A sale for a cause

The ‘Angadi’ garage sale organised by Aravind Eye Hospital raised funds for the flood victims of Jammu and Kashmir.

October 16, 2014 06:56 pm | Updated May 23, 2016 07:33 pm IST

Shopping of  a different kind:  Garage sales pave way for recycling and re-using. Photo: Special arrangement

Shopping of a different kind: Garage sales pave way for recycling and re-using. Photo: Special arrangement

Last weekend, a portion of the Aravind Eye Hospital campus wore the enthusiasm of a market. Old used articles taken out from attics of houses were laid out for sales. Every employee of the organisation took effort to put something of theirs on sale and also buy something of others’. The ‘Angadi’ garage sale was an innovative CSR initiative by the hospital to contribute to the Prime Minister’s relief fund for the Jammu and Kashmir flood victims.

“The idea is to ‘share for a cause,” says Dr. Haripriya Aravind, Chief, Intraocular Lens and Cataract Clinic. “Garage sales are a common concept in countries like the U.S. It paves way for recycling and re-using and reduces the tendency to throw away old things.”

Over 1,500 employees of the hospital contributed sparsely used articles from their households. A separate team from the instrumentation department coordinated with the employees, checking the items, repairing and making them useable and saleable.

“This could set a precedent for other corporates,” says Dr. Aravind Srinivasan, Director-Projects, Aravind Eye Care System and Administrator, Aravind Eye Hospital. “Instead of selling off second-hand items on commercial platforms online, one could sell them like this for a good cause.”

Articles ranging from utensils, paintings, artefacts, clothes to old electronic gadgets, bags and accessories were sold at the event.

C.R. Saravanan working at the videography department, said, “I killed two birds with one stone. I shopped for Rs.500, thereby donating for my Kashmiri brethren and my Diwali shopping was half done.”

For many, the sale was more like a treasure hunt, finding quaint old things. A.M. Kausalya who has a penchant for old-worldly items bought an eclectic mix -- a tape-recorder, a tabla and a hand fan. Karthi, a biomedical engineer, bought a beautifully crafted Rajasthani wall-hanging and few paintings at throw-away prices. Beulah Rani, a staff-nurse bagged movie-CDs and audio cassets. “These days, it is difficult to find good video prints of old movies. I spent Rs.600 on them.”

It was a steal-deal for Kalaichelvi, a conservancy worker at the hospital. “I bought saris within Rs.100,” she says. Handbags, purses, kitchen wares and cutleries sold like hot-cakes among the women employees.

Chitra Thulasiraj from the publications wing observed how people weren’t hesitant to pick used-clothes. “The response is surprising. Only in our country, we consider it a stigma to buy used objects,” she says. “Something that you want to throw away can be of use and interest to someone else. That’s the idea behind garage sales.”

The event also featured food stalls and games. Hand-made products such as jute bags, mallipoo strands and photo-postcards made by member doctors of the Aravind hospital’s photography club were up for brisk sales. The day-long garage sale raised Rs. 1,05,000. The management will add an equivalent amount to the donation.

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