Tag: Lakshya Trichy

Plans spanning 2014-15

Posted on by Vaishali Rajan

Just as history reminds you; the buzzword in Lakshya is always strategic planning; the word out in town is about “the style of pedagogy”, which is to design a learning classroom environment; apart from that various additions and procedures are to be tested this year. On board this year; ripples gets in to you a few perceptions from the brains behind on all possible charted plans for this academic year.

Srinivasan from Trichy Lakshya team says,” The aim this year is to benefit more children by extending the project in more centres this year. We are also about to start a workshop module in Deeksha home for the first time in Trichy. The mentoring will be started soon with the help of trained mentors; unlike last year. To improve internal volunteers’ coordination many activities are to be planned. Lakshya Inductions won’t go like seminar classes any more; instead it shall be more of a discussion session with interesting activities. As usual, Lakshyans are always ready to prepare the kids to appear in global competitions like DFC etc… Moreover the syllabus prescribed by the syllabus development team shall be followed. “

Mathpal from Chennai Lakshya Team says,” Unlike in the past; where we used to work on modules on just on a random run, now clear demarcations of modules and sub-module categorization by the syllabus development team will help us better the work in the forthcoming academic year. Since the categorization also has also incorporated the logical flow implicitly; I think this year shall be more efficient.”

Missing Lakshya

Missing Lakshya

Posted on by Vaishali Rajan

Vijayalakshmi:
Trichy is where my hearty is; its with the Lakshya kids. The children from MI (Mannavar Illam) always call me as “Akka”; a single word that can easily melt my heart and make me feel heavenly. The Bhumi volunteers , were not just my friends they were like family. Every time I travelled 30 kms to the city on Sundays, to meet the kids for sessions. I’ve never cared about the long travel or the time consumed, because the care and love from the children and my dear Bhumians were always on me. Time moved on smoothly; then came the day with a critical situation which being my job offer in Chennai. Even after,   missing all of them,  I just Hope for being reunited with my family soon.

Kavitha:
There was a magic that is taking a small break now, a time wherein everyweek had a sunday; planning for which, was the task for, rest of the week. It starts with calls to decide who is gonna do the GA this week; then a series of calls and msgs and what not… Then after a set of the initial iterated moves;  the sunday morning arrives with a long list of confirmations ; reschedules; changes; absentees; surprise visitors… all put in the session starts and sways like a spell. After that evening post meet galatta; then getting back home and having a confidante heavy feedback on what worked that week and what failed… All this is melted down by the summer.  And not to miss the beautiful messes we used to create in the package named meet… All this and most important the love of the volunteers who just stay put to lift my senses when im down… And the-not-so-important 45 Min calls.. I’m missing all of them because these days there are just topics to cover around 4-5 min … Waiting to get back in swing…

Wish of a story

Wish of a story

Posted on by Vaishali Rajan

Here is a cute message from our volunteer Srinivasan; as you read you would know whom it is addressed too…..

When I was a child, my granny used to say “if you don’t behave well, Saami kanna kuthidum”. I took it serious at that time. I haven’t committed any kind of mischief; just by blindly adhering to her words and obeying her. Because of zero awareness, the phrase got attached deep to my heart and I behaved very well.  But now while thinking about it i get to know; why she had told me so? I.e. just to build me as a generous man and to make my life ecstatic.
Belief system in our body plays the major role in our life. Psychology says that if our belief system is attacked, we would never hear to anyone saying things against it. For example, the word ‘confidence’ lies in that belief system of mine. Thus my granny attacked my belief system by the phrase ‘Saami kanna kuthidum.’
Think about it, if not atheist, about the god you pray daily, Rama, Jesus or Allah. He might have been a leader to certain people, who took care of the people very well; with affection, love and care. He had been to spread the purity. He had ruled his people with greatness. He had given his life for the people. He has lead during the enemy attacks. He had come first to face the challenge. He might have won the hearts. He might have spread the spiritual awareness; and even spent his whole life with selfless attitude. Thus, the perfect leader, a ruler or a king has been worshiped as God. They were made as God to us; it is nothing but an attack in our belief system. Even Almighty Allah might have never been seen by his greatness Nabigal Nayagam.
He might have had told so just to enrich our life to feel the pureness- the emptiness- the happiness. The holy books might have been made by the one who has learned from his failures in his life and written for the future so that we can learn from them; or it might be written as formulae of life for future generation. Thus it is our awareness that results in the belief we hold today.  The photos, the sculptures we worship daily might have been the leaders, the rulers or the kings who might have lived long ago.
I dedicate this short article to my friend, to a man, to a King, to Parvez (which means King), Living yet leading beside us; Mohammed Arshath Parvez, wishing him an advance happy birthday.

Volunteer chronicles – Romeo

Volunteer chronicles – Romeo

Posted on by Vaishali Rajan

On a crisp chat with Romeo Trichy:
# What was your inspiration to join Bhumi?

“Bhumi? “;
“What is BHUMI?” This was a million dollar question in my college SARANATHAN during early days… Then i came to know it is an NGO (Chapter) that Laxmi n Ranjani have established together in Trichy and they are going to work for Kids who are in need of knowledge not money… The tag line CHANGE TODAY CHANGE TOMORROW literally inspired me….And i became a part of it… Laxmi Narayanan is always my inspiration… His sense of timing (Punctuality), problem solving ability, capacity to handle any kind of situation at any time… All this made him a sense of inspiration for…

 # What were your ‘learning’s and ‘take-aways from Lakshya; or why Lakshya?

Why Lakshya? Well it has no structured syllabus. It gives more space for experimenting; our own ideas and mentoring… That’s it…

 # What is your personal interest and development after joining us?

After joining Bhumi; I started thinking from the point of view of a kid; what they needed and how could I (a volunteer)? Fulfill their needs. This is what i started doing at home. Thinking from; my parents’ point of view. And now they all say “Romeo vara vara romba porupa erukan… “

 # What are your further interests in betterment of yourself and Bhumi?

Further interest is to bring in more than 1000 kids for this year’s (2014) nakshatra. Since i was a part of last year’s liaison team. Moreover this time too i will continue in that!!
– Lakshmi, chennai

Interview with vivek rajan

Interview with vivek rajan

Posted on by Vaishali Rajan

pic 1

Hi; first of all congrats for your married life. Since your life is so full of Bhumi volunteering; with your partner also being a Bhumi volunteer; can you tell us; how and when you joined Bhumi? And a few words about you?

Thank you!!I was born in the sceni district of Kanyakumari, as the only son to my parents. I soon shifted my base to Chennai where I had my Schooling. It was in 6th standard at my school I met the future Mrs.Vivek. After school I joined A GOVT COLLEGE at Chennai (CEG, Anna University) and did my B.E, Mechanical there. My destiny pushed me to Trichy despite job offers at ASCENDAS & TIDEL PARK; Then I joined the typical SARKARI-BABU company; “BHEL” like any other Indian in 2009. To a lot of people, a “turning point” would be an incident which leads to something better or bad in their lives. I too had one such incident on the night of June 09 of 2011 at Trichy, when I met with an accident. But i had no idea while I was literally being turned inside out on a hospital’s operating table.

After that harrowing experience, I had loads of time to introspect. A lot of questions popped up in my mind, like, “Will my death create any loss to someone; other than my family & friends?”

The answer was “no” and It really put me down. As always; I turned to the one with answers to all my problems, my best half- Rumana; she then explained about Bhumi and told that it would really be an up-lifting experience if I engaged myself in it. I was like “why not?” and registered myself for the orientation on june-13 after getting my feet back, (literally: p) been a Bhumian from then!!

 That’s inspiring and romantic too; 😉 Hearing so much on your choice of Bhumi there has to be a lot of moments; which are close to your heart… Can you share a few with us?  

 After starting this year’s Lakshya session, I had to visit the center; alone; for some follow-up work; I met with a champ to ask about the whereabouts of the warden. Since I had forgotten his name; I asked him “What is your name?”
He replied ‘”Vivek Anna, My name is Arjun. You and other annas & akkas have visited us only once but we will never forget your names, just try not to forget ours”
From that day I tried my best to be regular to my sessions and remember the kids ‘by name’.
After my marriage I visited the kids accompanied with my wife. They immediately swarmed around us and started congratulating. They also sang some songs in Tamil wishing both of us.
My wife’s only question was what did you do for these kids? The answer was “I am yet to start.”

You have started so much inside us; can you share a few words on how much being a mentor cum volunteer in Bhumi helped you in your life?

As i told you before, being the only child of working parents, I used to find solitude as my best companion. It made me a bit of an introvert. Being a mentor, is a chance to open up and test my latent communication skills. And being with mentors of my age group or older (pun intended 🙂 ) it also helped build my social skills

What are the things that you love and despise in Bhumi?

In Bhumi: I love the informal way of working; having seriousness where it is needed and the sense of belonging among all volunteers. Most of all the high level of maturity of all volunteers; who are in their teens. As in Despise; I despise the fact that there is nothing to hate.

What is your view and perspective on volunteering? And finally anything you want to share to us to enhance our volunteering experience?

Volunteering was something innate in the Indian Culture; it is slowly being eroded in this modern era. Very few people get to say that “I am back” in Billa Ajith style after facing a round and then get to realize the need to better oneself  in version 2.0 like I did.
So as youngsters we should embrace this gift of life & always remember the words of Frost

“The woods are lovely, dark, and deep,
But I have promises to keep,
And miles to go before I sleep,
And miles to go before I sleep.“

Design For Change-2013

Design For Change-2013

Posted on by Vaishali Rajan

A Dream For Change (DFC)

A Design-for-change from a dream for change..!!

The complete change of the Maanavar Illam, Trichy, was felt after the tremendous process with kids in two days with a theme of “cleanliness” . As a Tamil proverb states “sutham soru podum”, we made the kids start something for a clean and a green environment. Cleaning the ground, planting saplings in available spaces, and allocating spaces for playing, better washing area, etc. were the phases of the change. At first, it was a little bit of a challenge to imagine the environment from sick old to a healthy new one. But later, we jumped into the field with each and every volunteer managing a team of 4-5 kids namely inventory, space management, waste management, planting saplings and cleaning.
The kids showed a lot of interest and played every role to enhance their existing surroundings to a clean area despite their exams the following day. The plan was discussed and meticulously carried out. Creating pathways for the waste water to prevent its stagnancy was the first step in our DFC. Simultaneously, the other teams started their respective work like planting seeds and fencing. Gardening was a great process and led to a success with the help of all the kids. And the day ended with a little clean and green look with some work still pending in the list.

Our DFC went on a second week voyage and we planned for half-a-day to finish all those pending works. The kids never ceased to inspire us. They chlorinated the wash area of the home without our help that just awed us more. They chose the places for planting vegetables and cleaned a stage filled with wooden logs on that day with us lending a few hands. And at last we made a volley ball court for the kids to put their skills on the ground for test. DFC ended successfully with things getting captured across devices and with our idea of having National Anthem to show the patriotism after the project getting through. It was really awesome to be a part of DFC at Maanavar Illam.

I hope each volunteer enjoyed a lot even while blending their sweat with blood during the project. They were very well aware of all the things and experienced in creating a plan and to establish it successfully by thinking out of the box. We learnt a lot from each kid like how to use the tools like stone and a simple iron wire for fencing. Finally, a clean and green environment was made for the kids and by the kids. DFC went with more than just satisfaction in our hearts.

~ Srinivasavan

Manavar Illam, Trichy

Nakshatra Experience@Trichy

Nakshatra Experience@Trichy

Posted on by Vaishali Rajan

“We don’t have to be great to start, we have to start to be great…!!!”

I lived and felt these favourite lines of mine on 18th August 2013…!!! The first Nakshatra for me having not even completed a year in Bhumi, there Gana Anna and Lakshmi Anna believing in me, gave on these fresh hands of mine the major, top, basic thing for nakshatra to be co-ordinated by me..!!! Yes,… They believed me & allowed to co-ordinate the Venue management of nakshatra 2013…!!! This made, me march to many people, who are the complete strangers and one word introduced and spoke well about me to them was BHUMI. Many times, not knowing the reference point, I had made many mistakes in the matter of currency numbers… But, Mayuran Anna, used to push me, giving me great experiences…!!! Planned at every nakshatra meet… Nirmal Anna, Raghavan Anna, Ramki Anna, used to sit around and used to list out the things they missed last year at Nakshtra !!! And Nirmal Anna was very surely quoting on that, U WILL BE GETTING ALOT OF SURPRISES, and only thing, was going on in me was, I should not have even a single thing from the things they missed last year. The day before the nakshatra, there at venue, checked, and having found, problems in number of events happening in rooms, changed the whole thing in such a way, that, every event and room suits with the number of kids participating. There went in the rescheduling on the Venue !!!… Change of classrooms. Vinoth Anna, helped alot…!!! On the day, Ashwin, made it a point to share every work of mine equally… And he and 3 of his friends did it..!!! Before the nakshatra could get over, Shyamla having insisted me to start on the work of rearranging the venue, many security volunteers by Robin, helped a lot…!!! Nakshatra..!!! the Motto, DREAM DISCOVER DAZZLE, exactly suits the volunteers work too..!!! A reason for a child’s smile…!! A reason for the labourers who work there for stage and speaker and cleaning works..!!! A reason for a volunteers’ satisfaction..!!! Wahh.. Even though the body was tired,… The soul shouted up a Yiiipppeeee when we finally had a Cheesy smiling photo !!!… Only after this day, I realised MY life..!!! It seems like, every soul around me is an angel sent by God to show me the right path !!!…. I am sure till such supportive people are around me, I will keep moving on my right path safely being a part if BHUMI family always !!!!

~

Arshath, City co-ordinator, Lakshya Trichy