PANCHAAMRITAM 272
(pancha is five in samskritam; amritam is nectar)
Poornima /
Kali Yugabda 5117 / Manmatha Chithirai 20 (May 3, 2015)
This
issue of PANCHAAMRITAM could be posted only on May 13; the delay is due to
unavoidable reasons. – Moderator.
ONE
On Tamil New Year’s Day (Mid April), a group of Indian
Institute of Technology-Madras (IIT-M) students donated unused bicycles to
needy students in nine villages near Tiruvallur (Tamilnadu, Bharat). A total of
53 school students were given bicycles that were abandoned at IIT-M by alumni.
A group of youngsters from IIT-M joined together to reach out to needy students
through the ‘IViL-IIT for villages’ programme. “We learnt that several school
children dropped out because of lack of transport. We came up with an idea to
identify abandoned bicycles on the campus and repair them with funds from
various organisations. It was encouraging to see the excitement on the
children’s faces after the bicycle were distributed,” said Bhanu Chander V., an
MS research scholar at IIT-M. The members of ‘IViL-IIT for villages’ also take
classes and teach computer science in their spare time. “We have now made
posters intimating students who are completing their courses to donate their
old bicycles, in order to reach out to more students,” says Bhanu Chander.
Their next goal is to provide solar table lamps, which are being designed, to
schools. IIT-M students joined hands with Srinivasan Services Trust to identify
school children in dire need of better transportation. (Till very recently, K.
Sandhya, a class VII student of Tiruvallur Panchayat Union Middle School, would
wake up early to help her parents in the fields and do housework. She would
then prepare for a half-hour walk to her school in Aayalur near Sevvapet. She
no longer has to endure the ordeal of long walks as she now has a bicycle). (Based
on a report by Smt K. Lakshmi in THE HINDU, April 19, 2015).
TWO
He had a dream job with IBM in London, a
swanky car and all the luxuries a 27 year-old could possibly imagine. But after
working for four years, Shuvajit Payne decided that this was not what he wanted
to live for. He wanted to do something meaningful in life rather than making a
multinational company richer! Shuvajit Payne graduated in economics from the
Presidency College, Kolkata. He then did MBA from Indian Institute of
Management, Lucknow in finance and marketing and went abroad like many of his
peers. Bracing stiff resistance from parents, society and of course friends,
Shuvajit moved ahead in his pursuit to build a better India. A friend suggested
that State Bank of India’s Youth for India program would be an ideal platform
to take the plunge. Supported by SBI, the 13-month long programme gives an
opportunity to youngsters to work on rural development projects with
experienced non-government organisations. They are provided with a stipend and
connected with NGOs to work towards building solutions to help people, who
don’t even have access to basic facilities. Presently, 54 fellows are working
on a number of projects at 35 villages in 10 states. After the basic training,
he was posted to a village called Waifad in Wardha district of Maharashtra.
Since the Vidarbha region (Maharashtra, Bharat) was prone to farmer suicides,
people wanted to move out of villages in search of greener pastures. If 2 or 3
children from a family get better jobs, they can plough their income back to
farming. So it is very important that they find good jobs, according to
Suvajit. He trained about 300 students in interesting ways. The happiness,
satisfaction and sense of achievement, this job gives is irreplaceable,
explains Shuvajit as he continues to live his dream of building a better India.
(Based on a report by Smt A.B. Manu in Rediff.com, May 11, 2015). Idea:
Shri. Vasuvaj.
THREE
Located in a dilapidated building
tucked away in a nondescript corner of Nizampura in Girmajipet of Warangal city
(Andhra, Bharat) is the Bhagavad Gita Vidyalaya. The school has been constantly
producing hundreds of young scholars in Sanskrit and Bhagavad Gita every year
for six decades. The school was set up by two philanthropists Mudumbai Ramanuja
Charyulu and Motupally Krishnamacharyulu. It secured government recognition in
1971 and was upgraded into a high school a decade later. According to the school
management, of the 300 students, 120 are Muslims and 30 Christians. Initially,
only Hindu students used to join the school, which incidentally is located in a
Muslim-dominated area. Of late, many Muslim and Christian students have joined
the institution. In the recent state-level competition in Bhagavad Gita
recitation conducted by the Jeeyar Educational Trust and the Gita Trust, four
Muslim students won gold medals: Kulsum of Class I, Sadia Feroze of Class VI,
and Saba Sultana and Muskan of Class IX. Sanskrit and Bhagavad Gita are taught
as compulsory subjects, apart from the regular curriculum prescribed by the
state government.
FOUR
It was 8.40 in the night on April 29 when I found out to
utter horror that my bag was missing.
My bus was due to depart at 9.00 pm that night from the Koyambedu Bus Terminus,
Chennai (Tamilnadu, Bharat). After cancelling my journey, I was standing in
front of the terminus nonplussed. I had travelled by an autorickshaw to reach the
terminus from my residence. I lodged a complaint with the police by calling
control room number 100. Even while I waited at the police booth nearby, the
control room official informed me that the bag could be traced as the auto
driver Varadarajan himself had informed the control room about an unclaimed bag
in his vehicle. Shri Varadarajan drove in in his auto with my bag by 10.55 pm.
The contents – my ipad and smartphone - were intact. I joined the police officials
in thanking and patting varadarajan for his honesty. (An experience narrated
by PANCHAAMRITAM reader Shri Nambi Narayanan to Team PANCHAAMRITAM).
FIVE
The
Sri Dattagiri Maharaj Vedic Pathashala located in an ashram in the Bardipur
village (Telangana, Bharat) has an ambiance just like any other ashram - quiet
and peaceful. Established around 55 years ago this ashram teaches the children
the vedas and the mantras and offer a course that trains them in becoming a
priest themselves. But the uniqueness of the ashram lies in the fact that
religion and caste are not taken into consideration for admission. In Hinduism,
the post of a priest has always been conventionally held by a Brahmin and this
ashram emphasises on changing that mentality. The best example of this is
Naveen Naik, a shy student at the school. Naveen, who turned just 14 in April
2015, is a tribal boy from Narsapur in the Marpalli mandal of Ranga Reddy
district. Though this may not mean much to a person in a metropolis, it is a
huge step forward when it comes to abolishing caste-based discrimination that
is prevalent in India. Naveen comes from a humble background. His father, Raju
Naik, is a daily wage labourer and has fought a lot of social stigma to ensure
that his son would become a priest someday. Currently as many as 60 students
are studying in the school and they plan to take 30 more students for the next
academic year. It is a four-year course, with an exam after each year. (Based
on a report by Shri Nitin B. In THE NEWS MINUTE, May 5, 2015). Idea:
Shri M. Venkatesan.
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