2009 Diwali celebrations, Chennai

Dear All,

I would like to share about the diwali celebration which we had it in our DI Valasaravakkam School on 11.10.09 (Sunday). We arrived in the school around 10.00 a.m. We waited for the kids to come and settle down. By 10.30 we started our celebration. First, we asked the students to come and speak a few words about what DIWALI meant to them ? Also, we asked them to share about their previous diwali experiences. Unforgettable incidents, their activities on that day, etc., We volunteers also gave them a brief description about DIWALI and its significances.

Next, we had sweets distribution. We had only very few number of students. The school watchman also co-operated with us. He too enjoyed seeing the kids coming up and speaking about DIWALI and singing songs about diwali.

We started bursting the crackers. The kids were showing keen interest in burning the crackers. We volunteers also bursted along with them.

Throughout the bursting session, we vols ensured that no kid is bursting alone. We had constant monitoring on them. We took photos of it. Nata, you could have also joined us in the celebration today. Thank you very much for your efforts to get the crackers for our DI.

The photos are aired in my picasa album.

The link : http://picasaweb.google.com/kkaravindhan/DreamIndiaValasaravakkamDiwaliCelebration#

I really thank all the volunteers who made a wonderful effort in giving the kids 'A DIWALI FEEL'.

NB: Sriram & Bharath, we all really missed you. All the students conveyed their diwali wishes to you.

Action2020 Team meets Dr.Kalam

Mr.Srinivasan Sir's email report:

dear friends

Yesterday, I wrote about the meeting with our former President Dr A P J Abdul Kalam. He met 70 representatives from 30 constituent organisations of Action 2020 Team or online India Vision Group at Chennai. Dr Kalam spent nearly two hours with the members sharing his views. At the end of his 30 minute speech, all the members were highly motivated with positive energy. Thereafter he spent his time taking questions from the members and guiding them for Nation building.

We are now releasing his 30 minute speech as Part 1.

Please watch the photos and also listen to the speech of Dr Abdul Kalam in the following link:

http://www.poduniversal.com/2009/10/dr-abdul-kalams-motivating-speech-to.html

Thanks,

Dream India

Gandhi Jayanthi celebrations 2009, SV Home

Dear Friends,

Like last year, we celebrated Gandhi Jayanthi at SV home this year too.

Quiz Prelims:

We started the Quiz Preliminary round around 9 AM. 50 students from SV home and 3 kids from Adyar school appeared for this. Janu and Ravin conducted the prelims.

Elocution competition:

This was followed by Elocution competition. Around 20 students from SV Home and Adyar school spoke. For the first time, the students also spoke in English. It was simply amazing to say the least. For someone who has seen the children speak last year, the performance has improved very well. It was a sight to see the children speak very confidently on stage and then run on to hug Kamala madam with huge relief. They had put in a lot of efforts and we could see the results very well.

Dr.Subash, Janakiraman and Sreeja were the judges for the Elocution competition. Snacks was served during the break.

Cultural programs:

After the snack break, children sang some patriotic songs, played a skit and a couple of dances. The songs and drama had very good meaning and brought the creativity of the students to the stage.

Lunch:

Thanks to Vasantham Mrs.Alli madam, we could get couple of rice, sweet, and couple of side dish all included for just rs.30 per person. Last time we had to spend more than 1500 extra, but madam took pains for us to order food for Vasantham and then send it from there for us. This saved us a lot of money and also gave us more variety to serve the kids.

Ice cream was given after lunch and it was time to start the quiz program.

Quiz:

Ravin, our official DI quiz master, started the quiz program. 9 teams of 3 each was selected and after various rounds of eliminations, 3 teams emerged as winners. It was good to see Adyar kids being part of SV home teams and work together and emerging winners. Janu shared on the areas the kids needs to work on to improve their general knowledge.

Vasantham Kids:

Around 8 Vasantham kids came along with madam. Shridhar and Jaikar Ganesh participated in elocution competition. This was the very first time the special kids of Vasantham participated in a program along with normal children. Special thanks to SV home kids and Kamala madam who encouraged the children to participate.

Every single person present was taken by surprise when these kids spoke without any kind of struggle or stage fear. It was just a perfect speech. Later, we came to know that Shridhar could not even stand up and walk when he joined Vasantham six years ago. He could not even speak then. All of us at DI can be proud that our function served us a platform for a special kid to display his special talent. His transformation is an example of dedication and the divine work done by Vasantham. His father had come in the evening and when he learned about Shridar winning prize [ We gave special prize to all Vasantham kids ] along with trophy, he could not stop breaking down.

Sathish, the cute and lovable kid of Vasantham, danced to a mixture of songs and this was followed by a group song. Sathish became a hero and all children mobbed him to shake hands with him.

Prize Distribution and Cultural:

Mr.Suresh Kamath, MD, Laser Soft, Mr.Murugesan and Mrs.Alli Murugesan joined Dr.Subash as chief guests for the prize distribution function. DI friends gave special memento for chief guests made by Vasantham children. Dr.Subash gave a wonderful speech and took time to congratulate Sathish for his wonderful dance performance. Mr.Suresh Kamath was humble and graceful as ever. Mrs.Alli Murugesan thanked DI and SV home for giving a platform for special children along with other kids.

The kids were very happy with the prizes. First prize winners got 4 books, trophy and a certificate. Second prize winners got 3 books, trophy and a certificate while third prize winners got 2 books, trophy and a certificate. For the first time, we gave a small token of gift to each of the children who performed a dance or drama or song.

Janu thanked everyone on behalf of DI, couple of kids shared their thoughts and later Kamala madam delivered vote of thanks. Later we took a few group snaps. Janu, Arunan and myself stayed back to discuss about studies and other things with children.

I take pride in sharing the message from Mr.Suresh Kamath sir - "Dear Natarajan and all Dream India friends, thank you for inviting me and giving me an opportunity to be with you and see those beautiful children smile.Honestly, you inspire me. For me, Dream India is really Dreams come true. God bless you all. Warm regards, Kamath".

The above message is a true reflection of sir's kindness and humbleness.

Sreeja, Kavitha, Arunan, Poornima, Manivanan [ YHM ], Janu, Ravin and Parthy took care of conducting the event smoothly. The event at SV home would have always been special, but this time, the presence of Vasantham kids only made the event very special. DI can certainly be proud of doing things first time and this event is an example of the good work God has chosen us to execute.

Anbudan,

Natarajan

Dream India