TS Mahalingam and Sons (TMS) Group. Talking to DT Next, Hema Srinivas, co-founder of Scolympics says, “we intend to celebrate our country’s rich history of knowledge through this quiz. This open quiz aims to foster knowledge and allows spending quality time with your cherished circle.” The quiz, open to all, is going to be conducted at the Chinmaya Heritage Centre on Harrington Road, Chetpet, from 2 pm today, she said. Organisers confirmed that spot registration is also available.

In one such similar event to celebrate the Republic Day, The Equals Project and Madras Inherited have come together to conduct a special walk to explore the places, people and events from the Madras Presidency that influenced the process of drafting the Constitution. By conducting the event on the Republic Day, the organisers want to take the story of independent India’s creation beyond the textbooks. The Equals Project is an initiative by Shruthi Viswanathan that looks at the process through which the Indian Consitution was drafted. “Our key goal is to analyse how the debates and ideas behind the Constitution remain relevant even today. We also talk about the constitutional values in a way that common citizens can also relate to it,” states Shruthi. This walk will involve death and assassination attempts and even a love story connected with those who drafted the constitution, she added.

Shruthi feels that it is important for each one of us to know the Consitution because it defines everything we can and cannot do in the country, including our freedom, rights and duties. “Consitution is the foundation of all these. The citizens must engage with the constitutional values and be aware of what is liberty, fraternity, social justice, integrity and similar ones to practice them in our daily lives,” adds the 36-year-old founder. The walk will start from Ranade Library, Mylapore.