The-Essayed.

One cant walk...n d other can barely walk!

But together, when u watch them hold hands and walk to d dining area...I know it gave me immense pleasure and joy!!

One is dumb and d other deaf!!

When I walk around the place...even when thr is no one around me..no pals...no inmates of the destitute home...no known faces....Im always glad n thankful tat I made it to this place :)

The inmates of the destitute home come running towards the ppal who go to spend time with them...n their smiling n happy faces... their concern...their love...their prayers...all for U!

"A" striked "B" on her hand just like tat.."C" striked "A" coz "C "thought "A" should be punished and "A" complains to me about "C", coz "A" didnt strike "C' :P

So long...

Before n After

Didnt realize it...until Shila pointed out tat its been quite some time since I blogged...so here Im at it again :)

Went to Tirupathi last August...n quite a trip it was!!..Had been there for my nephew's mundan....something tat was pending for the past 3 years....d chap was very co-operative I must admit...n even blurted out...thank u barber uncle...after his head was clean shaven :)

To d rest of us....who were always used to seeing him with long hair...which had kinda become his style statement...hehehehe...seeing him after the haircut was a lil different..but I guess d chap was pretty relieved after all :)

Bubbles outing to Infosys village :)

17 autistic kids from Bubbles school went on a field trip to Halenijakal village on the outskirts of Bangalore. This time around, I have so much to write,tat I have partitioned them into different sections.

Pratinav:)

Staff:)

How things fell in place:)

How things fell in place :)

I know bragging is bad...but there is no stopping me this time :)

Somaiah, a pal at work had sent me a link abt Infosys village, when I had asked him for suggestions to go to anyplace for a 1-day team outing.

After speaking to Sarbani abt arranging for a trip with the children, v had 2 places in mind. D 1st one had a residential school for underprivileged children ...n while v were hoping tat the kids at Bubbles wud be able to have integration activities with the children thr...they never really got back:(

But d 2nd place, tat is Rural Zing was 2 gud to believe :) I still remember d conversation v had with Pritam, who is the co-ordinator from Infosys Youth Wing. He seemed so positive, he suggested v plant trees with the children, gave us detailed descriptions of the village outing, offered to sponsor the trip and when he suggested v have some activities and fun games organized with the village children[talk abt integration :)] , our joy knew no bounds:) n both Sarbani n me had to pinch ourselves to know tat v werent dreaming!!

Pritam and Vishwa

Pritam and Vishwa[the co-ordinator from the village], helped us a lot in preparing d children for d activities at the village n in ensuring tat everything went smooth n fine...

Vinod and Trees for free

I call Vinod one fine day and tell him abt the tree planting activity being planned with the kids at Bubbles and Vinod, very kindly not only offers to provide us the plants, but also sponsors them :)...V wud have silently thanked him so much ki pucho math :)

On Friday, when v were just wondering how to get d saplings from Koramangala to Bubbles centre, with me sitting in my office in Mysore Road and Sarbani in Basaveshwaranagar..I must tell u this...tat at tat very moment....Jayesh calls me telling me tat he is unwell n wont come to office..Now Jayesh had called d previous day to ask me for suggestions to get a farewell gift for a friend n since he cudnt make it..had called to inform....Now since Jayesh stayed near Koramangala..all I had to do was to tell him abt the situation n even tho he was unwell...he helped us get the saplings to the school :) V had 17 children from d school for the trip and exactly 17 saplings :)

Volunteers

Archana, Kevin and Ramya were volunteering for the 1st time at Bubbles and I can tell u tat it didnt really seem like it at all. They helped d kids with their needs, with d crafts, with the assembly line production of d flags :), serving food....Here, I must mention tat I was a lil hungry n wanted to sit in the 1st round itself, when I asked these 3 guys to join me...all they told me was tat...arrey..if v eat..who will serve the rest!!...I wanted to sink below the ground..but I chose to keep my plate back and join them :)..maybe after years of volunteering ..U get a lil lazy n self-centric n very hungry :)..Im talking only for myself here:)

Bob was in action, the moment he landed in Bubbles. D idea abt d crafts n the flag-making idea were his brain-child...n he was always thr almost everywhr helping us all out :)

Praveena, Shilpa n Harshita....wat can I tell abt them:)...If Aatmaja(a kid from Bubbles school) kept running to Harshitha akka(sister), while I watched with great envy :)...Shilpa tho was all over d place with Vishnu(from Bubbles) n her blah-blah-blahwas to be heard miles n miles away.. n Praveena taking very good care of Shreyas(another kid from the school) ...still remember her running after Sarbani asking for a hand sanatizer to wash Shreyas' hands after d tree planting exercise!

Sarbani tells me tat when ur intentions r right, things will always fall in place...n when they dont..just try questioning d intent behind it :)

Staff :)

Have known Mubin, Daisy Aunty, Sarbani, Kusuma and Leela for years now....It has always been fun working with them and seeing them do amazing work with the kids at Bubbles. Wat drives them is the passion to make a difference. The amount of effort and energy they put into the tasks, their commitment in serving the purpose is noteworthy!!

This time for the trip, gotto meet a few more staff members ...Vidya, Parvathy, Pamela and Pallavi.

V played antakshari in d bus, with Vidya, Mubin, Daisy Aunty and other volunteers on one side and with Parvathy, volunteer trio(Praveena, Shilpa n Me) and Pamela on d other team.

Now Daisy Aunty can sing songs from the 40s till date....huge repository she is...n Praveena will b d only other person in d bus, who can second her songs, making us wonder how Praveena knows them :)

Vidya n Mubin r good, but how much v enjoyed cheating n getting onto their nerves by giving them so many "ha" se starting songs...tat they very quickly ran short of memory of them...giving us an edge....all d time :)

Mubin was d 1st person, who very bravely took Deepthi(a kid at Bubbles) down a flight of stairs with so much confidence n care, it was a path tat v volunteers ourselves were slightly wary of..But thr was no stopping Mubin....she led from d front...cing her do tat..inspired d rest of us to take d stairs..

Its not very easy to work with kids, who have difficulties expressing their problems..but what I gotto c n observe during d trip is tat they know what problems to anticipate.....although the 17 kids who came, had 17 varying issues...they know how to work with each one of them n to put them at ease...

Parvathy was another person who impressed me big time, imagine singing bhajans for antakshari :) ...her enthusiasm towards d activities :) ..or her presence whenever any kid needed help!!

Pamela n Mubin were officially trained on d famous "kollata" dance by the village girls. Next time d kids in Bubbles hold sticks in their hands, u know whr tat came from!!

I still remember Pamela, Vidya n Parvathy giving me those empathizing n encouraging looks, when Pratinav kept running away :)....thank u so much ppal...It really did keep me going or rather running!!!

When v played 3-legged race with the children, I remember Mubin n Kusuma volunteering to have a demo run..as these kids rely a lot on visual aids to help them understand things.

N some1 holding it all together was Sarbani...be it d way she was in control of d situation, planning activities, helping the kids have food, most kids r told ki..."beta ..have food....or else Sarbani will come :)"..n then they quickly finish their food :)She simplifies life so much...tat u c kids do amazing stuff and having fun at it :)...She is one committed woman, who is so passionate about ensuring tat the kids at Bubbles lead independent lives!!

Pratinav:)

I saw him 1st, when he got out of a car, near the bus-stand, holding his mother's hand. The resemblance to his mother was striking!!

After getting the bus to Bubbles autistic centre, I run into Sarbani, who heads the school, who tells me "Cma, did u meet Pratinav? You have to take care of him today"

Pratinav gave me a polite smile, n I was sure, looking into his hazel-brown eyes tat there wasnt a speck of naughtiness in them anywhere:)...as I personally think tat naughty kids help in weight reduction!!

After getting into d bus, I sat next to Pratinav and he cried n cried. B4 u think it had anything to do with me, he was crying asking his mom to join us for the field trip!!

His crying stopped only after Sarbani, opened up a big jar of candies and told d kids ki...only d smiling kids get d candies....once or twice she went close to Pratinav, who was suddenly confused on whether to cry or to eye the candy, and then decided tat since everyone, except him were getting d candies, he put his best tooth forward and gave a lovely smile n turned out to be d last kid to get the candy :)

I knew then tat probably I will scare d hell outta Pratinav, coz I sing loudly n v were playing antakshari n I was in full josh moreover....I got a taste of Pratinav's strong distaste for my singing, when he sat towards my edge of the seat, moving away from his window seat, giving me no place to sit :)

At the village temple, I had to lift Pratinav thrice to make him ring the temple bell...so happy he was doing it...n he was a thin kid...so it made life all tat easier for my fat:)

After tat, when v started our rounds around the village ....started d run of my life :)....Pratinav used to run away from me...Now I like running too...so when he ran..I ran after him...n when I used to catch up with him....he used to run faster....after realizing tat the 20 year age gap would take some catching up....I stopped chasing him :)

But then, all the other volunteers and the staff had their respective kids walking with them hand in hand, except for Cma n Pratinav :)

Pratinav wanted to be the 1st person to reach anyplace v went...Im also a lil like tat, so I kinda understood whr it was all coming from:)

At the village school, Pratinav banged the drum, played passing the ball, chasing the tyre race[though d kids at Bubbles didnt win against d village school children, they did give them a tuff fight], 3-legged race[D village school children were paired with the children from Bubbles n it was so nice to c them encouraging our kids to get to d finish line] and gave his perception of village life with paints and colors!!

Our running continued into the farms, hillocks, infact wherever v went tat day!! D only time he came to me, was when he wanted help during susu-time, not knowing whr to look for it in d village and another time, when he wanted me to help haul him up a tree!!

Wat I did was to put him on a spot on d tree, from whr he cudnt climb down on his own n moved away slightly, while Pratinav sat thr happily ...I was catching up on my rest :)

Both of us planted a peepal sapling in d school and then when v were walking towards d lake, Sarbani had instructed us to hold hands with the kids. Now Pratinav didnt seem to like my hands for some reason, and right in front of me, took a villager, who was also our guide's hand and walked in front of me, turning back once and looking at a poor me, giving me the "C...I took this chap's hand wallah look"...making me feel all defeated in my mission :)

I had my victory only once, when I asked for his hand and he obliged and both of us walked together for 50m..n then it was d usual chase :)

Sarbani had paired Pratinav with me, coz she thot v too have a lot in common. He is an extremely social kid. He was running after the village school children, trying to imitate what they were doing and at times picking up fights with the other kids. Though we kept running all the time, I had soooper fun just doing tat...n cing tat naughty-naughty look in his eyes when he intended to give me d slip.....Who told u tat v cant get our 1st impressions wrong :)

Safar!:2007-Till date

Got into projects, where d work was good n gotto meet amazing ppal. After clubbing 2 routes, our cab rides to office and back were eventful n fun. Gotto explore avenues that were new, as in acting, almost scripting, dancing n even ya..ya...singing:) Trekking was now challenging n fun, n also very scary atleast for me. I complete my treks all d time, coz of some really sweet ppal who lend a helping hand:) On d work front, Priya n Srividya walked into my life, so be it their technical doubts or my fashion advice or my take on things, how they tolerate me I have no idea!!

Also, d time when I had spent close to 4 years in d same seat, with only ppal arnd me changing at regular intervals. Times were riotish in terms of fun, with Deepabh, Mohit, Manju, Deepak n Sowjanya arnd!!

Started believing in a mantra, that life is short n that till we last, we shud make d most of every moment n enjoy wat we do!! Do wat u want to do n if u cant exactly do all d great things U have in mind, time it n plan it out n b optimistic abt getting somewhere with it!!

Be it d Blood Donation Camps or d Green Community Events or d few cultural events or d treks or d trips , most of d pals I made were all Shila's pals n I spent my 5 very good years in office, sharing almost every other moment[happy or sad] with her!

Safar!:2006-2007

This was 1 year that I wont forget!! Went to Singapore twice! Went 4 an awesome trip to M'lore with Shila, Pravs n Prets.

Moved into a project, where work was fun literally!!Discovered d devil in d guy who sat behind me, after our team outing to Wayanad.

This was d time when d teaching activity was going on in full swing n d results were sooper good, with almost all the 10th students, clearing their papers.

My nephew was born n thr was chaos @ home:) ...I was an Aunt ...his Masee...n thr was chaos at work, as we had a very difficult client.

Progressed a lot on d teaching front. It was both a pain n a pleasure to teach:)

My sister, bro-in law, father, mother n my sister's mother -in law helped us pack close to 100+ gifts for needy children.

Safar!-2005-2006

Started working on July 1st, 2005. To disbelievers, as I started off,I was an introvert, extremely soft spoken and almost a loner:)

I was pretty bindass in college, but somehow, even tho I had joined office a month after college was thru, I had left my bindass attitude far behind!!

N then I gotto meet amazing ppal @ work. Ragini was an inspiration n an instant pal. It is amazing how d lady used to go n talk to almost every other person in the entire floor. It hardly mattered if she knew them or not. Initially I thot it felt strange, having a total stranger enquire abt d things u did over d weekend or abt work.

N wat I did, from that point onwards was to simple ape her. Yes, I also started talking to ppal n @ d EOD, I was no longer a loner. I was a happy person, happy to have ppal around me, to talk to, to learn from. Made my closest pal, Murthy that year!!

I had just moved into my new cubicle @ work n d 1st thing which affected me was d absolute silence. Ppal around me hardly ever talked to anybody, not even to themselves:)[I BTW do it all d time]

Meeting Moses at work, changed my life altogether. I learnt d importance of initiation. In more ways than one, making someone else happy was as simple as taking an initiative and committing to it.

I was happy volunteering @ events, meeting up with long lost school pals at various events, teaching and doing all that I wanted.

Cant imagine doing something like this again:)...I actually dropped out from a team outing, as I had committed to volunteer at a Chrysallis event!!

Freaking out on Movies!!

Have watched close to 6 movies atleast in parts, that is. Notable among them being Twilight, Along came a Spider, Benny and Joon, Nim's Island,Dennis D Menace,Princess Diaries, Adam Sandler something, Good Girl, etc....incidentally there was a Good Woman coming at the same time on a different channel!!

I get absorbed easily by d movies. Its like my system automatically shuts off anything external to the sounds of d characters on TV. So, my mother's cries to get things done r unheard of :) or my father's pleas:) to watch his favourite Comedy shows on Mallu channels r also conveniently filtered:)

N I dont buy d commercial breaks either. S Im busy hunting down another channel for another movie.

I have always wondered as to what is it that endears me to watch a movie in d 1st place. Its pretty simple. If d characters r known to me, be it some of my favs Tom Hanks, Moregan Freeman or Denzel Washington, then I invariably jump n watch d movies. Or if d plot seems interesting enuf in say 5 mins, then I know I can watch it till d end. Not that I find d plots in Princess Diaries interesting, but I also end up watching it:)

Paanch Saal!

Ya ya ya ya....Its been 5 long years!! I have lots to write abt d safar. But I have to share with d rest of d universe what my team-mate wrote abt me on this day, hehehe...Im still wondering if he was bribed to write all this:)...Also ppal dont do such stuff every other day...right!

"Sometimes its not the number of years but the number of hears and cheers for those hears, one gets for ones voice which counts....

if that were to be a scoring criteria then this person would get the least score.......

If it is number of clicks on one's blog, I don't know how many of you even know about it:

http://dua-my-world.blogspot.com/2009/12/tripppppyyyy.html

But, when you count the amount of laughs (not smiles) one generates then no yard stick can probably measure it.

Is it very cryptic?........ok let’s break it SEEMA completes her 5 years at office today.......that makes her half-decade in a full-decade company.

She's been a shining star, technically appreciated for her work, a true contributor for cause of special children at "Chrysalis" and "IGIA", most sought after at office to start any forums on cultural, environmental or to hold any kind of team activities.........

@Seema: man congratulations on this feat, it's been fun and de-stressing to have you around."

If u wanna read more:

*Safar!-2005-2006

**Safar!:2006-2007

***Safar!:2007-Till date