Long awaited!!

This has been in the writing since 2007......n even now when Im posting it.....am still wondering if I really should...But I also dont c a reason y I shudnt:)

TSA trips!!

TSA stands for Technologists for Social Action!! Our office used to visit Missionaries of Charity(MoC) and IGIA on the 2nd Saturday of every month. Today, we visit only MoC....

MoC

MoC is a place for the destitutes...both young n old.....what you see here is the Fag end of Life……You see people who do not fear death and also people who are not afraid to live…..

You meet old people deserted by the ones they love....thrown out of their homes by their children for money.....or just coz they were growing to be burdens to their children....

There is another Ashram in Uttarahalli....Rags took me there once....Same scenes there also....But the Ashram has mentally challenged children n trust me ...it is very difficult to come back from that place without shedding a tear...n anger building up inside u....that keeps u wondering y children do this to parents!!!

What do these ppal expect?....a warm hug or a kind smile or a namaskara or a hege idhira(How r u in Kannada) or a Eppadi irukinge in Tamil….and u can actually see the difference…..It lightens up their day……..

MoC impact.....

I know my father struggled to get to where he is today…….My grandfather passed away when my father was very young…….My grandmother struggled a lot to make ends meet and has kept herself hungry to ensure her children had enough food………My father being one of the younger members of the family had the luxury to complete his studies, something his elder brothers could not do as they had to leave their hometowns, when they were barely 11 to earn. My father started small, had to cut on his expenses, has never had the kind of luxury that I have had in my student days, but he was always sure of one thing, his children would not go through the difficulties he had seen in his life.....

Yes…..yes…My father has done a lot of personal sacrifices and has put up through most of my nonsensical demands when I was much younger…..One such incident….was when my cab driver had to take a different route and I happened to pass by the Barber shop and old memories came flooding back……

I was 12 years old then…. I used to believe that only if a Barber cuts my hair, my hair would grow back faster and thicker…..

So I pester my father one day… to take me to a Barber Shop, not anywhere near my place…as I was not comfortable with the idea of having known friends see me in one.

So, dressed in a frock to look younger as I was pretty tall for my age, also with a lot of people asking me if I was in Middle School when I was in Primary and if I was in High School when I was in Middle School and so on, frock seemed to be the optimum choice. Getting back to my incident…yeah….I managed to comfortably drag my father to the farthest one, that was located 5kms away…..and get the job done….whether the hair grew back fast or stronger …I really don’t remember……but why my father did that, I know now.....

My father, sister n me used to always love going shopping to Comm Street.....there was this 1 time...when I saw a white stuffed toy...k..k...a monkey....but a damn cute one....in one of d shops....n I loved it so much...that all I had to do was to look at it...n then at my father....n I knew I wud get it....But my sister was against me buying it...as it was around 500 bucks...n thought I was too old to be playing with such stuff......But my father told her....that ...she wants it...let her have it....

Our fridge at home...used to always be loaded with chocos...now u know y I hate them:).....coz all my sister n me had to do ...was to take my father to a shop....give a quick glance at the chocolate n then at my father...n v used to get the chocos.....n thats when the fights began :)...coz the chocos were always equally divided between my sister n me.....I used to save mine...till v got the next set...n my sister used to finish hers in no time at all..n eye mine:)

When I get really busy with work, to create a mark for myself, to get that satisfaction that yes, I have done it, there are times when I forget, I have a family. When I don’t even have 5 mins to call them, but all the time in the world to cut their calls. There was this time, when I was working to finish a document and all of a sudden, my extension phone rings. Im still wondering who is calling me, as my colleagues had left to grab some food, when I hear my father’s voice on the other end, asking me if I have taken food and if Im alright...

My manager once told me this that in the race to the top or at your deathbed, the only people who will stand by you is your family……

I love my parents beyond the faintest doubt in the world. But yes, there are times when I take this for granted…. …..But after TSA, I got the feeling that …God…..My family does sooo much for me……What do I give them in return?.....Scold Amma…….if the curry is not to my taste…..Not her problem…U c…..If my father likes the curry….I don’t…….So…..what can poor Amma do?

Sometimes I wonder why is it that she works the way she does……And yes she does it 24x7 365 days in a year…..

IGIA:

When I was small....I used to love playing 2 games.....one was the house game...where in I used to create an imaginary house....I remember having a small set that had cooty cooty vessels n all......the 2nd one was the teacher game.....I even had an attendance register...with names that I liked.....ya ....It had loadsa of Urvashi, Rambha, Menaka..:).....Had a very strong mythological upbringing...heeheehee

IGIA is one school that v share a very special bond with...It was almost like a dream come true...when v got to teach there.....

My office used to visit this school on the 2nd saturday of every month....during one such visit...V met Manjunath who had been teaching in the school for the past couple of years....v called for a meeting of volunteers n d 1st thing he told us was that ...I see a lot of energy in this room..but it wont last....Im sure v wont have a second meeting.....Thats when Pravs n me were determined to prove him wrong....n we did that for d next 3 years...

Our 1st class in IGIA was with Manju showing us how to teach.....Pravs n me were all overwhelmed by the fact that oMG...v r getting to teach....n all...when sudd-suddenly...Manju threw a chalk piece at 1 student and warned him to listen...He was extremely strict with the children......n wud punish them if they played the fool.....n all....

After class, when we asked Manju why he was so stern with them...his reply was "U will learn"....n v did....coz if u r all chatty n paly with the kids there...they take advantage of u...n dont study...so u did have to act a little strict if u had to get them to open their books....

We started spending our weekends there.....that year Pravs n me knew no rest on weekends....we had a team of other volunteers ..Anusha, Krishna, Shilpa, Soumya,Shwetha, Ranjeetha...sooo many of them.....that it was also huge fun going there...

V used to have a blast teaching them Maths, Science n Social Science......U had to start with the basics...they wudnt know if a minus into a minus was a plus....or if plus plus minus was a minus....

I have always lived through dates n events in History:)...n so to this day, my most treasured class was the one where I got to teach them "World War I & II"...

Favs

All the teachers had their favourite students as well..mine was Selva....not coz he always topped...coz he used to always care a lot for his teachers.....he used to drop me off to the bus stand if I was alone.....used to get me to play throw ball in the breaks.....He was also extremely hardworking and attentive in class....

Im not 2 sure...but I think Pravs fav student was Kajan...he was Mr.Smart.....knew how to tackle things from a very practical point of view.....but hated theory.....v had to beg him to study the languages...coz Sir...was only interested in action....n Maths was his fav...

Ranjeetha's fav student was Krishna....a very interesting character....this guy was the unofficial electrician there....he was 1 student who had transformed from a not at all interested student to some1 who showed so much of interest that it shocked us.....

All said n done.....abt my partial teachers.....IGIA had a miracle that year....Only 1 out of 11 students failed their Board exams....n this was in contrast to 1 or 2 passing out of 10 in the past....

I still remember Shilpa calling us n telling us the results.....Pravs n me were shopping n both of us were almost jumping away to glory scaring our fellow n felli shoppers....

N so continued our journey into the next 2 years....we had new volunteers...v spent our weekends discussing about IGIA..if we were unable to go there...V cribbed that they didnt study...v cribbed that they werent serious.....V met Vishnu n Subbu...2 of our most dedicated teachers....they used to visit IGIA n teach the kids there on every other Sat n Sun....prepare test ?...motivate the kids....

We had DJ...who taught permutation n CombHINATION :) with that underlying Hindi accent to the kids:)

We had Shwetha teach the kids Maths....

We had Anusha n Krishna do the Kannada honors....n s....at times...I have also taught them Kannada:)

We had Ahmad, Archana, Aravindan, Bavani n sooo many others do a lot of teaching.....

Special mention to Bavani, Ahmad n Archana....these ppal were not only new to B'lore....But used to travel all the way from BTM layout by buses...not even being able to read the Kannada words on the bus routes.....to teach the kids at IGIA.....

Today....none of us no longer teach ....but Im glad I gotto to do it sometime atleast....U have no idea....I love teaching history.....n I hope v do get back to teaching at some point of time in future....Started off with IGIA in another post....so wont repeat those experiences...other than the fact...that today I miss IGIA a lot....I miss the funtimes v used to have teaching, playing, arguing, fighting, me speaking in broken Tamil..... Pravs, Shila n me losing our tempers n blasting d children if they didnt pay attention in class....Shila was the softest...though.......miss complaining abt them to other volunteers or family....b4 u think this is all v used to do in IGIA....I know there were times when I used to wonder wat v were doing there...if they needed us...or if v needed them.....

V dont work with them anymore.....IGIA started with a dream to make a difference....with an initiative....which treated d volunteers to a learning experience....there were times in IGIA ...when I used to stand there delivering lectures on life..n half d time...I used to tell myself...Cma...practice wat u preach.....in d last 3 years...v have not seen our efforts make d difference it had to....simply coz if u wish to clap...U cant do it with only 1 hand :(

Chrysallis

Started with Christmas parties, then a wonderful programme which had special kids integrated with normal children .....n having such a blast together...imagine having kids...splash their legs in paint...n having to have their footprints imprinted on sheets of paper...or painting each others faces...or teaching d other dance....or songs.....

V continue to work with Chrysallis to arrange for gifts for children located in every other special needs home or remand or orphanages..