Getting up at noon is the best way to avoid the protests of stomach to put something to it in the morning. Thinkng the financial crunge i was going thru at that time, even the prospect of having a packet of double toned milk seemed far fetched. i checked the cigarette packet laying on the table. there WAS a cigarette inside, the last one. i lit it and poured some water in the electric kettle and left it to boil. my plan was to have a cup of black tea. ofcourse there was no sugar left. anyways brunch was done. for my great surprise, there was some corn flakes left in the packet. no milk, no sugar, yet it was delicious. as the saying goes- peas are sweet when in hunger..
i was wondering from where on good earth was i going to have something fro dinner. the immediate idea was to go to a nearby family, with whom i had a good record and to have the dinner from there,,
Sunday, December 17, 2006
Wednesday, November 08, 2006
Pravah and SMILE an Intro
About Pravah
SMILE
courtesy: Pravah website. www.younginfluencers.com
Pravah is an Indian non profit organisation founded by a group of young professionals with a view to influence societal issues. Our experience in diverse fields like Human Resource Development, Theater, Psychology, Management and Social Sciences has helped us in developing innovative training methodologies in the field of citizenship education.
We are dedicated to equipping young people with skills essential to building sensitivity and responsibility towards the society we live in, and developing them into positive Changemakers of the future. We have dedicated our work to the meaning of Pravah - which simply means to FLOW. The free flow of knowledge, ideas, experiences and expressions among people to bring about change. The flow also represents the life journey of every individual from self to society.
We are dedicated to equipping young people with skills essential to building sensitivity and responsibility towards the society we live in, and developing them into positive Changemakers of the future. We have dedicated our work to the meaning of Pravah - which simply means to FLOW. The free flow of knowledge, ideas, experiences and expressions among people to bring about change. The flow also represents the life journey of every individual from self to society.
SMILE, Students Mobilization Initiative for Learning through Exposure, our youth program focuses on providing diverse, action-oriented learning opportunities to young people about social issues. Its emphasis is on promoting youth volunteerism. The program encompasses
Direct mobilization and sensitization of privileged and underprivileged young people through presentations and orientation camps
Taking selected student-volunteers for exposure visits to rural NGOs
Coordinating youth groups such as the theater group, media club, action research group
Providing a platform to young people for learning, sharing and acting for change
Making fellowship grants to promote social action among youth
Creating newer processes to promote and build social responsibility among young people.
Direct mobilization and sensitization of privileged and underprivileged young people through presentations and orientation camps
Taking selected student-volunteers for exposure visits to rural NGOs
Coordinating youth groups such as the theater group, media club, action research group
Providing a platform to young people for learning, sharing and acting for change
Making fellowship grants to promote social action among youth
Creating newer processes to promote and build social responsibility among young people.
Orientation to the exposure
Joining Pravah
Mazin, my room mate and friend came back one day saying that he's joined an NGO called Pravah and they have selected him to be a part of a 10 day exposure camp to be held somewher in Gujarat. I was immediately attracted to the idea and asked him whether I could join him. The next day we went to the Pravah office and I joined the organization which'd prove to be a really interesting place to be. They were not sure about my chance of getting into the Gujarat team at that time. I would wait for Neha-our co-ordinator- to call me. She did call that too with the good news that my ticket is booked. I was excited. I've always thought of visiting that place where hundreds of people were killed in a gory communal riot in 2002. I wanted to know what really happened and most importantly why it all happened. How could a man kill another man so brutally. The level of brutality was that horrible, I couldn't just imagine that kind of a violence in real life. So my excitement was natural. I was told that we're going to have an overnight orientation camp on 30th September. I was also supposed to do a presentation on two NGOs-Yuvshakti and Janvikas- which were hosting us in Gujarat. I prepared a bit for that and waited for the 30th.
The Team
Me and Mazin reached Pravah office by around 3.30. I was about to meet some really interesting people who'd be cherished forever in my life. Oblivious to this particularly interesting fact, we knocked at the door of the office. Neha was there waiting for us with her trade mark smile. She was co-ordinating this trip. She was from Gujarat, which made sense!! She had this talent of making people realise that what they thought of many issues were wrong. She knows how to correct people without hurting their ego. She was a good photographer too. Next their was Kapil, he too was from Pravah. He was a wonderful guy with a lot of knowledge and a great temperament. He was someone who had a strong determination to bring about changes. fact we followed Neha to a room where some quilts were At one corner of the room there was this girl, who was keenly reading a book and making notes. Neha introduced us to her. She was Sheena, who'd later turn up to be a funny little girl whose absent minded utterings would make me cry out of laughing!! She'd also prove to be a fantastic communicator who could easily make a connection with people and to make them talk without any apprehension. She was doing her graduation in Psychology. Then came Rajani, who'd turn out to be the sweetest and most mature person of our group. She was visibly excited about the whole thing. She was a post graduate student in political science. We both happened to be from the same state, Kerala. That made me more comfortable with her. Then came Kamal, another fantastic guy who came to this camp from the middle of his hectic MBA classes. He also had a part time job in a bank. The first inspiration came from there. There are people who wanted changes to happen in the society and no tight schedules is going to restrict you if you've the will to do something. Then it was Harish Bhai, a very inspiring elder brotherly guy who was doing his degree in mass communication. He was with us for this trip despite the physical challenges he faced. That was also a great inspiration for me. I was overwhelmed. I was never inspired this much in such a short span of time!! Then there was Vineeth, who was not coming with us. He was going to some other place for exposure. He was a really cool guy. Most of the time he seemed to be absent minded. Being a student of physics, it was quite a desirable quality. Newton's absent mindedness which lead him to think- rather than to eat -about an apple which fell in front of his eyes, lead to some of the sadest academic tragedies!! Even I was a victim..! Now that 9 of us was there including Kapil and Neha, we started the first session. We played some small games and did some energizers. I was still apprehensive about talking to everyone. My Hindi was pretty bad, and I didn't exactly know the vibes of urban youth, on what to talk and what not to. So I remained in a serious mode which made'em think I'm an intellectual!!!Looks can really deceptive, I thought!! After this warm up session, two more guys turned up. One was Ankur whom I've met once. He was a genuine guy. He was cool, smart and a good artist. He was doing his graduation in English. The other one was Ravi, the most down to earth guy I've ever seen. He was a good analyser too. Like me, he was also an economics student. After their arrival, we started a session on Violence. The theme was " Violence is Justified". We were told to be divided into three part. One which supported the statement, one which opposed and one which was confused over where to go. I was in that, ofcourse! There was a good debate on the issue. I was of the opinion that violence is justified in some conditions, but what confused us was what level of violence was justified and who decides right and wrong. It was a really insightful discussion. Neha and Kapil-both from Pravah, and our co-ordinators- interjected accordingly to clear our misconceptions about some facts. The night has started falling by then.. We went outside to a nearby park and played some really cool games. After that came the last two members of our Gujarat team. One was Karishma, the naughtiest-in almost best possible way!!- girl of our group and also very sensible. I would tie a rakhi on her defying conventions! The other one was Amrita, a very caring,sweet, fun loving and very easily confusable girl!! I bet she'll be confused if she reads this!! Both of them were doing their gaduation in Sociology.
Mazin, my room mate and friend came back one day saying that he's joined an NGO called Pravah and they have selected him to be a part of a 10 day exposure camp to be held somewher in Gujarat. I was immediately attracted to the idea and asked him whether I could join him. The next day we went to the Pravah office and I joined the organization which'd prove to be a really interesting place to be. They were not sure about my chance of getting into the Gujarat team at that time. I would wait for Neha-our co-ordinator- to call me. She did call that too with the good news that my ticket is booked. I was excited. I've always thought of visiting that place where hundreds of people were killed in a gory communal riot in 2002. I wanted to know what really happened and most importantly why it all happened. How could a man kill another man so brutally. The level of brutality was that horrible, I couldn't just imagine that kind of a violence in real life. So my excitement was natural. I was told that we're going to have an overnight orientation camp on 30th September. I was also supposed to do a presentation on two NGOs-Yuvshakti and Janvikas- which were hosting us in Gujarat. I prepared a bit for that and waited for the 30th.
The Team
Me and Mazin reached Pravah office by around 3.30. I was about to meet some really interesting people who'd be cherished forever in my life. Oblivious to this particularly interesting fact, we knocked at the door of the office. Neha was there waiting for us with her trade mark smile. She was co-ordinating this trip. She was from Gujarat, which made sense!! She had this talent of making people realise that what they thought of many issues were wrong. She knows how to correct people without hurting their ego. She was a good photographer too. Next their was Kapil, he too was from Pravah. He was a wonderful guy with a lot of knowledge and a great temperament. He was someone who had a strong determination to bring about changes. fact we followed Neha to a room where some quilts were At one corner of the room there was this girl, who was keenly reading a book and making notes. Neha introduced us to her. She was Sheena, who'd later turn up to be a funny little girl whose absent minded utterings would make me cry out of laughing!! She'd also prove to be a fantastic communicator who could easily make a connection with people and to make them talk without any apprehension. She was doing her graduation in Psychology. Then came Rajani, who'd turn out to be the sweetest and most mature person of our group. She was visibly excited about the whole thing. She was a post graduate student in political science. We both happened to be from the same state, Kerala. That made me more comfortable with her. Then came Kamal, another fantastic guy who came to this camp from the middle of his hectic MBA classes. He also had a part time job in a bank. The first inspiration came from there. There are people who wanted changes to happen in the society and no tight schedules is going to restrict you if you've the will to do something. Then it was Harish Bhai, a very inspiring elder brotherly guy who was doing his degree in mass communication. He was with us for this trip despite the physical challenges he faced. That was also a great inspiration for me. I was overwhelmed. I was never inspired this much in such a short span of time!! Then there was Vineeth, who was not coming with us. He was going to some other place for exposure. He was a really cool guy. Most of the time he seemed to be absent minded. Being a student of physics, it was quite a desirable quality. Newton's absent mindedness which lead him to think- rather than to eat -about an apple which fell in front of his eyes, lead to some of the sadest academic tragedies!! Even I was a victim..! Now that 9 of us was there including Kapil and Neha, we started the first session. We played some small games and did some energizers. I was still apprehensive about talking to everyone. My Hindi was pretty bad, and I didn't exactly know the vibes of urban youth, on what to talk and what not to. So I remained in a serious mode which made'em think I'm an intellectual!!!Looks can really deceptive, I thought!! After this warm up session, two more guys turned up. One was Ankur whom I've met once. He was a genuine guy. He was cool, smart and a good artist. He was doing his graduation in English. The other one was Ravi, the most down to earth guy I've ever seen. He was a good analyser too. Like me, he was also an economics student. After their arrival, we started a session on Violence. The theme was " Violence is Justified". We were told to be divided into three part. One which supported the statement, one which opposed and one which was confused over where to go. I was in that, ofcourse! There was a good debate on the issue. I was of the opinion that violence is justified in some conditions, but what confused us was what level of violence was justified and who decides right and wrong. It was a really insightful discussion. Neha and Kapil-both from Pravah, and our co-ordinators- interjected accordingly to clear our misconceptions about some facts. The night has started falling by then.. We went outside to a nearby park and played some really cool games. After that came the last two members of our Gujarat team. One was Karishma, the naughtiest-in almost best possible way!!- girl of our group and also very sensible. I would tie a rakhi on her defying conventions! The other one was Amrita, a very caring,sweet, fun loving and very easily confusable girl!! I bet she'll be confused if she reads this!! Both of them were doing their gaduation in Sociology.
Saturday, October 14, 2006
Starter
so atlast I created a blog..the way in which I hated typing,that too with a keyboard whose "Y" key needs a hammer to work, I always knew blogging was not meant for lazy guys like me. But now the situation has changed. I've been to Gujarat-a state in India notorious for calamities,, both natural and man made- for a 10 day exposure trip. The kind of experience I had, both socially and personally was shocking and incredible. I couldn't resist my deep desire to share those in a platform like this.
pEaCe
pEaCe
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