Adharshila

I had been on the path to working for the community since a long time, although i never realized the big urge in me to bring about "change".

After a long process of deliberation on what i wanted to do with the "active citizen" in me and what project i should take up, so that it benefits mine and some of my friends' desire to do something in the field of education, i finally decided that i wanted to take up child education via creative teaching techniques instead of purely curriculum based teaching.

It is unbelievable to see the huge number of opportunities in our country for this. I had imagined it would be difficult to find a foothold on this path. But i was wrong....

I joined Pravah YfD program and soonafter i found myself getting exactly what i wanted. Through Pravah i came to know of many organizations working in different areas of Social Development. After a long and careful process of selection and rejection of centers i wanted to work with, i decided to go with Adharshilain M.P., India. (Adharshila Annual Report: View Here)

My journey towards developing specifics for my project has been great thus far. And now i have embarked on the journey towards executing it. I am raising funds through a few means so that i can use all of the raised money for setting up the learning tools in the villages in Barwani in M.P. and further executing my project.

The video below is a collection of memories of my friend Sameer during his work with Adharshila in 2007-08. I am sure it is going to be great fun and learning at the same time. I hope to learn those innovative teaching techniques too and develop them further into a model that can be applied to our very own educational system. If you think this is a worthy cause please help me raise the funds by donating for the cause.

Thanks a lot for your support. Please provide me your contact details [ your Name and your regular email ID and more information (Ex: Phn. No.) if you wish to provide] as a comment on this post if you wish to donate. This is being done because i wish to share the results of the project with you on its completion.

Spread word to your contacts who may be interested in this project.

Thanks a lot!

(Web Link: http://indranichakraverty.weebly.com/index.html )

The "change" we wish to create is the profit we work to gain !

To receive orders

Was wondering how difficult it may be to work on a colleagues "orders".. or a friend's. Is it just the violation of one's personal perception of what hierarchy one is willing to work in that hurts the ego ? Or is it really justified to think that a particular person cannot make us work on his/her "orders"; be it a friend or colleague? Or maybe.. its plain jealousy arising out of an inferiority complex...

Its difficult to pinpoint, as different people show different signs. But one truth cannot be denied: working on someone's orders is not as demeaning as many seem to think of it. Yes it is difficult to digest at times because of ego, especially when it is your colleague or friend calling the shots on you. However, if we can only practice hard on ignoring the ego and letting it be a learning opportunity for us to become better leaders, the whole problem will get solved eventually.

Work , and when you work, work well, no matter what.

Twins

Many aspects of this whole thing about twins caught my fancy, some of which were even abstract. But then i chose to just name this post "twins" as thats what it is all about.....

This video sparked my research first:

While some say that this is the bestest video they've ever seen, others felt this was an unsettling sight... to watch the quads laugh in such synchronization... I, however, simply felt that i knew very little about "twins". It took me to the wiki article on "Multiple birth". The revelations were fascinating. I even got to know that the Canadian pop/rock band "The Moffatts" included triplets, two identical and one fraternal. I'll share some interesting pictures here:

Fraternal twins at two weeks old.

Fraternal twin sisters taking a nap (L) Identical triplets - sisters (R)

Triplet brothers at graduation.

The Canadian Dionne sisters, seen in this 1947 photograph, were the first quintuplets known to survive infancy.

Quirks of nature - these siblings. Total look-alikes yet mostly widely different in their thoughts, ideas, beliefs, and ways of life....


My research went on to Conjoined Twins (Siamese twins) - twins whose bodies are joined together. Some might think of this as grotesque. But it makes me think of the immense adaptive capability of humans. For example:

Millie and Christine McCoy: (July 11, 1851 - October 8, 1912) ; American conjoined twins who were born into slavery, but later went on to be fluent speakers of five languages and went by the stage names "The Two-Headed Nightingale" and "The Eighth Wonder of the World".

Lori and George Schappell:, born September 18, 1961 in Reading, Pennsylvania. George is a country singer and has designed support equipment for people with physical handicaps, including her own specialized wheelchair and a mobility aid for dogs. Lori acts as George's facilitator. She works in a laundry, arranging her workload around George's singing commitments.

And of course Chang and Eng Bunker (May 11, 1811 – January 17, 1874) the conjoined twin brothers whose condition and birthplace became the basis for the term "Siamese Twins". They married in 1843 and led a life of high character for integrity and fair dealing.

My reading went on to a range of topics and life stories. There have been good and sad stories around conjoined twins born in different parts of the world. Some cases being of the controversial Suleman octuplets, Daisy and Violet Hilton; who were entertainers, Ladan and Laleh Bijani, who were a lot in the media for their decision to undergo separation, Lakshmi Tatama; touted to be a symbol of worship in an Indian village, Mary and Jodie (Wiki: Rose and Grace Attard) whose tragedy is still a subject of international debate, Trishna and Krishna who were successfully separated, ..... the list goes on..................

A small snippet (out of a bit of further research): Many successful conjoined twins' separation operations have been carried out at Guntur, Andhra Pradesh, India, including one in which the twins had to separated at the head...

Thats some research...... OK, off to work now!!

(Note: All research is based on Wiki and other internet articles. All pictures have been taken from wiki)

Never Live in Fear

I realized i live in fear of a lot of things, in-spite of having a largely independent bent of mind. This fear inhibits, among other things, rational thinking. Like fearing others' reactions, especially that of members of my family, to my actions greatly influences my decisions many a times. End result? A potentially useful activity sent directly to its grave.
Doesn't sound fair. But then, SOME fear is actually good. Hmm.... Fine tuning of the Fear Factor needed - i guess..

It's a beautiful and cool day today and an even more beautiful evening is approaching it seems. Reminds me of my stay at IIT kharagpur Campus some years back. Simple and small buildings, evenly painted off white, lush green surroundings, made greener by the constant rain, and cold winds blowing southwest: so appealing (and not to mention; appetizing!) ;)