The foundation of Aviva Great Wall of Education was laid in Chennai, on Teacher's Day, by Dr. Kamal Haasan by placing the first book on the wall. Also present at the inaugural ceremony of the book wall were Mr. TR Ramachandran, CEO & MD of Aviva India and Ms. Nirmala Lakshman, Joint Editor of The Hindu.

Speaking at the venue, Dr. Kamal Haasan said, "It is a great thing to see Aviva, a company who believes that Education is Insurance, working towards eradicating illeteracy and spreading education amongst the underprivileged children of India. I am really happy that this initiative has continued for a second year and has been extended beyond the national capital to Kolkata and Chennai."

The Aviva Team gave a roaring start to the Wall by collecting over 5000 books from employees and friends even before the formal launch of the event. They also worked with Thai Sathya Matriculation School and JRK Matriculation School to collect books. The team is reaching out to all partners and customers through email and sms and encouraging them to contribute.

The first day at Chennai was packed with action thanks to the activities that happened at the Wall like storytelling, street play and celebrity visits.

Children at the venue were invited for a magical evening at the Aviva Great Wall of Education by Story trailers, who organized a story telling session and engaged the kids and their parents alike. A story about Draculink, a vampire who sucked inks from the books finishing all the stories from the world, was narrated for the children present at the venue. They made the event even more enjoyable for the children by making them play different roles in a skit and making them enact, sing and dance to stop the evil plans of Draculink.

Evam and Mactrics, a famous theater group based in Chennai, performed a street play on the subject of donating books and how it would help the underprivileged children. The story of the play revolved around Arjun, depicting the various stages of his life including his childhood, the day he clears the 12th Standard and gets the state rank and eventually the day he gets a scholarship in IIT. The reason behind his success, according to the play, was the books he received through donations throughout his life which supported his education.

Benny Dayal and Chinmayi, well known Indian singers also visited the venue to show their support to this noble cause. Speaking about the initiative Benny said, "Books are an essential part of education. Everyone needs to acquire a great amount of knowledge from them. Aviva has done a great job and I am a proud builder of this Great Wall of Education." Appreciating Aviva's efforts towards this cause singer Chinmayi said "I wish all the very best to the children who will be helped by these books and hope they benefit from the donations that people make here. I hope they do great in their lives and build a rewarding career for themselves."

Day 2 at Chennai saw 10,000 books being donated to the Aviva Great Wall of Education by people who personally came to donate books for the underprivileged children.

Celebrities like actor Karthi, singer Hari Charan, Producer Vishnu Vardhan, and Playwright Shee Kumar Varma came to the book wall to show their support to the cause.

People flocked to the book wall to see Karthi donate books to the wall. He appreciated Aviva for supporting the cause and said "I feel blessed to be a part of this cause". He also had a special message for children. “Aviva has given you a golden opportunity. Make the best use of the books. Dream to be big and then go achieve your dream," he said.

Shree Kumar Varma, a famous playwright, donated 39 books to the wall. He said "We are blessed to get education so easily. Let us all share this opportunity for the people who are underprivileged and lets give them a blessing of education."

At the end of the second day, the Aviva Great Wall of Education had 30,000 books.

Third day saw hundreds of people visiting the Aviva Great Wall of Education in Chennai to donate books to the cause of education for the under privileged.

Celebrities like Soniya Aggarwal, Tamil Actress and Crazy Mohan, Comedy Actor, visited the venue to donate books for the underprivileged children and make a contribution to the Aviva Great Wall of Education.

Col. Dr. G. Thiruvasagam, Vice Chancellor, Madras University, who committed that Madras University will donate 75,000 books towards the cause. He said that children are our assets and so are books. He also added that this donation is a gift to himself on his birthday!

He also wrote on the graffiti wall, "Madras University is proud to be a part of this noble project, which is unique and helpful to the needy children of the society".

Jai D Aswani, a multi talented 6 year old child, came with his mother and little brother, to the wall to donate his entire collection of Ben 10 books. The little boy gave a small speech against discrimination and also invited the audience to donate books to the cause of education for under privileged.

By the end of the third day, the Aviva Great Wall of Education had 1,17,000 books.

With each passing day the number of people walking in to donate to the Book Wall is consistently growing. Chennai has proved that education is about sharing, passing on to others what one has learnt. On day 4 of the Aviva Great Wall of Education we saw more than 14,000 books donated by the people walking in to the venue.

Adding to the buoyant spirit at the Book Wall were the stories telling session by Story Trails and skit enacted by Evam, the theatre group.

Book Wall continued to get great support from the different celebrities coming forward to support the cause. There were famous persons coming to the venue to donate books to the Aviva Great Wall of Education, like cricketer Kris Srikkanth, drummer Sivamani, singer Tanvisha, director Vasanth, actor Prasanna, comedy Actor S V Shekhar and Aruna Sairam, an eminent Carnatic music vocalist, who left us with the message, "Each time you gift a thought, a word, an action... you take one step closer to God".

Thanks to the generous contributions made by people from all walks of life, the book donation spirit is getting bigger and stronger. Mahalakshmi Gangadharan's 937 books stood tallest as one of the highest individual donations on Day 4 of the Book Wall. There were many other group donations as well like, The Hindu Library gave 2,000 books and students from Vivekananda College contributed about 500 books to the Book Wall.

End of Day 4 of the Book Wall the generous people of Chennai had helped us achieve a total count of 1,40,300 books donated to the cause of education for the under privileged.

Aviva Great Wall of Education receives phenomenal response from Chennai! The Aviva Great Wall of Education culminated into a book distribution ceremony on its fifth day, 9th September. Mr. Vishal Gupta, Director Marketing Aviva India presented the collected books to the representatives of Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan, Save the Children India and Vidyarambam.

As a part of Aviva’s Street to School program, the books from the Wall will be used to bring thousands of underprivileged children closer to education, within the folds of these organizations. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Vishal Gupta said, "The collected books will go towards building a brighter future for the underprivileged children by helping them into education. We appreciate the patronage of the people of Chennai towards this noble cause."

Also present on the occasion was Mr. N. Ram, Editor in Chief, The Hindu, quoting a message a child had written on the books he had dressed up for donating to Book Wall, that read, "This book is precious to me. Please take care of it.” Mr. N. Ram said, “Education is the key. Seeing the kind of books being donated, I can say that people have given what are most valuable to them,"

Ms. Sudha Ragunathan, famous classical musician, visited the Aviva Great Wall of Education to support the cause. She said, "I request all to donate books after reading and not keep them to the bookshelves. I hope this little Mt. Everest of books that Chennai has help make, will be of benefit to the children."

It was very encouraging to see so many people come forward to donate books to the Book Wall on the final day of the Book Wall!

His Excellency, Shri M.K. Narayanan, Governor of West Bengal, laid the foundation by placing the first book at the Aviva Great Wall of Education, Kolkata. Shri M.K. Narayanan said "Books are the insurance for the underprivileged children" and invited Kolkata to donate more than 2 Lac books and cross the last years record of 1,30,000 set by Delhi. He concluded by saying "Let us all together build this Great Wall of Education".

Speaking on the occasion Mr. TR Ramachandran, CEO & MD, Aviva India said "We envisage a better, stronger, more educated India and for this there is a need to enrich these children who are the building blocks of our country’s future. In line with this thought, the 'Aviva Great Wall of Education' aims to improve the lives of thousands of underprivileged children by helping them into education."

Where last year Delhi saw celebrities like Mehar Bhasin, Ajay Jadeja and Rahul Dev, this year the Aviva Great Wall of Education kicked off seeing 2 bollywood superstars, Mithun Chakraborty and Raima Sen, visit the venue on the very first day of the event. Other prominent guests like, Harsh Neotia and Aveek Sarkar inspired Kolkata to donate books and come forward to make a difference to the lives of underprivileged children.

The books received under this initiative would be distributed to schools whose students belong to disadvantaged and weaker social groups. 35,000 books have been donated through Kolkata schools and people at the venue. A great start to a great cause.

Synopsis of the Overall Days’s event for the Current Happening section:

The second day Book Count has reached to 58,100 books. The day saw donors from all over Kolkata, and we collected over 20,000 books during the day. People like Peter Bless from New York, Emily from England also donated generously with 9 cartons of books. Barry O'Brien, the great quiz master, came to the Aviva Great Wall of Education to donate books to the underprivileged children. He donated three General Knowledge books which is compiled by himself. He also donated the other 3 books which belong to his own children. Barry also had a fun quiz session with the 7th Standard students from Loreto who also came in to donate their books to the Aviva Great Wall of Education. Barry shared his experiences with them of the villages he knows where there is no electricity and how children are eager to study. He also gave a message - "It's an amazing idea! I hope it turns into a great movement! I am aware of various schools in the villages of West Bengal - these books would make a huge difference to the needy children there! More importantly, it will help sensitise our own children - each of us needs to get away from the rat race - and make a difference!"

The prominent singer Babul Supriyo also came to the wall to donate 4 story books in Bengali language. He talked to the audience and the donors present at the venue to make generous book donations towards the walls.

There were others like:

• Ramesh Kumar Ruia, Director of Arena Animation who donated his entire collection of books of 40 years.
• Two old couples donated more than 3 bags of books each. One of them donated entire course books of their daughter from 6th to 12th Standard.
• Bajaji Bangur celebrated his 12th Birthday by coming to the great wall of education and donating his previous years books.
• Friends who collected 350 books from all their peers, and donated to the wall with a promise to come back again with 400 books more.
• A teacher who donated an entire encyclopedia set which belonged to her daughter.
  
  

Crossed 1 Lakh of total Books Donated on the 3rd day of Bookwwall

We now have a total of 100,700 books donated to the cause, with about 40,000 books coming in on the third day of the event. Third day of Aviva Great Wall of Education saw more than 42,000 books added to the Bookwall. We had celebrities like Bertie Da Silva, Sunil Gangopadhyay and Rupa Ganguly who came to donate to Aviva Great Wall of Education.

Sunil Gangopadhyay, the celebrated Indian poet and novelist, came to the Bookwall to donate books to the underprivileged children. Author of well over 200 books, Sunil is a prolific writer who has excelled in different genres but declares poetry to be his "first love". His Nikhilesh and Neera series of poems (some of which have been translated as For You, Neera and Murmur in the Woods) have been extremely popular. He took out time to read the poems by Sukumar Ray to the school students of Baghbazer Multipurpose Girls High School and Balika Siksha Sadan present at the venue. His message to the children was "One book a day, keeps the ignorance away".

Students of Balika Siksha Sadan performed a play named Obak Prithivi. It portrayed the social evils against women and how they are deprived of education. The play gave a message that "if you educate a girl child you educate a family and society as a whole". It stated that it is the woman who has to come out and take the first step towards their own upliftment.

The evening saw Rupa Ganguly, one of the most talented actresses in Kolkata, who is still known for her role in Mahabharata as "Droupradi", also donated books to the Aviva Great Wall of Education. "It is a beautiful and unique concept.I heard about the initiative when I was in Mumbai, and told my editor friends in Kolkata that I would like to be a part of it. It is a small contribution to the society. It is to remind people that we are there for our little friends." Rupa donated four books, out of which one was "Further tales from the Jatakas". She said, "My being here is not important. What is more important is that we all take out 15 minutes from our busy schedules and be a part of the programme."

Bertie Da Silva also visited the venue to donate books for this noble cause, giving a simple message to all present "Give books a chance as books make all the difference." He added he is pleased to see the Wall grow and that he always believed in that Kolkata would whole heartedly support such a noble cause. At the end of the day, thirty members of Aviva family came to wall to donate books to Aviva Great Wall of Education. They also participated in the quizzes and games happening at that time, and left a strong message "Together we stand for the great cause".

It was Kids Day Out on Day 4 at the Aviva Great Wall of Education in Kolkata. The event saw the youngest of children pouring in at the venue in large numbers to donate books for the underprivileged. The Wall even saw children with mental disabilities and other underprivileged children from the NGO, 'Alok Pathshala' come forth and donate books for their counterparts who cannot afford an education. Also, to help people understand how a single book they donate will help thousands get an education, String Strung, a local Kolkata band performed at the venue for the kids leaving a strong message for the Kolkatans telling them to "Have the courage to follow your heart." They even invited the audience to sing "Vande Matram" along with them to bring alive the spirit of a country which believes in extending their support to their underprivileged children.

Even celebrities like Kiran Uttam Ghosh, a Fashion Designer and June Malya, a famous Tollywood Actress came forth to show their support to the cause by donating books to the Aviva Great Wall of Education.

Nabaneeta Dev Sen, one of the most versatile Bengali writers came to the Wall and donated four children books written by her. On being told that Kolkata has collected more number of books than what was collected by Delhi last year, she said, "I am not surprised with the number of books collected at the Wall. People of Kolkata love books, and they are ready to share them with others. I am glad that this has happened and that we have done better than Delhi".

Swastika Mukherjee, a leading Bengali actress, came at the Aviva Great Wall of Education and donated her class V English books. Highlighting the importance of education in a person’s life, she said, “if we are educated in our life, then our future is secured”. Indeed Swastika, Education is insurance.

In a single day, on 4th September, the Wall collected more than 55,000 books from people who personally came in to make a donation at the venue. The day ended with a total book count of more than 1,78,600 books.

Closing Ceremony Kolkata Day 5:

Kolkata not only gifted us with more than 3, 28,000 books but it gave us a hundred thousand times more excitement and energy to do this event again. Education is about sharing and caring- passing on to others what one has learnt. Kolkata on day 5 of the book wall event have given us an overwhelming response. Hundreds of walk-ins and thousands of book donations, book reading, kids, chaos, smiles, a great beginning!

Carry bags, suitcases, duffel bags and cartons full of books, braving both swelter and shower at the five day Book Wall event in Kolkata. "So what if it's raining? This is the last day and we had to give our books," said Anweshan. As we began to pack up the last day Book Wall event at Kolkata, our eyes were misty and our heart was heavy. We didn't want to say adieu to this place and its people. People came with nothing less than two bagful of books.

We met a ten year old kid who has authored a book called Allien Attack on Earth! He donated 100 books of his own book and has a dream that every kid on this earth should be able to 'attack' the alien called 'poverty'.

Celebrities at the Event: We had the privilege of having notable writer and author Nabaneeta Dev Sen. She donated copies of her Chhotoder Golpo Songroho. "I am not surprised at Calcutta's count…. Calcutta is interested in books and in sharing them with others," said the writer. Sumit Agarwal, 19, struggled to climb the City Centre steps but he just had to add his share of books (65 of them) to the wall. "I don't consider my difficulty in walking a problem. So many kids don't have access to education. That is a much greater problem," said the boy with cerebral palsy.

Souhardya Ganguly, a Class IV student, who came to give to the cause of education, got a lot more in return. Just as he parted with his favourite Sherlock Holmes and poetry books, he discovered an unread Enid Blyton Sea of Adventure in the book wall. He promptly picked it up and sat down to read. "I will finish it here," he declared. The spirit that saw M.C. Saha come with 208 primary level books, register them and slip away, even refusing to be photographed. He was there for the cause, not the cameras.

Souhardya Ganguly, a Class IV student, who came to give to the cause of education, got a lot more in return. Just as he parted with his favourite Sherlock Holmes and poetry books, he discovered an unread Enid Blyton Sea of Adventure in the book wall. He promptly picked it up and sat down to read. "I will finish it here," he declared. The spirit that saw M.C. Saha come with 208 primary level books, register them and slip away, even refusing to be photographed. He was there for the cause, not the cameras.

Prasanto Roy, 50, who had no qualms "bargaining for a cause", convincing shops on College Street to sell him scores of primary-level books at a subsidised rate.

It was pouring books as the wall witnessed final-day frenzy. Amit Chaudhuri and Nabaneeta Dev Sen, Swastika Mukherjee, kantha revivalist Shamlu Dudeja, Nilaanjana Chakraborty and Rituparna Sengupta showed up. The curtains were brought down by CU vice-chancellor Suranjan Das