Kids !

I always get fascinated by the wonderful gestures of kids. They have a own way of expressing their happiness, anger or their excitement. Sometimes when your energy is down or when you are out of your mood, these kids can make you cheer within no time.

After reaching home from office, occasionally I take a walk to go around & catch up with friends who stay nearby. During one of these journeys, I came across this little girl, who was trying to help his father to close his grocery store. There was something unusual & it was very much interesting which caught my attention that night.

The weather was cloudy & it was about to rain. I noticed a sense of urgency in that little girls’ father, as he was hurrying up to close down his store. As you can imagine, usually there will be lot of stuff kept outside the grocery shops. He was busy in wrapping up all the stuff & keep them safely inside, safe from the rains.

The unusual & interesting thing was this little girl, who I think was about 4 to 5 year old. She was running in & out of the store, with lot of excitement & enthusiasm. She did carry some small stuff, which she could lift, & arranged it inside.

There was a moment when I stopped walking & very curiously started observing that little girl. She tried to lift a bag, which was about half of her height, & may be much more than her own weight, but the bag didn’t move. Regaining her breath, she gave it a second try; unfortunately the bag was very reluctant to move.

I was standing at a close distance from the actual scene. That little girl thought for a while & like a brave soldier, went after it again. This time the energy was high & so was the confidence. For the first time in those few minutes, the little girls’ face showed a glimpse of sadness & mine too.

I was very keen to know what will be her next move. Appa, idanna neene olagade idu, nange aagta illa (daddy, you keep this inside, am not able to keep it) She said these to her father. There was so much innocence in her words which made her father smile & he hugged her in his arms.

There are moments when you feel let down & there are moments like this, which makes your heart jump in joy & inspire you to be happy & smile.

Inspiration !!!

Inspiration is perhaps very much necessary to each one of us. We ourselves can truly inspire our-self. We know the person within us better than anyone else. Inspiring ourselves is the best one can do for the one self. I do speak to myself quite often, and i hope most of you too do, which is quite inspiring for me.

From a last couple of weeks, myself, good friend Ajeya & some of our colleagues are practicing for 5 kilometer Marathon coming up in December. We decided to run on the roads instead of using treadmills. It was all fun & indeed very stressful. When the stress gets the best out of you, we always tend to give up. Such was the scenario with me once. Half a kilometer to finish, i was grasping for breath. I was very much certain to stop at that point, even though the destination was in sight. Then i spoke to myself, regained my confidence & composure to complete the run.

I was very much excited when Ajeya expressed about the same feelings while we were discussing after our practice. He was true to say that the sighting of our destination helped us do our best. Hope to better our time during our next session.

Instead of searching for Inspiration elsewhere, we got to look into ourselves. If we can't find tranquility in ourselves, we can't find it anywhere.

Childhood

Do you cherish your childhood? Perhaps, the answer will be unhesitatingly yes, no matter you pose this question to anyone. Such is the treasure of one’s childhood, which never fails to bring a pleasant smile on your face. The abundant memories of your past will definitely cheer you up, even if you are in a pensive mood. As our lives evolve towards a better phase, as we grow old, we relive our glorious childhood through our kids or nephews or nieces.

my nephew & his friends

Having grown up as a kid more inclined towards sports, I always struggled in academics. Still struggling, I can say. Whenever my wonder kid nephew is around, I do remember my childhood. As a kid, I enjoyed a lot while gardening along with my brother & sister. My job was to water the plants & I always ended up drenched in water & mud. The memories are still fresh when we planted a banana tree in our garden. The preparation was quite interesting. I was six then.

I was very fond of the two boxes full of marbles, which were my brother’s hard earned collection. He used to make lot of toys out of clay. My favorite was a cart, which I used to pull around all the time, with a rope tied to it. Even the wheels were artistically made out of clay.

We were never short of pranks. Railway gate master had a tough time in containing our group of friends. It was a Sunday afternoon when he got hold of three of us, my brother, me & a friend. We used to keep the stones on the railway track, which ran parallel to our homes. Luckily, I did manage to slip away from his clutch & unfortunately my brother & our friend got some punishment from the old man.

During those days, going to school was the toughest time. My mother had to run behind to get me ready for school, almost every day. Mom still laughs remembering those days. Lunch time was filled more with lot of fun & play rather than what it was actually meant for. Annual day celebrations were the most eagerly awaited event for us. It meant lot of roaming around & no studies for a week or two. During one of those, I played the character of a tailor in the drama. Our teachers went through the herculean task of making us memorize our lines & to deliver them in order of appearance.

Those memories are an integral part of lives now. I always fantasize of getting my childhood back. I always wonder if I can go back to the same school, with the same bunch of friends. Time takes away the best & leaves you with a new set, which eventually turns out the best again. Couple of weeks back, I got an opportunity to visit Chitradurga along with my mom. I did visit my school where I completed my primary schooling. It was great to be back at the school, this time as a mere visitor.

my school

After my visit to the school, i did enjoy my early morning trip to the glorious fort of chitradurga. Have a look at some of the pictures. bye for now.

The glorious Chitradurga fort

Million Dollar Baby

I was asked to write a review of a movie, based on sports, for our company’s weekly magazine. The first name which occupied the thoughts in my mind was Million Dollar baby. I had watched it long back & was very much impressed with the story, the cast & especially Hillary Swank’s performance. The way she enacts as a boxer, actually resembles a professional.Luckily, I got another reason to watch this movie again.

Million Dollar Baby is all about a woman’s determination. It’s about a 31 year old Margaret Fitzgerald (Maggie), an aspiring boxer, chasing her dream to win the boxing title. Her ambition, her focused approach ends up in convincing Frankie Dunn (Clint Eastwood), a brilliant coach, to take Maggie as a trainee. Frankie, who initially refuses to train Maggie only because she is a woman, gives in to the reluctant Maggie. Frankie turns her down by saying “Girlie ain’t tough enough”, when approached for the first time.



The movie is well directed by Clint Eastwood himself. The story revolves around the lives of Frankie & Maggie. Frankie is an excellent trainer but is not appreciated enough by his colleagues & his own daughter. On the other hand, Maggie, brilliantly played by Hillary Swank saves every penny she earns to fulfill her dream. Through this journey, both develop a strong father‐daughter bond. Frankie nicknames her with an Irish word ‘mo cuishele’.


With excellent training that she receives, Maggie wins every boxing match by knocking down the opponent in the first round itself. “Boxing is about the respect, get that for yourself & take it away from the other guy”, are the words narrated by Morgan Freeman, who plays the character of Eddie Dupris, Frankie’s friend & also the caretaker of the gym hit pit. Tragedy strikes when Maggie is about to cherish her dream, she is injured in a fatal accident during a match. Maggie never recovers from this trauma. Frankie tries his best to get her proper treatment. The family condition worsens Maggie’s health. The meaning of the nickname is revealed only at the end that translates to “My darling, my blood”.


Million Dollar Baby is worth watching. Let me end this preview with some of the best narrations from the movie –
“Boxing is an unnatural act. Everything in Boxing is backwards. Sometimes best way to deliver a punch is step back! But step back too far, you ain’t fighting at all.”
“If there is magic in boxing, it’s the magic of hiring battles beyond endurance, beyond cracked ribs, erupted kidneys. It’s the magic of risking everything for a dream which nobody sees but you.”

The care !!!

It was one of the articles from my mentor, Ajeya, which prompted me to observe people around me. Perhaps, I did observe even before I came across his post, but not as keen as to write about the interesting things which happen around me. This post is about one such experience which I witnessed recently.

It was around 9 PM, I was returning home in a city bus. I had been to visit my ailing cousin brother at Jayadeva Cardiac hospital, located in Jayanagar (Bangalore). Bus was less crowded since it was a Saturday evening. I was seated near the window, looking at the busy Bangalore roads.

Two kids boarded the bus along with their mother. The woman sat in the first seat of the bus & was searching for money in her bag to buy the tickets. My curiosity turned towards the two young girls. Both of them wanted to enjoy the sight from the window seat.

At this moment I went into the flashback mode of my days as a kid {Not black & white era though :-)}. As kids, I hope every one of us waited for the vacations to arrive so that we get to travel to our loved grandma’s grandpa’s villages.

These two kids in the bus went & sat in two different seats, window seats of course, behind where their mother was seated. I think the little girl was about eight years old, around two or three years younger to the other.

The younger girl looked worried. She was repeatedly looking at her elder sister, with a kind of hesitation on her face. I don’t know why but she reminded me of my days as a younger sibling in our family. On the other side, the elder girl was enjoying her journey in the bus, on her window seat. A few minutes later, she sent out a code worded stare at her younger sister, which was well enough for the young girl to promptly take a seat besides her sister.

Disappointment loomed large over the young girl’s face as she missed the jolly ride from the window seat, though her sister tried to pacify by showing her a few things outside the window. Their mother was quite relieved after looking at her daughters seated comfortable & perhaps also the responsibility shown by the elder one.

Sometimes i feel that,at times the boundaries drawn in the name of care can be relaxed. Having said that, i hope every one of us cherish the wonderful memories spent with our brothers & sisters.

With a pleasant smile on face, i got down from the bus at Banashankari.

May I dedicate this post to all the younger siblings? Just kidding.

PS - I usually find it difficult to keep a title for my posts.

The last Seat

Alarm tone at 5 AM & the thought of missing the bus, took me off the bed, & out my sweet Sunday sleep, in a flash. I was returning from my Aunt’s home in Hindupur (Part of Andhra Pradesh, around 3 hours drive from Namma Bengaluru). Bus was about to leave when I ran in to catch it. I was cursing myself to have reached late, which eventually resulted in getting the last seat available (luckily). Literally it was the last seat at the rear end of the bus. ‘This is perhaps going to be a tough, humpy-bumpy ride all the way’ I mused, imagining the three hour journey through the rough roads ahead.

I tried to convince and indulge myself in the lush green view along the roads, but the pot holes made sure to divert my attention towards cursing myself, for having reached late & getting the last seat :-(. I was seated right next to the rear door. Bus conductor & his subordinate were taking rest at the foot-board. Most interestingly, the bus conductor was anxiously reading what his Horoscope, Aries, had to offer for the day in the Sunday herald.

The bus had covered half of its scheduled morning trip as it approached a steep hill. All of a sudden there was a sense of emergency among the bus crew. Main conductor asked his helper to get some packets out of the luggage compartment. They started to make small pieces out of the big bread buns they had in around five to six hand bags. Each bag had about ten to twelve buns. By this time, driver started to honk, though the roads were very much clear. I felt there was something unusual happening.

I started wondering what was going on. Their urgency & my curiosity increased, which prompted me to help them in getting the buns into small pieces. The bus driver started to honk even more, as if to pull someone’s attention towards him or his bus.

Now, the conductor sitting on the foot-board started to throw handful of buns on to the road. My guess was on target. Those guys wanted to feed some kind of animals. Few moments passed, no one turned near the slow moving bus. Honking got intense and the conductor started throwing more bread out on the road. I was getting very eager by this time. ‘okka vachindi..okka vachindi’ (Telugu – One has come..One has come) shouted the guy who was sitting with the conductor, on seeing a crow approaching the bus.

I peeped out of the window to see a crow flying down, at its best speed, to grab the small pieces of bun on the road. The bus crew was all smiling upon seeing the crow. They started throwing all the bread they had. In a few seconds, a huge herd of crows had gathered to have their breakfast. The sky was filled with the black crows. Amazing isn’t it? I had never seen such thing before. A couple of monkeys also joined to get their share of breakfast. Missed my camera to capture these moments.

I had no one but myself to thank for having got the last seat in that bus. Otherwise I would have missed such a true picture of humanity. They are doing it each and every day from the last one year or so. God bless them.
I did enjoy the rest of my journey :-). Perhaps, Its the Joy of sharing.

Rainzzzzz !!!

I think & i strongly believe that most people, of all ages, enjoy rains in some way or the other... Be it enjoying a wonderful ride on the bike, with the cool breeze blowing tru the hair, tiny little beautiful rain drops touching the faces. Or be it taking a lovely walk just after the rain, enjoying the rain drops falling from the trees along with the wind... Or enjoying the rain outside the window, holding the drops in your palms... Its just amazing when you open your arms & let the rains embrace you... I hope & i strongly believe each one does love this.

Thought of sharing one of my wonderful ride on my bike, on the way back home from office. It was a perfect weather for the evening ride, am sure couples would say as 'jsut a perfect time' for the romantic ride with their loved ones. I always enjoy my journey to office on a rainy day.

Enjoy rainzzz !!!

Children of lesser god !

‘Sanath, tell me 5 car names’ pat came the reply in a low voice, ‘Maruti… Honda… Indigo…’ ‘Maruti, Honda, Indigo… say it loudly Sanath, I can’t hear, u have 2 more to go’, the boy tried to answer again ‘Maruti, Honda, Indigo…’ I was thinking what he said, and then the teacher replied ‘will u not answer if someone is looking at you Sanath?’

This was the conversation going on between a teacher & her student. To be precise, this was indeed a conversation between a teacher & a 10 year old student, Sanath. You might be wondering why such a simple question was asked to a 10 year old. In fact boys of this age can answer a lot more difficult ones than this one. If you are thinking right, yes, Sanath is not a normal kid. I witnessed this above conversation at ‘Apoorva center for AUTISM’. Sanath is one among the 22 children who come here every day for special kind of schooling. This is the school meant only for citizens with Autism.

A teacher with students

I and my friend, Deepa, were interested to give some sort of support to the less talked society, where things were pretty different from normalcy. We wanted to create awareness among the people in certain areas, out of which Autism was one of the common point we agreed upon. We being like-minded thought of bringing fun and joy to “Differently able Children” who are autistic by birth. We would like to invite more friends to be volunteers in this cause. With this intention in mind, as a baby step we happened to be at the “Apoorva centre for Autism” on Saturday (4^th Feb 2010).

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Some of the beautiful drawings & paintings done by these kids.

Autism is a neural disorder in kids. It causes them to experience this world entirely different from the way most other kids normally do. They cannot express themselves to others thru words. They cannot eat, they cannot walk properly, they cannot play, they cannot feel, and they cannot. They just cannot.

‘My son is 18 years old. He is here for 15 years now’ Lakshmi madam, who is the caretaker of this noble institution, told this to us. She gave up her banking job to look after her son. He was 3 years when they noticed his disorder. We felt her pain looking at her moist eyes as she narrated her story. Her elder son works for a reputed firm in US after having done MBA.

We came across lot of other kids who had different behaviors. Some were happy on seeing strange people walking up to them & trying to be friendly with them. Some resisted, some shied away, and some not even tried to have an eye contact as in case of Sanath.

We saw a boy crying as we walked through the class rooms. Curious to know what might be the reason behind his cry, we asked his teacher. ‘Today is his mathematics class; he doesn’t like numbers’ was the answer we got. We saw him crying almost all the time we were there.

Another boy had some strange marks all over his Cheeks, hands, legs & even his head. He used to hurt himself every two to three seconds. He will bite his fingers; punch his own face, his head with his own hands.

These kids mostly prefer to be alone, sometimes they don’t respond no matter how much loud you talk & sometimes they get afraid of even a little noise. They don’t have a real fear of dangers. Sometimes they show their extreme distress for simple or no apparent reason. They find it extremely vulnerable to interact with other people or even with kids too. They never like to see any sort of change in day to day routine.

Autism doesn’t have any particular symptoms related to health, as per doctors. Kids’ behavior is the only way to figure out the disorder. Usually AUTISM in kids can be detected when they are around 18 months old. Worst part is that there is no treatment for this disorder. Early detection, Doctors’, therapists & the special teaching alone can bring any difference to these citizens.

I & Deepa were amazed on looking at the dedicated teachers of Apoorva center for AUTISM. Let me tell you, it is tougher than teaching the normal kids. They have to deal with these kids with lot of patience. No words to explain their noble efforts. Interesting part is most of the teachers were parents of Autistic children. May be, it may have helped them to understand better.

Be a part of this cause by being present at the Apoorva center of Autism on their annual day celebrations this Feb 14^th 2010 & experience a different feel which leaves a lasting impression on you, as it did for us. :-)

For more details regarding Autism and the Apoorva center for Autism, please do visit the following websites.

http://ezinearticles.com/?Autism---Meaning,-Causes-and-the-Way-Out&id=2345147

http://www.autistica.org.uk

http://www.saiautismcenter.org/current/index.htm

Apoorva center for Autism

C/o Lions club of Sarakki

J.P Nagar. 2^nd Phase, Bangalore

080- 57710445 / 92431 95154