We are not an NGO, Arun Balakrishnaa, one of the page admins of the Facebook group Coimbatore ONE clarifies. “We are a group of four friends who came together with the aim of connecting the people of Coimbatore through various subjects like fashion, cinema, food, lifestyle and social activities,” Arun Balakrishnaa says.

Coimbatore ONE is a closed group on Facebook that is an initiative of friends Rajkapoor M. A., Arun Balakrishnaa, Febin Pareed Pillai and Shobana Selvan. This Facebook group has been active since September last year.

“With so many groups out there for every specific field, we thought why not have one group for all fields. Thus, the idea is to maximize participation, initiate discussions, create awareness on our non-fields of expertise, and bridge the gap between all the generations of Coimbatore.

Coimbatore ONE allows its members to talk on everything from entertainment, sporting, education, food, photography, fashion, real estate, business, electronics, in this one group on the condition of no anonymity and no vulgarity,” Rajkapoor M.A., says.

Ever since Coimbatore ONE was initiated, the group of friends have been organizing several events with the intention of connecting people of Coimbatore from different walks of life.

One such event is Maison-de-mode. The team of admins of this group visits the Department of Costume and Fashion Design of a city based college week after week. Coimbatore ONE allows select students of the Department to display the apparel that they (the students) have created using a model. Images of the model wearing the apparel that is created by the student are shared on Coimbatore ONE group with a small description about the model and the garment. “This initiative is well received by various colleges in Coimbatore as we are providing a platform for the students to display their creations,” Arun Balakrishnaa said.

Yet another initiative of this group that is a big hit is the birthday celebrations of its members. This Facebook group that has over 11,000 members celebrates birthdays of all its members. The admins of this group invite the group members who are celebrating their birthdays during a particular month to their office and a cake is cut. We are told that members who do not have their birthdays in that month also join in to celebrate and networking takes place.

This group also collected and sent relief materials to the flood hit regions in the state. During festivals like Diwali, Christmas and New Year the admins, along with members of this group, visits orphanages and homes for the aged in the city. During their visit they distribute clothes among other essentials to the inmates of the homes.