Rice Bucket Challenge

As an Indian, before I make a point I am compelled to tell a story. Better be it from Mahabharata the greatest epic from my country. Okay, here it is… the story is about who is more generous among the two brothers, Arjuna and Karna. And the judge is none other than Lord Krishna.

Arjuna once asked Krishna while walking on the seashore close to sunset time, "Krishna, giving away things is pretty easy, why is Karna referred to as ‘Daana Karna’ (The charitable one)? Anyone can do that. I can do that too". Hearing this Krishna converted the sand dunes on the seashore to gold and asked Arjuna to distribute  all the gold dunes before sunset. Arjuna took a big pan and started distributing the gold to poor. As sun was setting he was exhausted, and he couldn't finish distributing all the gold, there was too much to give and too little time. He understood that there is no way he can finish giving away all that gold on the seashore by dusk and look helplessly at Krishna.  Now Krishna calls Karna and asks him to help him distribute the gold to the poor. Karna stands there and points to  gold dunes to each person waiting for alms and says "This one is yours, that one is yours..." and he distributes all the gold in no time.

Manju Latha Kalanidhi, founder of Rice Bucket Challenge

The moral of the story as my mother says is ‘Charity is easy, but not when you try to hog the limelight. Same goes with starting a revolution to trigger a positive change. You need not be the front runner all the time. A good leader always delegates’.

When I first heard about #IceBucketChallenge, for the first time in 2014, I smirked and thought it was an absolutely foolish idea to waste so much water, especially when you know that several people are dying of thirst. Some of my wise friends too shared the same notion and yet diplomatically donated money for the cause instead of wasting water. There were others who ended up saving a hundred bucks and wasting a bucket full of water. Then a few weeks later I heard about the #RiceBucketChallenge and quickly concluded that why would anyone want to pour a bucket full of rice grains on them. I was wrong.

That was the time I was recovering from the ridiculous outcome of Indian elections, where people of India were giving the winning politicians a milk bath and worshipping them as Gods months after the results. Yeah, that is true. We Indians do indulge in such crazy antics to show our love and dedication to real life idols, who are mostly politicians or film stars. We do this in full awareness of the fact that half of our nation’s children are malnourished. In India hero worship won't go away in days, it takes months sometimes years altogether and we work very hard to stay in such comatose state. I will reserve my thoughts on Indian hypocrisy for later.  For now let us stay with my twisted perception about Rice Bucket Challenge.  I smirked more without even bothering to read what it is all about and forgot about it.  I was terribly wrong.

A few months later I was attending a workshop for journalists organized by United States consulate and happened to meet Manju Latha Kalanidhi, who was my fellow participant and the innovator of the Rice Bucket Challenge. That’s when I started following her work on social media to see the massive change she triggered by adding one additional letter “R” to the much talked about Ice Bucket Challenge. I couldn’t help appreciating her wisdom. She calls it a Desi Challenge for Desi Needs. Asks everyone to cook or buy one bucket of Rice / Biryani and feed the needy and then tag #RiceBucketChallenge and challenge your friends.

Rice Bucket Challenge kicked off in Philippines

I followed the Rice Bucket Challenge campaign closely and critically to see how she shared details. The critic in me always questioned ‘what is in it for her?’ I saw a lot of people irrespective of their social standing taking up the challenge, donating rice to the needy and posting pictures on Facebook with the  hashtag Rice Bucket Challenge. Manju Latha is no where seen in those pictures. Total strangers from all across the world started donating rice to the needy. Manju as I fondly call her now,  created the joy of giving and sharing in people.  Rice Bucket Challenge reached South Asian countries and is still spreading to other continents as well.

As I recall the story of Karna who lived up to his title ‘The charitable one’, by showing off their prowess in donating gold dunes in a jiffy, I could draw similarities with the campaign Manju has created which now I appreciate whole heartedly and apologise for snubbing the idea when I heard about it first.  And am so glad that my perception about the campaign was wrong.  Manju is a true leader who did not care to be the frontrunner of the impressive campaign and yet leading it in her own way by creating more leaders every day. Thank you Manju for starting the Rice Bucket Challenge. You are my hero. 

Devil's Advocate

Do we need one? My answer would always be YES.

But why? Like we are not surrounded by enough sceptics. We have the entire world are already discouraging us and stopping us when we want to do something. Forget whether it is good or bad. If you are on social media, you will find a bunch of people telling you why your idea sucks, that someone they knew did it already and some might even go a step further and tell you and prophesize about your idea predicting all the possible negative outcomes of it, putting you off totally.  It is time to acknowledge the fact that everyone has got an opinion.

Oh, the social media? Yes, it full of these armchair activists who don’t do much but have an opinion about everything. The doers in this group of online activists account to a small percentage. And in that small percentage, someone doing worthwhile for a cause that offers some value to the society are minuscule. Now if you sift a bit more among such valuable doers someone with common sense and tolerance are even less. So, why care about what they say? I am not suggesting that you should pay attention to garbage and trolls.

My answer is still YES, we need them. For one reason, if you have an idea and want to test it, you will instantly know how seriously people are going to take it. When you overlook the idle banter on the social media (never engage in it, it is often time consuming), occasionally you might find some valid resistance. And if you can find a way to iron that out, my friend you do have a winner.
Reminds me of my first boss who said at the beginning of a major project we were planning to do ‘Convince the Devil’s advocate in our team and you can sell this to anyone”. We were developing an online travel reservation system then for middle east market. That was atleast a decade and a half ago. But that statement still holds value.

Ok for instance let us leave the social media out and talk about real world situation. It happens within families and friends too. But most of the resistances we face with families are about trivial things like when you wanted to get that punk haircut or get that cool tattoo. Rest of the time, you can count on them. You need that encouragement and support to go further (not about that tattoo), but for something that makes you feel really happy like starting your own business, or taking a job across the oceans or quitting a job and settling for a more fulfilling and less paying one.

Having said that, these people are the ones who really know you, inside out. They know what makes you happy and what makes you sad. Instead of constantly patronizing you, would you be okay if they give you their rational thought and force you to think otherwise? I am not talking about straight ‘No, you cannot do it. It is a bad idea’ kind of resistance, but something that engages a discussion about pros and cons and mostly cons. Now that challenges your mind to think in a different direction and even fine tune your thoughts about your idea, and improvise on it. Because family and friends more often than not, essentially care for you and are concerned about your overall well being. They won’t stop being your family, and switch loyalties based on how much bank balance you have or the credit rating your bank gives you. People who care for you, just care for your happiness. Just that.

So the resistance they exhibit when they talk you out of an idea, is totally valid, no matter how sensitive or hurt you are by their remarks.This resistance may not be sugar coated or dipped in honey. It may sound harsh and often very delivered straight to the point. Just because they don’t sweet talk to you, doesn't mean that you are wrong and they are right or vice versa.  If you take the emotion out of the equation, it will all make much better sense. The idea is to do what suits you best and what makes you happier at the end of the day.

But then, it won’t hurt, when you soak up the words and the actions of your family members, listen to them and apply your mind and think rationally, engage in discussion and then take a decision. Now when it comes to family and close friends, emotions do overtake sometimes. But when you look beyond the obvious, there could be a valid reason for those emotions. Be it anger, frustration, concern etc., or all of them together. It is up to you to decide how deep you want to see beneath those emotions.

Your own wisdom will guide you to see beyond the façade of these emotions and realize the value of the opinion your loved has to offer. It is ultimately your choice to whether to take them seriously, discuss the idea or issue in hand or just brush it off. It is your choice to convince the Devil’s advocate and reason with him or her. A discussion and brain storming session always works, even when you have a difference of opinion. But don’t let that difference of opinion affect the rationality in you to fail to recognize the possible virtues and vices of the outcome. Often this member of the family or friend do not patronize your idea. If your gut says “Oh, she is going to hate this”, it means you should tell her first.  And that is exactly the reason why you should listen to that person to test the validity of your idea.

Having said that, you may sometimes we encounter vague answers or opinions, which makes it difficult for you to engage in a discussion. Some may even think a bit more selfishly how your idea is going to affect them personally. It is important to recognize this aspect too and that is when you will be using your head. The best part is not to get sucked into someone else’s thought process and agreeing with them or opposing them totally because you conditioned yourself to do so. The idea is about retaining your sanity and ability to think what is best for you.

Always, appreciate that person when they compel you to think otherwise. This goes beyond Steve Jobs famous quote about misfits. But then the classic question is (which is very valid) ‘How can you tell that this person family or friend is just being opinionated and is so full of it?’. The answer to that, my friend is simple.

"The ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do"

See how happy they are with their own lives. See what they do, how they do. These are the people who are enjoying their life to the fullest and you find them often smiling. They are the ones Steve Jobs was talking about, even if they don’t run a billion dollar business or lead the entire humanity to enlightenment. See how they do little things with love. You will know. And these are the very people who will love you, no matter what your credit rating is or what you do eventually whether you agree with them or not. Because they compel you to think beyond the obvious.  They drive you crazy by asking you to go against the odds. They try to push you out of your comfort zone. They have the courage to tell you the truth. They are bold enough to tell you when you mess up without worrying about the repercussions. If you have atleast one such person in your family or friends you are very fortunate. They are the ones you need to hang on to. 

A trip to Varanasi

A long time ago when we did not have modern transportation or railways in India, people used to travel from place to place by foot. A group of pilgrims from a small village in south started off to Varanasi by foot. They stopped enroute to cook and eat their meals, rest for a while in Serais and continue their journey.

During their journey they were travelling through a forest, when the weather did not permit them to go any further. It was raining heavily and they all agreed, that they have to stop and look for some kind of shelter to spend the night before continuing their journey in the morning. It was dark in the forest and all they could find was an old abandoned and rather dilapidated temple, with the aid of lightning in the pouring rain. They all took shelter in the temple premises.

After resting for a while, the weather grew worse with more lightning and everyone sensed that there could be thunderbolt that could strike the temple killing them all in one go. Everyone was very scared and started praying but could not think of any solution or an alternative to escape from the impending disaster, apart from spending the night and risking their lives by staying in the temple. One moment it appeared that the thunder would strike, and the next second it stopped building the tension in the pilgrims’ minds. Nature was playing hide and seek scaring the wits of the pilgrims.

One of the pilgrims was a prominent astrologer, who sensed the confusion and thought he could make himself feel important, so he seized the occasion. As they all were his fellow villagers he quickly took advantage of the fact that he chose the auspicious time and date of the journey and calculated the obstacles enroute, went on to make an announcement.

The astrologer proclaimed his knowledge and said that the thunderbolt would strike on only one person whose lifespan is coming to an end. He added that this ill-fated pilgrim, whoever it was should not risk the lives of the rest of the pilgrims. So, instead of putting everyone’s life in danger, the astrologer announced his brilliant plan of sending each person out of the temple and stand in the pouring rain so the thunder can strike him and take his life. This way the rest of the group would be safe inside the temple and can continue the journey next day.

The idea was accepted by everyone, as they firmly believed  in the astrologer and went ahead to implement it. Each one of them, while leaving the temple, bore a tearful goodbye to their loved ones and stood at a distance from the temple, in the pouring rain for a few minutes to let the thunder strike them and returned back after the signal given by the astrologer, joyfully to reunite with their family and thanked God for sparing his life. Everyone finished their turn except the young man who was travelling alone. He was a bit hesitant as he too believed in the astrologer and feared his impending death which was almost certain now.

The weather was getting worse as moments passed by. As he was hesitating to go to meet his fate, the rest of the group grew impatient and forcefully threw him out of the temple into the pouring rain, eager to save their own lives. The astrologer too was feeling smug for coming up with such brilliant idea. The young man was standing all alone in the rain shivering and praying for his life.

Then something strange happened. The thunderbolt struck ferociously with devastating noise and struck the very temple, where all the pilgrims were taking refuge. All were dead the very moment with the impact except the young man who stood at a distance in the rain waiting for his death. That was too surprising for the young man who had a hard time digesting the fact that only his life was spared and rest of the pilgrims including the astrologer were taken by the thunderbolt. 

Mom told me this story and said, ‘sometimes, life does single you out and you might feel that, you are the odd one in the crowd. But you should not try to blend in for the sake of impressing people. Rather stand alone, and face the consequences, no matter how dire they are, as long as you are confident that you are doing the right thing and following Dharma.’ 

Thanks to Mom that story is coming true today with Aam Aadmi Party election results. Very happy to share this with my fellow AAPians. 

Looking back…

Normally I don’t. Being one of those adamant creatures who believe that your past is what makes you being the person you are now, I saw every experience in life add to making me what I am today. But as I look back it makes much more sense now that I have a bird’s eye view of my past which showed me the road I took. It all makes perfect sense now. 

Back in school, we used to joke around that our parents sent us to a technical school to prepare us for a literary career. Thanks to my teachers, who emphasized on being expressive, though it was not a part of our curriculum. Each one of us were given an assignment Physics class to write short research papers, on a topic of our choice and present it in the class. I picked ‘Ultrasonics’ and ended up writing more on German U-boats and World War than the actual topic. My presentation was dull and I barely managed to keep my audience from falling asleep as they were all tuned to listening about science than some teenager’s views on World War or German U-boats. But that experience came in handy as that seminar did prepare me to participate and win the college elocution competition a couple of years later, where the topic was “Terrorism” which took me only a few minutes to prepare and rant effortlessly in front of my audience. I somehow knew I was a square peg in a round hole trying learn technology when I was interested in something else. 

Last week I was fortunate to attend a workshop for bloggers conducted by International Centre for Journalists. Met some remarkable people who are passionate about writing for social causes. I felt alive being one among them. There was also a silent acknowledgement from my classmates, reinforcing the belief that I did write something useful.  I needed that. It is an incredible feeling. The workshop participants were a good mix of working journalists and a few aspiring ones, bloggers and writers who all enjoyed writing.

My attention was focused on the journalists who walked that extra mile to make writing their livelihood, unlike me. Just like I heard from my mentor P.Sainath, every journalist has a bit of anger and the conviction to change the world, I noticed the same spirit in them. The discussions we had during the workshop reflected their innermost thoughts. For once I found myself amidst a set of people who didn't flinch being vocal about their thoughts in a manner that is not offensive, even if I didn’t agree with some of their views. That is the beauty I see in writers. They have this remarkable way of telling stories. Though we all used our laptops more now, than a pen and paper to write on, the symbolism of holding a pen made a lot of sense in building up the morale of being a writer. Now I take pride in writing and decided to write in a more focused manner.

Our Gurus Alexandar Howard and Louise Roug at the workshop taught us some great things about blogging and keeping it meaningful, without overwhelming us with technology. I personally could see how my thoughts were more aligned towards writing for the cause that I believe in. The whole workshop is to reiterate that I was on the right path and should keep going further. The help was abundant. Both our Gurus were extremely helpful in giving us the right direction. The pleasant surprise came in the form of Sri Mohan Guruswamy, one of the celebrated speakers, who urged us to look beyond seeing. His presentation on India’s Role in Global Economy blew the few doubts I had about the much talked about ‘developmental model of governance’ which we Indians were so proud of adapting from the developed nations. The last slide of his presentation lecture hit us hard as it showed the Buland Darwaza of Fatehpur Sikri which summed up the whole topic succinctly. (For those who don’t know Fatehpur Sikri, it is palace complex and a city in Northern India, built by Emperor Akbar which was abandoned later for the lack of water. This is one of the 26 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in India).  Once again I felt home.

It was only a few years back I was I was inducted into MV Foundation for Child Rights as a volunteer. Until then I didn’t really know what Child Rights were and why they are so important. Now when I look back tracing my path, I see some rather remarkable incidents that led me into writing about children’s rights. I found myself happy writing reports and penning my thoughts. I took up assignments as a translator as my Telugu was much better. I found myself finally doing something useful and more fulfilling personally.  Now after the workshop, I could relate more to the larger issues linked with Child Rights.

I understood that if I write something more meaningful rather than a self-involved banter, I might make myself more useful. That was a big cue to start my new blog on “Child Rights in India-a volunteer’s perspective”.  To start with, I posted my last year’s report on Child Rights in the blog and will be adding more related content.  It is a serious blog with bare facts, statistics and voices from real people, real issues than idle musings. Do read and share your thoughts. I would love to hear from you.

Child Rights in India, a volunteer's perspective

Domestic Violence

“The law is clear—if a woman is touched in any manner (read sexual or otherwise) against her consent, it is molestation because she has been violated”. - Anagha Sarpotdar, researcher and member of several inquiry committees on sexual harassment at the workplace.

The same law should be applied to domestic violence too.  In my home country a woman approaching police reporting is a bigger ordeal. She is scrutinized on the way she talks to the officers in charge, the way she talks, her social background and even the way she dresses up. While this might be the case in India which is termed as a patriarchal society and rarely question. Often women are judged by their own families and the women in the society for taking a bold step in approaching help – be it legally or from a friend. It took a while for the government to recognize domestic violence as a serious offence. Laws against Domestic Violence were laid as a mere eyewash to pacify women's groups, but rarely administered.

The strangest part of this serious issue is, most of the abused, abusers and even law enforcement officers in India do not even know that such law exists. even if they knew, it is on paper but not in practice. This is an open fact. This is unashamedly admitted by one of the former Minister for Women & Child Development, Mrs Renuka Chowdary, that 70% of Indian women are victims of domestic violence. And things are no different now. The current minister will too admit this fact as the numbers are official. According to 2011 census this number comes to 41 crores. This 70% female population of India accounts to 12% of the entire world’s female population. 

Can’t believe that 70% of Indian women suffered from domestic abuse? If you are a woman, ask yourself and three other women you know, have you ever been touched in any manner (read sexual or otherwise) against your consent by a family member? You would know. I recommend the same exercise for men too. Ask yourself the same question. "Have you ever touched a woman you knew, in any manner sexual or otherwise against her consent?"  You do not have to publish or share the answers. This simple exercise is just to confirm the 70% statistic.

For the record – I did this exercise and all 4 women I talked to, experienced domestic violence including me. I am a woman and I would not even think of gauging the severity of the domestic violence. That would be regressive of me.

Just for a moment let us leave India aside and focus on Canada, which is considered as a developed nation and is termed as the most advanced nations in the world today, ranking at number 7 in the Social Progress Index among 132 nations by www.socialprogressimperative.org . India ranks at 102 among the 132 nations, has a lot of catching up to do with Canada in terms of social progress, but not in domestic violence. We Indians and Canadians are equal here.

Nellie Letitia McClung was a Canadian feminist, politician, author, and social activist. She was a part of the social and moral reform movements prevalent in Western Canada in the early 1900s.

But if you think Canadian women are not immune to domestic violence, you are wrong. According to www.canadianwomen.org 67% of all Canadians say they personally know at least one woman who has been sexually or physically assaulted. This is official figure. Of these only 10% cases are reported to the police. Every 6 days 1 Canadian woman is killed by her intimate partner. On any given day in Canada, more than 3,300 women (along with their 3,000 children) are forced to sleep in an emergency shelter to escape domestic violence. Every night, about 200 women are turned away because the shelters are full. This happens in a country which has harsh winters where the temperatures are at sub-zero level. These all are official figures.

Image from www.canadianwomen.org 

I am asking some questions that you all need to be answer honestly to yourself and ask if you can help changing the perceptions in the society and within you, towards women in anyway. Once again, you do not have to share the answers with me. But I urge you to answer them for your own sake. 

1. What makes the society so regressive to abuse the natural nurturer of the humankind?
2. What is it that women do wrong to be a victim of domestic violence?
3. Are women really such bad and evil species of nature that they deserve to be treated this way?
4. Is it considered macho to resort to violence to prove superiority over the feminine gender?
5. What can you do to stop domestic violence?

From Canada to India, the society has been regressive about women. As we advance ourselves as progressive nations, plight of the women remain same or plummet even further down. This is not about what we come to know through media reports, that how victimized women are in certain countries or in a certain religion etc., and we all condemn the incidents rather vociferously on social media and forget all about it and go back to work as if it is not about us.

What made us so numb to domestic violence? Is this the way mankind is evolving? Why do we mutely succumb to such things? Why do not we exercise our rights and help others in doing the same? I had these questions on mind for long as a child. But now I found my answer.

I am turning the tables now. I am not going to tolerate abuse towards me in any form from anyone. I am a woman and I have a right to protect myself. I need to be strong to extend a helping hand to others who might need help. I am standing up for myself even if I am the only one standing. Without fear, holding my head high and saying it loud and clear: 

‘I will not let anyone touch me sexually or otherwise without my consent’. 

Leadership

It is utterly disgraceful to see our Prime Minister hogging on the time and celebrations of ISRO sidelining the ISRO chief Dr. K. Radhakrishnan, who patiently waited on the side looking on. I really appreciate our PM being there at ISRO on the historical day to share the joy and pride of every India. And as for ISRO, it is a great compliment to share their success with the most important man of the nation.  His presence at ISRO cut all the wagging tongues across the world, who thought, space missions are not India’s priority owing to the nation’s poverty levels.  

Coming back to our Prime Minister’s speech at ISRO, I still think a true leader should let go of the accolades and focus on sharing and not on hogging. A lot of my friends beg to differ with me when it comes to our beloved Prime Minister. I thought I owe them an explanation, so I am sharing something that is linked with ISRO’s history. I am sure my learned friends know this, but I assure them that this will be a refreshing perspective.

I am a big fan of former Indian President Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam, who shared his own experience of encountering a true leader, in one of his interviews. He narrated an incident of his days in ISRO during the launch of SLV-3 where he was the Project Director of the mission. During the 2^nd phase of the launch, there was a problem and with the team of experts’ advice, he bypassed the computer and launched the second phase, which turned out to be a disastrous decision and the mission failed. As a project director he was about to meet the media persons to share the news of the failure.  That was the time, he recalled, how Prof. Satish Dhawan, Chairman of ISRO then, took the responsibility of sharing the disastrous news with the world media and owning the fault, as a leader of ISRO.

Subsequently in the next year ISRO's mission was successful and when everyone was expecting the Chairman of ISRO to share the news to the media, Prof. Dhawan asked Dr. Kalam to address the media and share the good news. Dr. Kalam recites this incident in his interview, on how a leader should treat success and failure. Prof. Dhawan owned the responsibility of failure and let his team share the success in the said mission. A sign of a true leader without doubt.

(The link to the video by Dr. Kalam is given here  http://youtu.be/laGZaS4sdeU?t=8m45s)

I believe, I do not have to go into details and content of the 23 minutes extended speech of our beloved Prime Minister, who left little room for ISRO scientists to share their success with the world.  It is not my intention to criticize an elected national leader on everything he does or not. I do admit he did get a few things right, but his silence on the Godhra riots, repeatedly defending his position, claiming innocence citing the clearance given by the Special Investigative Team appointed by the Supreme Court of India and his stoic silence when he encountered the questions from some segments of media about the moral responsibility, all sums up to the absence of the real leader within him. And now the lengthy speech at ISRO, I see this as a disturbing sign in a leader who is responsible for taking decisions on behalf of the entire nation. Not a comforting thought.

ISRO churned out some great leaders like Dr. Vikram Sarabhai, Prof Dhawan, Dr. Kalam, who stood taller than politicians in terms of leadership. Least we could do is acknowledge their scientific brilliance in a respectful manner, rather than beating our chests by claiming their hardwork and perseverance as our own. I recall my father, who served as a scientist in Department of Space at NRSA, saying that ‘we launch satellites on shoe-string budgets’. I did not understand the weight of the statement as a kid, but now I could see the pain he felt as a scientist when the rest of the world thought that space research was not India’s domain.

ISRO’s scientific community busted all the myths and doubts that plagued our minds about attaining success through minimum resources. I salute each and every person at ISRO who made us look up and swell in pride for being Indian.  As to our Prime Minister and all his ardent fans, all I have to say, please do not make ‘Leadership in Politics’ an oxymoron.  

Neeti Chandrika

I remember mom telling me stories from Neeti Chandrika when I was little and shared her own experience, by applying the line from the very same book for an essay writing contest at her school. The line goes like this… ఎవ్వాడు జీవింప ననేకులు జీవింతురో, వాని మనుగడయే మనుగడ.... It means ‘one’s life is not significant, unless he is useful to humanity’. A very profound statement which explains the gist of living. Needless to say she won the first prize as started her essay on Mahatma Gandhi with this line. When I asked her how she related the line from a small story in Neeti Chandrika to Mahatma Gandhi, she said her father gave her the clue. I was amazed at the connection how wisdom is passed across generations and eventually to us, through simple stories that we Indians often take for granted.

I wouldn’t take full credit of acquiring such wisdom as I seldom paid heed to Mom. Now I living far away from her and the only connection I have is the daily telephone conversation, she did not stop passing on the wisdom she inherited from her elders. Each time I hang up the phone, I am super charged with energy to do something. How far I am able to translate that into something useful is another thing, but the motivation is clearly felt.

Today is one such day that I started off after talking to Mom.  I found an email from Chitra, a very enterprising girl I know from Hyderabad who is always keen to learn and teach. Chitra and Anjali are friends from Hyderabad who tagged along with me to visit the girls housed at MV Foundation hostel. During my days in Hyderabad, Chitra and Anjali were quite helpful in teaching the kids, team building games, telling stories with morals and organising medical camps at the MV Foundation hostel for rescued child workers. Both girls believe in holistic education. So when they visit the girls, they ensure that the stories they tell these kids have a moral at the end of it. We all heard these stories from our grandparents and parents when we were little. But for the girls at MVF, our young ladies Chitra and Anjali fill the void.

Now they carry on the tradition without me and keep passing on the positive changes that they are able to make and bring me the stories from homeland which works as a magic potion for me across the miles to derive inspiration. Thank you Chitra.

The content of Chitr’s email was a video link to a success story of a girl, Malliswari, who realised her dream to be a camera woman. She worked in the agricultural fields as a child worker to support her family, discovered by MV Foundation volunteers who enrolled her in the girls’ hostel to pursue education. The video is a narration of her journey as a child labourer to being the first Camera Woman in Andhra Pradesh state. She now is a positive role model to the rest of the girls at the hostel who look up to her. Please find the link to the video here.

Chitra, Anjali, Malliswari all three girls in my life bring a lot of hope and encouragement by sharing their stories. I am glad they found me and vice versa. Mom tells me that every person in our lives have a reason for being there. Some we spend only a few moments, yet leaving their lasting impression. I am compelled to share these positive stories after a friend who follows my blogs, enquired what I am up to these days. He encouraged me to write in the first place and is my constructive critic. I realised I haven’t shared anything positive since I came to Calgary dwelling in self and complaining about how much I miss my friends and India. I am glad I am bestowed with such good friends who motivate me and many others. So, here is to you my friends, across the miles, for rescuing me… ఎవ్వాడు జీవింప ననేకులు జీవింతురో, వాని మనుగడయే మనుగడ.... ధన్యోస్మి.

Note: There are 11.9 million children in India in the age group of 5-13 years who are denied the right to education as per official statistics. The number is appallingly high if one looks at the unaccounted figures. MV Foundation is an organisation rehabilitating these children and puts them in school. On an average MV Foundation spends Rs. 2,500 (US$ 40) on each child per month to restore their childhood, ensure proper education and instil values of life. I request you to help the organisation in anyway you can and by spreading the word. Thank you. For more information please visit http://mvfindia.in/

Note 2: For those who can read Telugu- here is a link to Neeti Chandrika. http://www.andhrabharati.com/strI_bAla/index.html