Sunday, June 29, 2008

Go Green Workshop's grand success!


We expected fifty children but we got a near HUNDRED! The Go Green Workshop held today at Sanjaynagar went off well and the weather did not play spoilsport either! Kids had a whale of a time painting, answering wild and whacky quiz questions! Added to that some of them roared like lions, walked like elephants and talked to nearby bushes! In the whole process, they learnt many a green fact, from solar energy, global warming, saying no to plastic and planting more trees. Enthused by the response we got we also gave an intro talk on the Art Excel program.

At the end of the day, they each took home a sapling of Lakshmi Taru along with a bag of goodies. The program was sponsored chiefly by the Art of Living volunteers of Sanjaynagar. A few green-minded citizens of Sanjaynagar pitched in for the event.

More pictures are uploaded in this link.

Enjoy the slideshow!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Meet Go Green (GG) Mascot


Hi! Hope to see all you kids around Sanjaynagar, Bangalore to come and participate in the Go Green Workshop that's happening this Sunday, between 9.30 am to 12 noon. You'll see a park near Sandeepani school all colored up with posters, so that's were we'll meet.

There's loads of stuff to do to save our Earth, so let's make a green beginning NOW! Bring along your pencils and paintboxes and don't forget to wear a green attitude as well.

Signed:
GG Mascot

Wednesday, June 25, 2008

Tuesday, June 24, 2008

Go Green Workshop

Life is enthusiasm, Life is Joy, as Guruji says.

Life also comes gift-wrapped in green.

The emerald- green landscape at the ashram

Over the past few months, Bangalore has lost many a grand old tree, with rapid urbanization. How many of us have gasped and sighed as we crossed Sankey road, what with beautiful tree trunks being chopped to make way to road widening?

While there is not much point in saying NO to 'progress' aka corporatization, some of us in Sanjaynagar believe we can make a small difference by saying YES to growing more trees.

Exactly how small is this difference? It is as small as 6-13 year old kids- we believe in igniting young minds as Dr Abdul Kalam often reiterates.

This Sunday (June 29) morning, we are inviting the young 'uns in Sanjaynagar to make a beeline to a park near Sandeepani school and participate in a unique 'GO GREEN WORKSHOP'.Kids will let their colorful imaginations run wild. Painting, quiz for 'treetotallers' and passing the 'ideas' basket to make a green serene Bangalore.

While us Art of Living'ers are the main sponsors (our teacher Komalaji has blessed the idea!), we are getting the buy-in of nearby schools for raising awareness among children. If this pilot project is successful, we plan do this workshop in all parts of Bangalore. The idea is to get nearby corporates to sponsor banners, plantlets and other goodies for kids.

Hope we can get a good turnout this Sunday. Touch Wood!

Thursday, June 12, 2008

A Teddy bear ripped apart



Here's an excerpt taken from: www.childhelp.org

"A thoughtful grandmother gave a very nice, cuddly teddy bear to a member of the Childhelp staff, with instructions to pass it on to a child at a Childhelp facility. A six-year-old girl was selected to receive the gift. A staff member, who is male, asked the girl if she would like to have the teddy bear. Her eyes lit up and an excited smile appeared instantly on her little face. Then, as quickly as the excitement materialized, a cloud of fear passed over her face. Her eyes darted anxiously around the room, silently asking, "What do I have to do to get the bear?" Sensing what was on her mind, the staff member told her that if she liked the bear, she could have it. She didn't have to do anything at all, but just take it. Her eyes turned to another Childhelp staff member she had come to trust. Her eyes asked if it was okay to take the bear. The second staff member nodded, smiling approval. The child reached out and took the bear. "Will I ever have to give it back to you?" she asked. "Never," he answered. The little girl hugged her new friend and ran down the hall to show the other children. She explained to them that she'd never have to give the bear back, no matter what. It was hers "just because" it was hers.. ."

These days, I am shocked at the number of child murder and abuse cases that I am watching in the Indian news channels. The latest is the Arushi murder case- what a terrible tragedy! Another horrendous story is the one that was aired today- a Dalit woman and her daughter stripped naked and paraded on the street. The reason? The mother had spurned advances made by men from 'higher castes'.

When I was a child, I lived for a couple of years in Pune. We had a Telugu couple as neighbors. They had a daughter, but they always had wanted a son. This was reason enough for them to start abusing Prema (name changed). We'd find Prema in school with bruises all over her hands and legs. When asked how she got them, the eight year old would reply that she had fallen down in her house.

One day she came with a discolored triangular burn mark on her arm. As usual, when asked about it, she quietly replied that she had touched a hot iron by mistake. I told my mum about it and in the evening, mum and a few friends visited the couple's house. In the kitchen, mum found a steel ladle which had one end in the shape of a triangle. The lady was using it to turn Rotis (Indian bread) to cook them in the pan. Mum noticed that the shape of Prema's burn mark was the same.

Mum and her friends asked the lady why they were torturing their daughter. She simply shrugged and said that daughters were a curse and they should have had a son.

I really do not know what happened to my friend. But it makes me wonder quite often. If there was the concept of foster homes those days (or if they were popular enough) I am sure Prema would have done better in one (or, would she?). But I can never forget the sheer callousness of Prema's parents.

It is really important to counsel and treat the children, as Childhelp.org is obviously doing. However, we tend to leave the parents alone- but they need counseling too. What's going on in their minds, one wonders.

The saddest part of child abuse by parents is that children are so bonded to the parents that they feel guilty to utter a word about them. And that keeps it all under wraps.

I'm wondering what I can possibly do to make a difference to a child's life. If you are thinking on the same lines, then contact me either by commenting to this blog or by sending mail to : kandula.manjula@gmail.com

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Who am I?


The question has been on my mind ever since I got back from the Blessing course. I'm up in the morning with one and only one goal. I wash my face and sit upright, in meditation. And then the thought keeps surfacing. Who am I? Who am I?

I have been poring over religious texts in search of an answer. Any answer- a quick glimpse of my life. My life's purpose, if you please, God!!

I TALK to Gurudev, tell him everything, and close my eyes in prayer.

I watched sages captured on Youtube! Each time asking myself: Who am I? Who am I?

I look up at the sky and marvel at its vastness. Who am I? I ask, looking up at the Heavens. Any answers?

Browsing my mails today, I noted an interesting mail forwarded by a lovely niece of mine. It was the story about a teacher who passed on a certain message to a student and asked her to pass the same to two others.


The young student did the needful, and told those two to pass on the message to two others. And so the list grew. Until it was the turn of a certain grouchy business executive who got it.


He then decided to pass on the message to his son.


On receiving the message from his dad, the son broke down and confessed that he was so tired of life that he wanted to commit suicide the previous night, after his parents were asleep. But he couldn't get himself to do so. Maybe that was because God wanted him to receive this very special message from his dad.


And thereby a life was saved.

What was this message which changed the course of one lad's life?

It was a simple blue ribbon which read: Who I am makes a difference...