The art of silence!

Have you come across silence for a whole day in your life?
But, if you feel the 'deafening silence' throughout your life, how would you feel? I mean, if you can't speak or hear anything...
May be we will be fortunate enough to follow Mahatma Gandhi's rules - Hear no evil and speak no evil. But the basic communication we need to do with others will definitely be a little difficult.
Not for Suvedha Ganesh. A class 10 student, Suvedha has turned the time of gossips to productive one.Here is a sample painting she has done.
The colony where she lives (in Perungudi, Chennai), helped her put up a small exhibition of her paintings recently. It's no aristocratic colony, but a lower middle class residential colony. The community hall of the colony was the venue.
A few students caught up with Suvedha after the exhibition and have made a presentation here.

Dream thinkpad!

This should be a dream come true for me!
For a simple call to work on a web project, the kids swamped! The strange part of it was that the call did not mention anything about the project in which the kids would be working! And the mail id did not have any name to address the mails to.
This made me think that the kids are just looking for something exciting to work on.
And yes, they all turned up for the meeting, in a small hall. The technical info kids had just amazed the professional designers. Their needs were very clear. The kids knew what they had to do at the end of the two hour meeting. Ideas started pouring in.
Next day, we got mails in the inbox, with new designs for web page, some content, some write ups, poems and of course some queries.
The logo - busy bee - had a brush in the hand first, then a pen and at the end of the discussions, it threw up all the instruments and started 'thinking'. The busy bee became a thinking bee!
Apt for the name - Log on to www.yocee.in and see for yourself what I am talking about!

Marvaellous musical in Museum Theatre

For over a month I was blogging elsewhere.
It was not just blogging. But an experience, a lot of learning, many nice moments and above all a whole lot of trivia about the city we live in!
My posts here will relate to events and experiences more than a month old, for sometime. I could have very much skipped the old stories. But many of the incidents I came across are really worth sharing.

One such is a Children's musical show at the Museum Theatre, Egmore.
For those who have not been to a show in this marvellous auditorium, any amount of words explaining the experience will not be as real as watching a show live there.
The circular hall echoes from all sides and the audio effect of a music or the dialogues of a drama are different from any other modern halls or auditoriums.

Now, let me tell you about the show.

This is a musical show by C.S.I. St. Thomas English Church Children's Choir of Santhome. The story of Samson. A biblical story which portrays Samson as one of the miraculous children with enormous strength. Unfortunately, his enemies discover the secrets of his strength that it lied in his long hair! He undergoes a lot of humiliation and at last regains his strength and brings down the castle of his enemies with his strength.

Like any other mythological story this one also has many versions and interpretations. I am not going to talk about them. But the Children's choir presented it in a different way. It was really amazing!

The singing lot of about 15 children were arranged on a five step choir platform on one side of the stage. The main portion of the stage was used for a theatre performance. As the kids sang the choir, the story moves on with actions by another set of kids. The set was beautiful. The children sang to the pre recorded music, but with perfection. There was a special child in the front row, fully involved in the show. She sang and keenly watched the acting on the other side.

Choir is one among my favourites. When I called up the contact number, I found it was the Church office number. The manager wanted to know to which prayer group I belonged to. When I said I pray at 'temples', he was surprised. So was I at the auditorium. No one other than my son and I was not a Christian!

It is a story. Musical. And by kids! Any one who likes music, story and kids would love to be present there, especially when the show was in a hall like Museum Theatre. Sadly, we did not find many others.
On our way back, we were discussing how any mythological or historical story, irrespective of religion can be told in different ways that will be liked by kids.
The conductor Anila Manoharan worked closely with the kids, I guess. When she was asked to come on stage, the kids expressed their joy - "Anila Auntiee..."
Congrats kids and Anila!

Teamwork works - Part 2

Day 2 at the training.

Yes, the water was ice-cold. The institute follows the system of solar heaters. The weather was chill and so the water.

Today we were on time for breakfast. Many known faces - teachers who were part of the programme we met the previous day.

Both Kathik and I were looking forward to the other 'unknown' group. We swaped our groups and went to the hall.

Fresh morning, fresh team and all were ready for the games.
Interesting moments - when a team had to agree on some issues, because of a team member being a Physics teacher; a team in which it did not strike for one that there is no oxygen in the moon, two teachers, who could not solve a mathematics puzzle, interestingly both from English department and all of the group laughing at a person lablelled to do so. . .


The open minded teachers were rocking.
The management was supportive.
The senior teachers were seen mingling with the new comers.
All good signs of a group of new generation teachers ready to give education a different dimension.
The student community is in safe hands as of now.

But with the rush for technical degrees all to end up in a typical BPO / IT job, I really wonder where one could find good, dedicated teachers for the future generation kids!


We had to quickly pack up after the lunch to catch the train back to the ever hot city Chennai at 2.40pm.

I spent two useful days, this summer. A nice break for me from the exam-result-exam game at home with my son!

Teamwork works - Part 1

I had been thinking about a professional assignment from EZvidya, till I landed at a heavenly pleasant place called Mangarai, near Coimbatore.

For people from Chennai, 23 degrees at Coimbatore and even chiller weather in Mangarai Village, situated within the reserve forest area is like being in Ladak during summer!


This was not a holiday trip. But a holiday camp for teachers of a school from Tiruppur. This is one of the prestigous schools in the T-shirt town, Tiruppur, we are told.

The place of the camp was a perfect one - The Karl Kubel Institute for Development Education. The well developed institute with library, Internet and canteen facilities apart from the greenery and colourful flowers in the well maintained campus.

We landed at the place early in the morning - I mean myself and Karthik, another trainer from Chennai.

After a night long journey, both of us checked in to our rooms and had a nap till 9.

After freshening up, we went to the canteen for a breakfast. They have strict time table - good for people on diet - and the staff provided three idlis to each of us from the left overs and a cupful of tea.

That made us rush for the lunch on time!

We just spent time shooting pics. The clouds over the hills, the green plants, the building where we stayed and so on...

The workshop was to start at 2, but the team arrived after 3pm.
Probably they enjoyed their trip from Tiruppur to this place, that made their journey a little longer than it usually is.

The team consisted of senior teachers, principal, correspondent, academic supervisor, montessori teachers and the new recruits of the present academic year.

Karthik and I divided the team into two groups and handled sessions individually.

Karthik, being a theatre person, made the session more physical with inputs on body language, voice modulation and the like.

My session was more of games, involving psychological aspects.

The grouping game, an icebreaker, did break the ice. The mathematics teacher could not instantly make out the difference between 3 pairs and 6 legs! The group broke into laughter.

At the end of the session one teacher came out plainly saying that she felt lost when she could not fit into one particular team. But, I should mention that the same teacher said at the end of the session, "I realise that I have to take the initiative to be a part of any group and not wait for invitation to join them." The first step towards success!

After a coffee break, the session went on till 8pm. I could not see a single tiresome face in the team. I should appreciate the team for enthusiastic participation, including the principal and the correspondent. Or should I take some credit for myself for keeping the session lively?

After dinner, we retired to our rooms. It was chill outside. The sound of the wing blowing filled the room though I carefully closed every opening.

I browsed over the feedback from the participants of the day and felt happy. I guess this gave me encouragement to wake up only to bathe in cold water of temperature - 3degree Celsius!

I got my sole painted!

A follow up of last post.

I said that is was not yet another workshop. It was a different experience.

Vasundhara (see pic- the girl in the green outfit) had organised it well.
The atmosphere was cool (yes, air-cinditioned!), the music inside the room was pleasant, the display of shoes painted by Vasundhara, her cousins and friends was inspiring!

She talked about the philosophy of 'Soul Print'. Spiritual. Yet, this young lady had put her heart and soul into what she was doing.
Her scrap book told us about the extensive research she had done on the designs for shoes. She insisted that we did not copy those designs but drew our own designs.

Well, it was fun all through the three hours.

I only wished there were more kids and young people to encourage her.

I have dispalyed the shoes I painted.

Vasundhara is coming back to conduct another workshop in October. After all the need for educating the under previliged requires perseverance.

If you think that you want to do something for this cause and encourage the younger generation to address such issues, just spread words.

That's all.

Not just another summer workshop. . .

Ever since I started listing the activities for kids, I scan the newspapers from a different angle.
I go through the listings, read articles on special workshops and summer camps. I don't even skip the ads.
One such ad in today's Adyar Times, a neighbourhood newspaper sounded different.
'Paint your sole and touch a soul' - a creative workshop. . . contribute towards education for the under previleged' said the ad.
I have heard that Summer Camps and workshops mint money these days. Some good souls host free camps at the most. But this one made me curious.
And this was enough for me to call the organisers.
I called up the mobile phone number. No answer! I had almost given up gathering more details. But then came the return call. A girl started explaining about what is that 'sole printing' all about with a lot of enthusiasm.
"It's painting on a canvass shoe, the theme matching your personality. If you wear them, it will reveal your personality. This shoe will be a designer one and so will be your exclusive possession"
When I wanted to know more if we have to bring the materials and how much is the charge, she introduced herself as Vasundhara and wanted my introduction.
She has the very pleasing manners, I should say.
Vasundhara is a school student, now in Class 12, living in Adyar but studying in Bangalore staying in hostel. This project is for helping a school in the slum close to Kotturpuram.
She says that her friend's mom is involved in a NGO helping this school. On hearing that they are in need of funds, all Vasundhara could do was to think of something useful with her love for arts. Thus born was the workshop.
Here is a teenager, who thinks about the society, the under previleged children and the ways to extend a helping hand.
I appreciate her spirit. Vasundhara is a student, who has taken up arts. Not in the rat race of so called 'professional' streams. But she has the heart. The mind to think of ways.
I would also like to congratulate her parents. Nurturing is more important than seeding.

The workshop is for two days on May 10 and 11 and is open to all. The fee charged is Rs. 600 inclusive of cost of materials. (And she must have foregone one participant's fee for the ad in the newspaper!)

I will be a part of this little girl's mission. Anyone wanting to join me can call Vasundhara at 24490225. And see you at the workshop!

E-school bag!

It was not for watching colourful school bags carried by kids, I stopped over at a school.
I had to wait for getting a document attested by the Principal and I happened to watch school bags of different shapes, sizes, colours, patterns . . .
Many were back-bags and back-breaking bags too! A set of kids were moving in a line led by the class teacher to the ground, where parents were waiting to pick them up. Perhaps Class 6 students!
One among them spotted me and smiled. She was waiting for her mom to arrive. The bag looked very cute. "Nice bag, you have," I said. "Thank you, aunty, but you know, the books become shapeless at the end of the term, with this longish bag. It is hanging out of the back so much that it pulls my shoulders down. A horizontal bag like that is better," she pointed to her classmate's bag.
Now, the other girl became curious and came to us. I said, "she says that your bag is nice and comfortable."
"May be the books are neat and clean, but the breadth of the bag is always bigger than that of our shoulders. I always get hurt while getting in to the school bus." She pointed her fingers to another boy's bag. "The longish one with the straps apart and not from the centre of the bag is good."
The boy disagreed. "Even though I carry only 5 books and 7 notebooks, ("Mom counts the books and notebooks in the morning!") it looks like an astronaut's bag. When I sit in the pillion of my mom's bike, it looks as if three are travelling on the bike."
Observing the conversation, a little girl spoke her heart. "Auntie, bags are all bad. We should bring only one notebook to the school. All the books should be on the satellite!"
"Satellite?"
"Yes, auntie. They should be put on the satellite. Like TV channels, we should skip to the next channel in the next period. A 'remote' should also be there." She smiled at her own idea.
Hey, there she goes! She talked about an electronic revolution innocently.
When we look up to e-mails, do e-shopping, read e-newspapers, why not e-schoolbags?
The idea is wonderful!
Any takers in the blogosphere?

The Mumbai formula

Deepak Ramachandra, Narayan Ellappa and Vinay Sharma. Heard about them? They are proud of themselves as Schumacher, Alonso and Montoya do after Formula One racing!

These three emerged as winners at the 'Dhoom Mache De' Autorickshaw race which was a part of the Mumbai festival concluded recently. The Go Karting track at Hiranandani Gardens, Powai is where the auto drivers took part in the race in a fun, yet professional way.

Each semi-final had four pitstops, very creative ones, like tying lemon and green chillies, eating samosa and water. . .

One of the semi-finals was flagged off by the Regional Transport Officer K. T. Gilani. My friend from Mumbai says, the RTO told the drivers, "We are the ones who gave you a license, justify our faith in you." There was a perfect tie among the three sections, the auto-drivers, RTO and the cops!

There are big banners behind the festival, huge prize money for this race and insurance in tact for the drivers! But what kept this race and other events of Mumbai festival is the involvement by the 'mumbaikars' for the city - 'Amchi Mumbai'(Did this term come into vogue, because of the popular surnames of Maharashtra - Gavas'kar', Tendul'kar', Ambed'kar'. . .??!!)

Wonder if this Mumbai formula could be applied to 'Enga Chennai' and 'Namma Bengaluru'! But the initiative is already on in Chennai - they are celebrating the Madras Day for the past two years