Posts Tagged Trivandrum
The Jovial Santa and the Smiling Cherubs…Yes! It’s Christmas Time!
Posted by Rakhi in Party !!!, The Things That Happen..., Volunteer Files... on January 23rd, 2010
“Christmas won’t be Christmas without any presents.” Espousing this opening line of Little Women, we the maddies of Divine Home, Trivandrum decided to celebrate Christmas with the kids inculcating all its nuances; be it the presents or the Santa Claus. To our surprise and joy, the children of playschool “Friends” brought a lot of goodies as Christmas presents for our kids. (Thanks to fellow maddie Anoosha whose aunty owns the playschool.) The gifts varied from a brand-new frock (which went to the cutie pie Kesiya) to coloring books, sketch pens and what not!
After a mad scramble to get the costume of Santa Claus and the cake, we reached Divine Home to be welcomed by the beaming faces of our cherubs:) The excitement and elation that oozed from their faces on seeing us heightened, when we started playing musical chair .With all the spirits of a game they went around the chairs, some of them even dancing to the tune of latest hit song “daddy mummy”! Since it was taking aeons for the Santa Claus to get ready and most of the volunteers were busy helping him, the rest of us had the hectic task of controlling the naughtiest bunch of kids. Most of our kids are very small, K.G. to second standard kids forming the majority and to quote our VP HR Keerthi who’s teaching in another shelter home, “Kids shouldn’t be this small!!!” 
The children scurrying to make it to the musical chair.
YIPEE!! I got my chair! 
Arjun desperately trying to control the kids while Robin cheekily retorts
It was time for the grant entry of the Santa Claus bagged with all the goodies. Our jovial Christmas papa aka Ganesh came hopping in sans the sleigh. The exuberant happiness of the kids on seeing the Christmas father was palpable from the way they all swarmed near him, tugging at his robe, trying to get a handshake and pulling at hisbeard to take the mask off. And yes! He was welcomed with a chorus of jingle bells . But to our dismay Kesiya and Diana, two of the little ones we have there were so scared on seeing Santa that they started crying. Nothing we said pacified them. So finally, our dear Santa Claus had to take the mask off. Pronto! We got their smiling faces back again. The already brightened up faces became even more lit on seeing the yummy cake. Even we the volunteers had a hard time keeping our hands off it and the rest of us had to practically cajole Arjun and Shasta to prevent them from attacking the cake! Luckily, the cake was big enough to feed all and the kids got at least two pieces.
Yummy yummy cake!
The picture speaks for itself
If you thought getting gifts from Santa was easy, then you are wrong! You have to ask Santa a question before you get the gifts. But our kids are way too smart.They all had something to ask Santa, even the unusually quiet ones in class. To actually witness the true joy in the heart of a kid reflected on his face, observe them while he opens his gift-the one face of his that you will never find fading in oblivion. The kids who got puzzles started doing it then and there. Ranjith and Kesiya adorned themselves in their new dresses. The rest of them were excitedly showing their gifts to us. It was certainly a moment to cherish.
The jovial papa
… and his alter-ego!
Christmas celebrations are never complete without the Carole songs and our kids are not far behind in this also. “I like to be a Christmas tree…” they sang in unison along with actions, with a little help from us volunteers (they couldn’t contain the excitement which in turn made them forget the lines in between).
Jingle bells, jingle bells, jingle all the way…
The mad scramble for making this day perfect for the kids finally paid off! Yes! We celebrated Christmas with all its spirits and the kids thoroughly enjoyed it. Usually the kids are extremely sad and at times the younger ones cry when we leave from their home. But it was different that day. They were so happy that day and so contained with excitement that they were busy admiring their gifts when we left them; some of them even didn’t realize that we had left. That day added to those myriad memories that we have spent with our kids.
Our kids – all happy-happy!
P.S.:
Trivandrum MADiac’s Do Some P.T.!
Posted by Melvin in Volunteer Files... on July 3rd, 2009
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
The MAD Ultimatum !!
Posted by Melvin in Volunteer Files... on April 17th, 2009
<<<<THE MOST AWAITED SUMMER BLOCKBUSTER>>>>
Mad KOCHIN in association with TVM pictures presents…
Now in production…
This summer…An all new addition joins the family…
THE MADDIE’S Reloaded (chapter 5)
Cast:Kids around TVM
Story:Melvin Mathew Stephen(Pres)
Script & Dialogue:Vishnu S Menon(VP PR)
Editing:Reiju Ernest(Minute Man)
Screenplay:Ganesh Kumar(VP Placements)
Camera:Aju Sony(Photographer)
Choreography:George Abraham(VP Training)
Special Effects:Arun Joy Andrews(Designer)
Our Bankers:Ashley Joshua Christian(VP Fundraising) &
Maria Franklin Judia(VP Finance)
Produced by:Nivedita Baliga (FOM Co-ordinator)
Directed by:Keerthi Thomas(VP HR)
…………
releasing April 19th….
In centers across TVM….
For reservations and details visit our website – www.makeadiff.in OR join our community- http://www.orkut.co.in/Main#Community.aspx?cmm=59306454
Take a stand….
Make a Difference….
MAD – TRIVANDRUM in the making
Posted by Melvin in Volunteer Files... on April 15th, 2009
A whole lot of vibrant hearts are getting ready to venture into the world of words to empower the future.
Yes, the MAD team of Trivandrum is in its making. The first steps in this path has witnessed triumph.These words are nothing but our satisfaction & gratitude to the Almighty for making our debut general meeting accomplish its motto.
All of us were busy with our classes when the challenge of holding a meeting popped up. Supported by the core team, the preparations were started in right earnest. After the agenda had been prepared, we had to arrange projectors and audio system for the gathering. It was quite a herculean task, as we were with scant resources in the absence of funds.
Hats off to our team which then brought up the idea of dividing the gathering into sub-groups and explaining the concept of MAD with the aid of laptops. Fortunately, we could arrange a few laptops from among ourselves in quick time…
Bingo..!!! the day arrived. Our enthusiastic volunteers arrived. We were not curbed by the boundaries of 4 walls,as many meetings are. As a good start, we all assembled in the open air, feeling the essence and love of nature. The venue, really, was ideal for our meeting.
With a silent prayer, the meeting started off , followed by a talk by the President.. The volunteers were then split into groups and were shown presentations elucidating the concept of MAD. Questions were answered. This was followed by an informal ice-breaking session, in which we went about befriending our fellow ‘mad-mates’ from all corners of the city…
As the meeting wound up,we cud feel the strength of unity among us, amidst all our diversities.Being the youngest MAD in the country, we felt happy and proud that our 1st meeting was a success.
This was the time when we really understood that:
“We’re here to lend a helping hand,
to Make A Difference as we land,
for the cause of a noble stand.”
( PS : I was supposed to put this post a month back.. My apologies… )
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