Trivandrum MADiac’s Do Some P.T.!
Ever heard of Nikunjam Apartments?
No? Well, I hadn’t either, that is up until recently. This building houses residential flats at Convent Road, Vanchiyoor, Trivandrum. It stands off a rather bumpy road lined by tall shady trees so that if you look up, instead of the sky, you’ll see a green canopy. (just in case you were wondering, I’m not a real estate broker) So folks, you might be just a tad curious as to why you should be interested in a non-descript building that you very unlikely ever to visit.
Well, you wouldn’t be…not unless you belong to the sub-species of Homo sapiens sapiens that are commonly known as ‘MADdies’ a.k.a. ‘MADsters’ a.k.a ‘MADiacs’. Nikunjam Apartments is going to go down in MADstry as the place where the foundations for M.A.D. Trivandrum were tentatively laid in Feb ’09.
A second MADstoric event took place in the courtyard of this building on 21 June ’09. Our first Process Training was conducted and was attended by the following V.I.Ps : Melvin (our oh-so-fearless leader and President) and some of the V.Ps including Ganesh (placements), George (PT), Maria(finance) and Keerthi (HR). It was also attended by the following V.V.I.Ps (who are trying to be the rock upon which M.A.D Tvm will be founded so that when rivers rise and fierce winds blow, MAD Tvm will remain standing): Sebin, Jackson, Lipin, Remitha, Lekshmi, Spoorti, Meghna, Nayanthara, Anusha, Radha Aunty, Praseetha Aunty and of course, yours truly, namely, Aparna, whom Vishnu (our VP for PR) has kindly permitted (cough delegated cough) to blog about the P.T. using mel’s account.
Anyway, since we were due to start at 10:00 a.m., we began sharply at 10:30 a.m. The training was conducted by George Abraham, our VP for Training and invigilation. By the way, it will be George and Jackson who will be making that arduous journey to Chennai for Teacher Training and then, they will impart the wisdom to the rest of us.
So where was I? Oh yes… George got his laptop fixed up and started off by congratulating us on making it into this ‘largest but most choosy youth volunteer network’. Then he dove headlong into explaining about PORs (Positions of Responsibility- National, City, Placements, English), typical M.A.D working schedules, credit system, roles and responsibilities of the interns, volunteers, buffer volunteers, teachers, mentors, batch heads, centre heads and a bunch of other heads… I confess, I emerged out of the whole thing with my head slightly reeling. But no worries. We established the basics:
a) the children are PRIORITY NO. 1
b) NEVER miss a class
c) ALWAYS maintain a minimum of 3 credits
d) DON’T FORGET to give your feedback
After all this, we were divided into two batches according to the homes we were assigned. Since we need to walk before we run and talk before we sing, we’re starting small with two homes : Divine Childrens Home, Poojapura and the Girls home at Nalanchira.
We then parted ways (no, there were no waving hankies or teary eyes)
and headed in excitement to meet the children whose futures lay in our hands.
And what were those visits like? Well, you’ll get the gist if you just visit our orkut community. 
“Mighty things from small beginnings grow”- John Dryden
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