Posts Tagged education
The Smallest Things
Posted by Shahnaz in The Classroom Docs on March 15th, 2009
Its amazing how we take so much for granted in our lives. We at MAD do so much to ensure that our kids get quality education. We prepare the best syllabus for them, we make sure they never miss a class, that they get to attend the best schools by means of scholarship, are able to attend camps, events and so on. And yet there are some things we just cannot anticipate that end up ruining all our plans.
I had a harsh reminder of this last week when I made a quick trip to Valsalya Bhavan. I was visiting to see how the 10th kids had performed in their model exams. There are three kids at Valsalya Bhavan who are sitting for their Boards this year. All three are pretty good at their studies and I was really happy to see that two of them had gotten above average grades in their model exams. I went to meet the third girl in the end because she was our star student and I had hoped that she would have outranked both her friends. She sat in front of me with a blank piece of paper on which I had asked her to write down her grades and she calmly said she had failed everything.
Obviously I thought she was joking and I asked her once more for her grades. She kept repeating that she had failed all her exams. I was beginning to grow frustrated at her lack of seriousness while discussing such an important issue, when her friend walked in and told me that it was true. She had indeed failed all her exams.
I sat there prickling my brain over what I had heard. How could it be? She had been getting really good grades up until her models, she was one of the best students in the orphanage and until a few weeks ago was quite eager to do well in her Boards.
Meanwhile she just sat there smiling at me as if this was a completely trivial matter. Finally, resigned to know why a really good student, such as herself, had failed her exams, I asked her what happened. She said she failed because she decided not to study anymore. I asked her why she took such a decision and she shrugged nonchalantly.
Apparently she woke up one day and decided not to study anymore. When everyone reprimanded her for doing so, the sister included, she said she didn’t want anyone to bother about her future. It was her life and she had decided she was going to waste it away.
I sat there wondering what I could say to a kid who had given up on everything. I did everything I could to explain to her that there would come a time when you would look back at this exact moment and wish you had done things differently. I told her that you can deal with all sorts of pain except that of regret, because you will then have no one to blame but yourself.
Luckily I didn’t have to make a prolonged speech. The sister had an indepth chat with her the other day and had somehow managed to get through to the kid. She promised the sister and me that she would do everything she could to ensure she got good grades. I was still a bit worried, since she hadn’t studied anything for her models and also since her final exams were a week away.
When asked how she was going to catch up her studies, she said she was quite confident she would do well and that she had already revised more than what her friends had. At that moment I felt an awful amount of admiration for the young girl sitting in front of me.
When I started teaching my kids at Valsalya Bhavan I was told that they had some of the most difficult pasts. But I had never stopped to think about the effect it had had on them and the various ways in which it would manifest itself; how the smallest things affected them so deeply. I realized that day that no matter how much we do, we can still only guide them through it all, but it is for them to finally walk that line. Let us hope that God gives them enough strength to do so.
Introducting YMCA : Part 2
Posted by Jr. in Volunteer Files... on March 14th, 2009
I know I was supposed to do this post a couple of weeks back, but just couldn’t get all my Wednesday volunteers together at YMCA before class ended..
After relentless pressure from a certain Lil Man, I’ve decided to do the post anyhow, with what I have, as it would be wrong to end the year without speaking about the people who really make a difference on my beloved Wednesdays.. 
So here goes…
Level 1 : With Skool Boi and the Camyera Man
Real Names : Prakash and Arun Pios
One guy who’s in school and actually doesn’t sound like it, and another guy who’s in college and sounds like he’s still a school kid (sigh)
On Wednesdays Prakash rides with me to YMCA, and I’m quite proud to say I’ve scared him on more than one occasion.. He’s also the only volunteer at YMCA who is younger than some of the kids we teach…
I don’t know what’s with the school kids in Mad !! There are three of them, and at times, it seems they are twenty years older than me.. Anyhow, moving on…
Arun meanwhile is supposedly the best camera man to have graced the shores of Cochin.. (Actually, I just tell him that to convince him to take some pics of me.. Works like a charm every time.. 
)
Took him to Fort Cochin one time, gave him Anu’s camera, and he embarassed us all.. He was jumping and diving around, Matrix style, pretending to take pics.. Yeah, quite a few were pretty good ones too, but still, come on, public venue dude !!! As if I don’t have a reputation to protect !!
I’m especially proud of these two coz, unlike Fridays, where some of the volunteers had to leave in between, these two stuck to it through the year.. And the kids love them too.. In fact we even got a complaint from the warden one time sayiing that the kids were ‘too’ happy after the Wednesday class.. !! (Did Arun promise them he’d take pics of them too perhaps?? )
Level 2 : The Two Mottas
Real Names : Arjun M Nair and Jr (Oh wait, that’s not my real name!!)
The two of us started teaching together from July onwards, and it has been one hell of a blast.. The guy can always handle any sort of situation.. How, is beyond me at times !
Of course, he goes around telling people that my hair is now close cut, to imitate his style.. I’ll have everybody know, that NO, it was just my choice, and NO, it’s not Arjun’s style, it’s just all the hair he’s got left..
I used to think Arjun was a true lawyer in the making, and that he didn’t have feelings (Sorry Niki, Aps and all you other Nuals ppl) but I still remember the last day of class.. He was so upset about leaving, that he brooded around all night until he dropped me back home.. Of course, funny thing is he’s gonna be here for two more years, which made me want to feel like I wanted to kill myself, but hey, what can a guy do eh??.. (Lawyers!!)
Level 2-a : With…. Err… Liz?? :O
I just realised two things :
1 . I don’t have a nickname for Liz (Jake, Jonva, help me out here !! )
2. I don’t have a pic of Liz with her kids either (Arun, for all that jumping around !! Jeez man!! )
But still, she and Sibi have been the greatest help to the tenth standard boys this year.. It was a job she didn’t like doing much, but she did it anyhow, and did a great job I’ve to say… Teaching school syllabus requires a lot of patience, which I knew I didn’t have, but Sibi and Liz pulled it off anyhow.. Cheers to you guys..
Also, during the course of the year, she also had to listen to an accidental blurt out from the One Eyed Santa, that me, Paul and Sibi still laugh about at times.. He he he.. That was fun.. But still, in Liz’s defense, she did try and pretend as if she hadn’t heard anything.. 
(sigh)
So, that’s it !! That’s Wednesdays at YMCA.. Or what used to be, Wednesdays at YMCA..
To compensate for the missing pictures, and in the general spirit of the end of the year, and as a thanks to all my volunteers for making this year so great, I’m uploading the group pic..
That’s what we’ll hang on to till the Farewell at YMCA, and then on to the next year..
PS : Arjun, Karthik and Prakash are missing.. Where did you guys run off to before Christmas anyway !! We’ll take care of the group pic soon.. Can’t forget 2008-09 too soon..
THE way of life
Posted by Jonva in The Classroom Docs, Volunteer Files... on December 7th, 2008
Just a couple of years back, I was a confused, fun-only guy obsessed with friends and music. I had NO clue what so ever what to do with life. Two years down the lane, I’m still all that, but am happy about every bit of me.
Let me categorise the different aspects of MAD life..(YES it IS a way of living as far as a lot of us are concerned):
Monetary:
I have made a profit of like mm..lets say a thousand bucks(1000/-).But I’m obliged to mention that the amount came almost exclusively from Viv’s wallet everytime he paid for my food.. and Riz too..(Thanks you guys…luv ya)
Confidence-wise:
Last summer, at the MAD camp, I walked on a bed that had an alarming amount of RED HOT CHARCOAL. And before I managed to convinced myself to do it ( I mean .. people much bigger than me were chickening out..Ramu, I won’t betray your name, man … EVER!) . I did it anyway. And thinking back, it appears to me as if that firewalk was a summary of how MAD transformed me. I honestly didn’t think i was capable of anything that meant something to other people. Today I’m not only doing that but am having so damn much fun doing it that I hardly ever realize I’m working( i AM??)..
Academics-wise:
I got my first Arrear ( a.k.a Suppli) the last sem. The ONLY reason for that is that I thought it was below me to study Microprocessors. Also Jithin said he’s gonna get me a certificate prior to my placements that KNOCK KNOCK HELLO, I am still to get!
Parents and relatives: Dad n mom weren’t too keen about the whole idea because it would ‘affect my academics’ (there were other very rational justified reasons too ). But I did it anyway. Believe me when I say that I see them beaming lately when they talk about MAD. They ACTUALLY beam..That means a LOT to me personally. Relatives who initially thought that I was a dreamer, are now well-wishers and patrons.
Friends-wise:
My best buds are from MAD.
Teaching-wise:
I was crap at teaching initially. Then came the TTF training, were I realized exactly why I was crap..and also how to uncrap my teaching. It didn’t work any overnight miracles, but today, more than a 100 classroom hours later, I KNOW for fact, that I’m a much better teacher and that now that I have managed to control my class at Pallu for this long, I can control almost any classroom that I might encounter in my life, up to any extent.
Girls-wise:
As awesome as MAD is, it’s not a MAGICAL organization. If girls didn’t like you before you joined MAD, they’ll keep doing that whatever happens . You see, they would have a REASON..though Anoop P Alias would beg to differ I’m sure .
Life-wise:
I learned quite a bit…
1. MAD feels good.
2. You can feel that a group of people so unlike you, who are from a myriad of backgrounds, who study and think differently ( some of who are even rumoured to have different orientations )…. are like family, merely because you work for a common cause.
3. It never hurts to be friends with Jithin Chacko Nedumala. He knows most people-who-matter around India he he..
(and plus , now I know where he hides his house keys. The location is up for sale.. )
MAD forever – Nikhil
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