BENGALURU: How do you put together something fun, easily accessible and one that wouldn’t require going outdoors, all for providing relief packages to the less privileged? Amith Joseph (21) and his friends have decided to hold a Call of Duty gaming tournament, the proceeds of which will go towards giving rations to those affected by the Covid-19 outbreak. “The pandemic has put life on hold, but we have been looking forward to helping the less fortunate. We realise that we are privileged and that we don’t have to struggle.

We want to try our best to understand what they are going through and help them in whatever way we can,” says Joseph, a second year MBBS student. Their student-run charity volunteer group called The Common Folk comprises students pursuing various degrees, all aged between 19 and 22 years. They are holding the virtual knock-out on Sept. 5.     

Since they are not too familiar with the online gaming space, Joseph and his friends took advice from those who know better. “We needed help to figure out technical details,” he says. Having managed to get one sponsor on board, the tourney also has a prize money of up to `4,000. Participants can register as a team of five or even individually. Each registration costs `500, proceeds of which go towards the relief package. “Once the registrations are done, we will decide who plays against whom. It’s going to be like a knock out,” he says. 

While they have previously raised money through donation drives, Joseph felt that a gaming tournament would create a bigger sense of involvement from participants. “It’s not the same when people just come forward and directly donate cash,” says Joseph. “People have been generous, like a while ago when we approached home bakers and requested them to make donations they enthusiastically came forward. But we wanted to go beyond the conventional while raising funds,” he adds. 

As a budding medical professional, does he feel a greater responsibility towards this cause? “Yes, but we’ve always felt the need to help out. People from all over the country and even outside have been reaching out, wanting to pitch in. We’re together in this pandemic and each of us feels that we have a responsibility to keep each other going,” he says. 

The idea for charity itself started in December 2019 when his two friends, Karan Kamath and Avnish Parekh (who recently graduated from St Joseph’s College of Commerce), were driving around the city, and noticed a lot of people sleeping on the streets in the harsh weather with nothing more than the clothes they had on. That’s when they realised that they were in a position to do more, and got together minded-students who wanted to pitch in. (Visit Instagram handle @thecommonfolkk to register)