Posts Tagged Society
The Last Day
Posted by Jr. in Volunteer Files... on February 15th, 2009
This Friday was our last class at YMCA…
Unlike every other time I’d gone there, I had no idea how to prepare for it… Preparation for that class had started a week earlier and I still had no idea what to do…
The kids had asked me once before, a really long time back, if I’d be around next year as well, and I had told them that in all probability I wouldn’t be.. I dint want to be asked that question again…
I got on Arjun’s bike and we set off for class.. As we were going, I remembered a day in May.. I was travelling on a Pulsar that day too… With Hijaz, on my way to my first Mad meeting… So much had changed since then…
The class itself was not like any other we had.. The kids were somehow more focused than on other days.. I had took a video to class.. A video that had influenced me a lot,Pink Floyd’s ‘Another Brick in the Wall’, to see what they thought of it..
Amazingly enough, the very same kids who’d always joke around with everything, came up with some really good interpretations of the subject.. In fact, even after we’d moved on from the topic and I’d started off my usual yelling and screaming and making fun of everybody routine, they were still serious, and thinking about what they’d seen…
We then moved on to revising the comparing themes, and strangely enough, nobody complained about anything… A kid called Bipin always complains about everything as long as it has anything to do with learning.. Even he was smiling and trying to participate..
Last half hour, I told the kids they could do whatever they wanted… Some raced for the computers immediately.. But a couple came, sat by me and Arjun and generally talked about stuff…
I think Friday is the day that I realised that my kids weren’t kids anymore.. Somewhere down the line, they’d grown up… And for the past eight or so months, I’d been witness to that growth.. Yes, we had succeeded… We’d changed lives… Mine and theirs, both…
And while I was leaving, I was feeling really down… But not the kids.. They were going to miss classes just as much, but they kept staying stuff like, ‘I’ll see you at the Navy thing.’ and ‘I’ll drop by your place on my way home.’ and stuff like that.. Man, if I were that optimistic, I would’ve been so much better off… 
It was a really good day, and an equally worse one at the time, coz we had to leave..
When we got out of the gates, Arjun had a really long face on him… He didn’t want to wait till next June to come to YMCA again.. And funny thing was, he’s going to be here for another two years.. And, in all probability I’m not going to be..
I’ll miss a lot of things.. I’ll miss laughing with the kids, the Ona Sadya, the Christmas and the One Eyed Santa all that.. I’ll miss ‘the Usuals’ near MEC.. The typing races, the ‘alphabet find’ games… All that !
A week ago, I gave the kids sheets of paper with every volunteers name on it, to write whatever they felt like about us.. To make us feel better, my level 2 kids had tried writing the entire thing in English.. And they only had good things to say about all of us… Until I see them next time, I’ll have to make do with the memories of the past year and those feedbacks, it seems…
It was a good year.. And I’m happy for that..
PS : I’m really bad at photoshop, so pardon me for the attempted collage that you see..
The Rally !!
Posted by Aditi in Volunteer Files... on December 16th, 2008
Kudos! Once again our political “leaders” have been successful in disheartening us.
Forget the empty promises, the cheap polit(r )ics on display, the madness to chair the country……….the latest thing that got to us is the Congress Meet held in the city of Cochin.
I am one among scores of people who work hard all through the day in a bid to make life better. And what I most certainly do not want after a hard days work is a 3 hour wait in a private bus, stuck in a traffic jam just because some of the “leaders” decided to strut around in their political garb ,my family and friends worried sick thanks to drunk party representatives going about stoning and thrashing shops,
My friends stranded mid way without transportation, just so that an excuse of a leader could be escorted home safely….My workmates stuck in buses at 10.30 pm hungry and thirsty not knowing what to do……The whole city going standstill to accommodate this event……
Why weren’t we given prior notice of the change in bus routes? Why weren’t these traffic jams avoided? Are these politicians really that important….clearly the citizens aren’t as important to them…………
We do not expect miracles or blooming of patriotism in your power thirsty minds…..we expect and deserve to live our life freely. Leave us alone. You are not fooling anyone by holding high profile meetings. The mud slinging, the blame games …you have made a complete mockery of the political system in India.The fact is you have failed us time and again…the recent Mumbai terror attacks a case in point. You have proved to us that you can do little to make our lives better….and now we plead to you…do not make it worse!
VOTE FOR YOUNGISTAN
Posted by Jithin C Nedumala in Awards, Volunteer Files... on November 25th, 2008
Foreword:
The following article is written by the “oldest” MAD volunteer..somebody who changed my views on adults..and one of the biggest reasons why MAD no longer has the “below 25” restriction anymore
Archana ma’am is a well experienced teacher in Choice who decided to take up the challenge of pallu small kids head on…she more than anybody else knows that MAD isn’t perfect…she has seen the highs and lows of MAD but never lost faith in us. In fact I often wonder why she trust us youngsters ever so blindly and I guess the answer lies in the following article which she wrote… I have taken the liberty to publish it in our blog without her permission but I believe every one of us have a lot to learn understand and be proud of in this simple article…read on.
VOTE FOR YOUNGISTAN
Say Youngistan and images of brash youth cross the mind – savvy actors, aggressive roadies, uninhibited celebrities, VJs, DJs, RJs (and any other type of jockeys who might have sprung up since yesterday).
Say Youngistan and you have the 40 plus age group roll their eyes in despair at a generation which is prepared to accept public humiliation and violence from sadistic anchors for a fleeting 15 minutes of fame.
Say Youngistan and the 50 plus age group clutch at their prayer beads with renewed vigour, sending up a silent prayer for the day when the Youngistanis take charge of the country.
Say Youngistan and the chances are indeed remote that you will picture young college students working with deep social commitment towards improving the lives of the deprived sections of our society. And yet there are very many young Indians who are passionately and actively involved in social causes. Most of them shoulder on silently while the shrill, young publicity-seekers hog the media headlines, leading many to ponder over when if ever this generation will be ready to lead the country forward.
Perhaps this would have been my dire outlook too had I not had the chance to interact with a Kochi-based youth organization called MAD viz. Make A Difference. This is an organization of young people which works with underprivileged children, trying to secure their future by providing them with quality education. As their acronym suggests, they are an exuberant and slightly irreverent bunch of youngsters who do not take themselves seriously. But the same does not apply to their cause, for which they are willing to make any number of sacrifices. Sometimes they dip into their personal coffers to supplement their shoestring budget and sometimes they forgo little pleasures for the good of the organization. While the entire country was watching the 20-20 cricket finals, the core group of MAD was at a shelter for street kids, setting up computers.
Along the way they have had to deal with volunteer shortage (due to parents who believe this will distract their wards from studies), cynical corporate (who want a rupee worth of publicity for every paise that they contribute) and sneering peers (“what’s your real reason for doing this?”). Yet they carry on gamely, unfazed by it all. They are undaunted by the magnitude of the challenge they have taken on. They believe that they can and will make a difference.
They do where others only talk. They believe where others despair. They rush in where others fear to tread. In their own words “ they will not let what they cannot do interfere with what they can do.”
Finally, there is recognition for the work they have done and continue to do. MAD is among the 12 finalists in Ashoka’s global competition for young social entrepreneurs. They are the only entry from India in the top 12. The winners will be decided on the basis of votes and the voting closes on Nov 11.
While on the threshold of recognition, which will ease their path ahead in innumerable ways, there is an active debate in the organization regarding the ethical aspects of soliciting votes. Some agonise over whether they would deprive a more worthy entry, in case of a win. True test of principles comes in face of temptation and these young people have stood their ground in the circumstances.
I have never voted in any competition before, deterred by the unsavoury aspects of most of them. But this is one for which I will definitely make an exception. There may be other causes more worthy of the award but there is one which I know for sure is. So before Nov 11, I will log onto www.makeadiff.in/blog to Vote for a Youngistan that will do us all proud.
Archana Rao-D’Cruz
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