Ask the young, they know everything. Ask this bunch, and pat comes the reply, “Be it the teens and or early twenties, youth always finds itself at a crazy crossroad. They are in a dilemma, and to make things more complicated, ‘suffer’ from a very impressionable mind and lot of peer pressure. This is where we jump in and help them explore and develop some amount of individuality and personality.”

Exploration led to ideation, and Youth 360 came up to provide a platform for the young minds in Chandigarh to express and share their views and experiences on everything under the sun. “It started as an experiment, as a medium for expression and contribution towards the society. What followed was a strong organization, aimed at creating a better and aware youth,” Jyotindra fills us in with more info.

Formed in January 2006, Youth 360 is still at a nascent stage. however, it has managed to pull together over 1,300 students and volunteers. It serves as a forum to put forth news and views, discussion on latest issues, and solutions for the youth.

The First Step
“There was no fixed ideology behind Youth 360. We just wanted a medium for free flow of our voices and ideas. Our work emphasizes on bringing about a transformation in the society through youth power,” comments Rohan. But what makes Youth 360 different from various other youth organizations running in the city? According to Saurabh, the distribution head of Youth 360, “The difference lies in the fact that we have each member participating in the decision making and implementation of our events and programmes. Our growth as an individual is directly related with the growth of Youth 360.”

Getting the act right
Youth 360 has organised various social awareness campaigns and community service events on topics related to youth and drug abuse, global warming, violence among youth and women empowerment. It also organises fund raising events like treasure hunts across various city colleges and DJ nights. “We have various committees in charge of the distribution, marketing and promotion of our events. We also set up help desks around city colleges, make use of our website and distribute posters before holding an event. We have tied up with My FM as our publicity partner,” informs Jyotindra. Apart form attending their seminars and presentations held in various departments in the University, you can also log on their website, www.youth360.in. “Our website performs the function of a portal for youth exchange programme. It has information regarding our activities and articles on youth-related issues, blogs and discussion forums, photo albums and classifieds. We also have a provision of buying and selling of books for University students on a 50 per cent discount. There is also a gaming section for our members,” briefs Rituban, technical head of Youth 360.
As for the funding, it comes from the sponsors which include local business houses, educational and media institutions. Says Saurabh, “Earlier we used to pool in finances from our members and contacts, but with the success of our events and promotional campaigns, we have managed to expand the sponsorship base for our events. Also with the launch of our own publication we are on the move.”

How to become a member?
“We organize promotional drives throughout the city colleges and University where we call for students and volunteers to join Youth 360. Meanwhile, we are in the process of developing an online registration process through our website,” says Jyotindra.