Updates on SV home projects

Dear Friends,

I take great pleasure in updating you the status of the projects by Dream India for SV home kids. Ravin and myself, we visited SV home in Poonamalle on Saturday, 20th September, 2008.

• We left Adyar at around 7.15 to reach SV home by 8.30.
• We could visibly see the happiness in the kids when they saw us. They were all preparing for their quarterly examination in the morning.
• We spoke to them and discussed about the Gandhi Jayanthi celebration on Sunday, Oct 5th, 2008.
• Looks like they have already started preparing for it as Parthy had given the topics to be discussed on phone.
• We met Kamala madam and discussed about the newspaper subscription project.

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• We were really amazed to see that right from the day DI started newspaper subscription, August 4th 2008 on wards, madam started the routine of students taking notes on important events covering all sections of news from newspapers.

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• Each day after prayer in the evening, before the study hours, one of the students would read the news of the day.
• They have already completed two long size notebooks of news.
• Ravin and myself, we were totally surprised to see this awesome effort from their side. We were wondering how to effectively make use of this newspaper project, but the kind of positive spirit from them assured us about the success of this project.
• Later madam signed the attached documents and project we declared completed. On behalf of DI, Ravin and myself, we signed the document.
• This was followed by a detailed discussion on the plans for Gandhi Jayanthi Celebrations on Oct 5th, Sunday.
• Details of the same given below.

Plans for 5th:

• After 10 to 15 minutes of discussion with madam, Ravi and myself we decided on the following,

a) 7.30 - 8.00 Volunteers reach SV Home.

[ Parthy, Ravi, Ramya, Viji, Srini, Baskar and Nata confirmed so far. Kavitha - Tentative ].

b) 8.00 - 9.00 arrangements

Arrange the desks and tables with the help of students for quiz and elocution competition.

c) 9.00 - 9.30 - Screening test for quiz

- Would be in Tamil. Questions being prepared by DI Quiz group.

d) 9.45 - 10.45 - Elocution competition.

- Topics already given to the students. Madam told us that anywhere between 10 to 12 students would be selected. She is doing an internal selection to make sure we do not run out of time. 5 minutes of the small kids till 5th and 10 minutes for 6th + students.

e) 11 - 12.30 - Quiz

Indian Independence , Sports, Current affairs, General Knowledge, Personalities and a few other topics. We do not have a projector, so we would use a LAPTOP for Audio/Video rounds.

f) 12.30 - 2 - Lunch

Special lunch - Veg Biryani, a sweet and ice cream by Dream India for all the kids and staff.

g) 2.15 to 4 - Cultural programs by kids and prize distribution.

Students would sing, dance and do some skits. This would be followed by Prize distribution.

Prizes:

• Madam told us about the need of dictionary for the kids. This made us plan as follows.

• All kids who stand first, second and third would get an English to Tamil dictionary, certificate from DI and a trophy. In addition, first prize would get another small book and so.
• Madam also asked for a common dictionary for the Home.

Team:

Parthy, Ravin and Nata - would arrange for the trophies and books required.

DI Quiz group - Preparing the quiz module.

Swami and Parthy - Elocution topics and scale to judge the participants.

Parthy, Nata, Ravin and Baskar - Arrangement for Lunch.

Madam - School already has one microphone, we have asked madam to arrange one more.

Ramya, Viji and Srini - Arrangement of banner and other logistics like laptop on Sunday.

Request interested people to write to me asap so that we can plan this event properly. We are doing a quiz competition and a kind of this for the first time and your inputs would really be of great value.

Also, as far as madam knows, for the past 15 years, there has never been a quiz competition at SV home. This would be first time for them as well. Let us hope to do our best.

The approximate budget we have in mind is Rs.5000 for this event. Of course, a proper request document would be made and shared with the team. It has already been two days since the visit and I did not want to delay this any further and hence shared without the document.

Would like to thank all those volunteer friends who are working across the globe for this event. Also our thanks to couple more, India Sudar - for it is only from them the idea of quiz program came to us and our dear Rajender for letting us know about SV home.

Let me tell you one thing - The kids of SV home are really amazing. They have a superb passion towards the event and the energy they had in them on Saturday completely convinced me and Ravin that we are gonna have a fantastic day on Oct 5th, 2008.

Do join us on this first kind of event in DI - and of course, be a part of History! Don't be the one to hear others say " I was there when it happened", rather be the one who says so!

Regards,

Natarajan

Dream India

www.dreamindia2020.org

Report and snaps of DI Vasantham Onam celebrations!

Dear Friends,

On Sunday, 14th September, as per plan our DI Chennai team visited Vasantham, a school for special children and spent the day with the kids. To say the day was memorable for all the volunteers and kids would be an understatement. We really had wonderful time and in fact madam told me that for the first time ever the kids got involved so much.

Morning:

• Hari was the first one to reach Vasantham. Parthy, Kavitha, Srini, Ramya, Viji and myself we met at T.Nagar around 8.30 A.M
• Ravin joined us at Thirumanagalam and by the time we reached Vasantham, Baskar too joined us with his mother.
• DI team was all set by 9.45 and straight away our friends started arrangement for function.
• Ramya, Kavitha and Viji with the guidance of Baskar's mom made lot of kolams.
• Hari, Parthy, Srini and myself we were involved in arranging the chairs and temp roof for the function.
• Ravin and Baskar [ he put a mehendi shape like BUS ] were busy decorating kids with Mehendi.
• By 11 we were all set for the pooja. Guruswamy did the foundation pooja of the "constructing a roof on terrace" project.
  
• After this, we started of with the programs. All of us prayed for the unfortunate victims of the delhi bomb blast and started the event with paryer song.
• DI members performed jokes from movies.
• Students from Alpha college of Arts and Science sang a few songs beautifully, danced amazingly and entertained everyone very well.
• Volunteers from YOU did a magic show and also danced to a few tunes.
• Hari sang a beautiful song for the kids.
  
• Following this, we had drawing competition for the children. The kids came up with wonderful pictures. One important thing to share here is the picture made by our Srinivasan. He just took 2 minutes to draw a college girl thinking about "Dream India". It was amazing to say the least. [ drawing is in the album from Ravin below ].

Lunch:

• By the time we were done with the drawing competition, it was 1.30 and we called it time for lunch.
• Our friends served the special lunch from DI to the kids.
• Sambar rice, Corriander rice, Biryani, Tamrind rice, Curd rice, Payasam, Carrot halwa, Jangiri and superb Avial were part of the special menu.
• After serving the kids, all DI friends had their lunch. The food was really awesome.

Post-Lunch:

• After lunch, we started off with musical chair to ensure all digest the food we ate. The kids really had fun during their rounds and later even the volunteers joined in.
• This was followed by couple of games for kids: Walk with notebook on head and Lemon Spoon. Volunteers to joined in.
• Next was an interesting part of game as it involved eatables. Bun eating it was....! Along with kids, I too participated in this. Parthy ate a few without even competing.
• In the mean time, we decided to use the concept of "Gift Voucher" idea from Vasantham and gave a surprise birthday gift to Ramya. She bought a superb painting made by kids.

Evening:

• We had a Andhakshri session and this was followed by prize distribution for kids.
• All those who won in games and drawing competition were given prizes by volunteers.
• The kids too gave special gifts for volunteers on behalf of Vasantham.
• We winded up the day with volunteers and kids joining us for dance.
  
• Around about 6.30 we left Vasantham, madam arranged for us to be dropped at Thirumangalam. It was a long but wonderful day at Vasantham and the kids made the day really special for everyone.

We thanked madam for giving us the day for us and she requested to share her sincere thanks to everyone in DI for the wonderful support.

Please do find the completed Project report for the event attached.

Snaps:

Ravin: http://picasaweb.google.com/ravinkumar.s/VasanthamOnamCele#

Nata: http://picasaweb.google.com/natadreams/Vasantham_Onam#

Anbudan,
Natarajan
www.dreamindia2020.org

"Hesitating to act because the whole vision might not be achieved, or because others do not yet share it, is an attitude that only hinders progress." - Mahatma

Updates on Classes@Adyar Corp school

Dear Friends,

Our Dream India Chennai would have another chapter very soon at Adyar. We have already started the work for conducting classes. Please find an update on the same below. Thank you.

Parthy and myself we visited Adyar corporation high school yesterday morning. We met the HM and gave a copy of the order from corporation to him. We also briefed him about the plans we have.

* I would be collecting the names of students today.

* 30 students [ 15 each from 2 sections of 8th std ] out of the total strength of 90 which includes boys and girls as well to be inducted.

* Parthy would be visiting the school next Wednesday to address the students on what we plan to do [ as it would be in the evening, would not be possible for me to join ].

* Students have their quarterly exams from September 12th to 23rd, after which school reopens only by 3rd of Oct.

* Our classes [ apart from intro next week ] would begin in full swing from Oct 4th, 2008.

* Syllabus preparation is already on, will share the details soon.

* Regular updates are being sent to Joint Commissioner Ms.Anu George.

Thanks,
Natarajan
Dream India
www.dreamindia2020.org

"Hesitating to act because the whole vision might not be achieved, or because others do not yet share it, is an attitude that only hinders progress." - Mahatma

DI Chennai: Report and snaps of KK Visit - September 7, 2008

Dear Friends,

As planned, our DI Chennai team along with my friends from TCS- Morganstanley visited the old age home Kaakum Karangal at Thiruvanmiyur last evening.We served Veg Biryani, Raitha, Panner Butter Masala and Bananas to all 43 inmates of the home. We had many of our friends from far off places, even like Anna Nagar, join us y'day.

Hari, back in India, was the first one to reach KK. Soon, Bala and Parthy joined him. As soon as we had Hariharan, Anand, Sajitha, Rajashree, Chris, JP, Elavarasi, Vimala and myself there, we started with the prayer session. Soon after this, each of us started serving dinner.

We took note of the concern of a few that food was spicy. [ We had obviously requested food to be less spicy and oily ]. Overall, the evening was very special that most of us spent a lot of time compared to earlier visits discussing with the inmates. There was also a request to perform cultural programs etc for them during the next visit. We would be planning for the same soon.

Starting this month, this project would be officially executed as Dream India E&C Trust's project. We would issue receipts to donors, make project report and collect all the bills too. Attached the project report for this event.

Friends who were present last night:


Parthy
JP
Sajitha
Rajashree
Chris
Elavarasi and Vimala.
Hari
Hariharan
Bala
Anand
Nata

Friends living abroad supporting the cause:

Janu
Vidya
Eswar
Venki

Snaps:

http://picasaweb.google.co.in/natadreams/KaakumKarangalVisitSeptember2008#


Next trip:

• We have planned our next visit on "October 12th, 2008".
• Proposed dinner: idly, dosa or Poori.
  

Once again, my sincere thanks to everyone for making the evening a special one.

Regards,
Natarajan
Dream India
www.dreamindia2020.org

"Hesitating to act because the whole vision might not be achieved, or because others do not yet share it, is an attitude that only hinders progress." - Mahatma

Updates on Ponni - First mark in all subjects 1st Internal!!!

Dear All,

A very happy news to share with you all. Our Ponni has scored first mark in all the subjects in first internal exam. She has scored 465/500 and has come out first in the class.

I am sure the day she would make us all feel proud is nearing. Thanks to all the members to their wonderful support.

Anbudan,
Natarajan
www.dreamindia2020.org

"Hesitating to act because the whole vision might not be achieved, or because others do not yet share it, is an attitude that only hinders progress." - Mahatma

Visit to Samyuktha Foundation - Hyderabad

This is a short report of my first visit to mobile schools run by Samyuktha foundation in Hyderabad.Samyuktha foundation runs mobile schools around Hi-Tech city in Hyderabad and also supports various other activities. Here is the link of Samyuktha foundation http://samyukthafoundation.org/

I came to know about Samyuktha foundation from Natarajan. On August 23rd, 2008 I finally visited a mobile school in Gacchibowli run by Samyuktha foundation. Its a great day in my life. Many thoughts flooded my mind when I saw those smiling children there. They are just amazing. Some of them gave superb dance and singing performances.

My first task in Samyuktha was to track an 8-year old boy (approx) in Telugu, English, Maths and Life skills. This child's name is Balu.There is some spark in his eyes that amazed me. He performed excellently in Telugu, English, Maths of phase-1(Basic education is imparted in two phases in Samyuktha).I was very excited by his performance. When I asked him what he wanted to become in life, he was reluctant to share it with me.( I gave it as homework to him for next week.)
There is another child named Shailaja.My God! She has very high levels of energy and enthusiasm. She danced superbly and she wanted to perform more and more on that day. She is unstoppable. She not only participated but also encouraged her friends to dance and sing with her(she is a database for Telugu songs).I saw a blooming leader in Shailaja.

Not just these two kids but every child present there is special in his/her own way. They showed me the true spirit of life. I enjoyed every moment of my visit. Unknowingly I helped myself by visiting Samyuktha.

Volunteers of Samyuktha are highly committed to the cause they have taken up. They are full of energy and enthusiasm.(This report will become a very long report if I start writing about them. So I will stop here)

May God shower his blessings on those joyful children and also on all the volunteers of Samyuktha.I am eagerly waiting for all the wonderful things my next Saturday will bring to me.

Thanks,
Geethanjali.

Response from Dr.APJ

Dear Friends,

We take great pleasure in sharing the kind response from Dr.APJ sir about the meeting report.

From: Abdulkalam APJ <apj@abdulkalam.com>
Date: Mon, Aug 18, 2008 at 1:03 PM
Subject: Re: [India_Vision_2020] A report on meeting with Dr.APJ Abdul Kalam on July 25th, 2008 - DreamIndia perspective
To: India_Vision_2020@yahoogroups.com
Cc: Prime Point Srinivasan <prpoint@gmail.com>

Dear Shri Natarajan Raman,

Thank you for your elaborate mail on the event and discussions which took place on 25 July 2008. For me, your mail with all the details was really an interesting material to read. After meeting India 2020 Vision team, I would have met over 100,000 youth at different places like Mumbai, Hyderabad, Pune, Amritsar, Jalandhar, Sultanpur Lodhi (Kapurthala) and Chennai. In all these places, I have given the following message:

I recall a situation in 1990 beginning when I was addressing the youth many young people were asking me "When I can sing a song of India?", Last year in July 2007, I heard them saying "What can I give to my nation?". But on 24 July 2008, I have heard the youth saying that "I can do it".

This message of "I can do it - we can do it and nation can do it" has emanated from the discussions we had with the India Vision 2020 Team at Chennai on 25 July 2008. So I would like to greet all the members of India Vision 2020 for giving the youth an opportunity to join an action oriented team for contributing towards societal transformation.

Greetings and best wishes

Kalam

Thanks,
Natarajan
Dream India
www.dreamindia2020.org