It was a gloomy Saturday afternoon. The sky was grey and the dark alto nimbus clouded over the generally green, but then grey city.  Somehow the city, normally buzzing with activity, seemed disconsolate. But one tiny part of Mangalore, the ‘Balika Ashram’ dint seem to be effected by the rains.  In fact the place was bubbling with enthusiasm and fervor. MAD Mangalore was having its first Ice breaking session for this year in ‘Balika Ashram’. The core team members were sitting in the comfy office room, sorting out papers and allotting duties to all of us. Rest of the MAD volunteers came, half wet and with a big smile plastered on their faces. The enthusiasm was infectious. The new volunteers were given instructions ‘It’s simple. Just smile and be nice’.

A recurring and very valid concern is the pathetic quality of education that most children in this country receive, and isn’t that just what we are trying to set right?

The glory of MAD was raised by the teachers of the cause. Spurred by that classic call to contribute, determined to make a difference, when the MAD volunteers stand before their bunch of vibrant kids; they have the power to influence deeply those little inquisitive minds and thus to change their destiny. Now can you let them be naïve? Oh, no.

After two successful recruitment drives, the next logical step was to get the first teacher training programme underway.  On the bright morning of 5th June, 30 new  volunteers from Nagpur arrived at Rashtrabhasha hall,Nagpur – nervous, jittery and all set for their first ever training session,well, the first atleast for most of them.

This week onward, it will begin. Yet again. Friends who call up to make Sunday breakfast plans will get to hear what they have been hearing all through last year. One day in a week, I will wake up with a smile. With no deadlines or work worries running through my mind, I will look forward to being greeted by smiling faces and their mad scramble to be the first one to hug me. I will be told I look beautiful, and it will make me feel good for the rest of the day. I will get to hear tales of fights, scraped knees, distant families – a privileged glimpse into a world very different from mine.

When the Nagpur core team sat down to discuss publicity plans for this year’s recruitment drives, we all unanimously agreed on making the whole thing a lot more interactive and to make the publicity drive totally appealing to the youngsters, making MAD look like the next big thing, which it rightfully is!

MAD Chennai is incredibly excited about and can’t wait to kick off two new programmes from 2010 – 2011. ‘Hey Buddy’ will directly link children between 6 and 8 years of age at Avvai Home’s Children with Kids Central, a Montessori school. Starting this July, these children will come together once a month at the orphanage for activities like gardening, puppetry, storytelling etc.

They say that the difference between a good event and a great one is the difference in the publicity. And that’s what the MAD-HYD PR bunch is committed to. Making HyderaMAD the MADdest group ever!

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