The Connect !

The Connect is a 'high' - Like the dancing the right moves to the beat , timing the ball perfectly well with the cricket bat , Pacing a 15 km run well over the course and sprinting to the finish, picking the right song for that car drive at night, packing the right "to-do's" in a day - never too much or little , business meetings going the way we'd prepared for and many more.

Yesterday i found a few more connects and high's during the Deepam class at Olcott School.

• The kid we taught at the school trying to reply in English - His Tamil response and the sentence being translated and formulated in English by him ( and the joy on his face when we said he was right !! )
  
• This other kid ( after being "talked to " by me ) going back to his computer and working along with his team mates and helping them with tricks of using Word processor
• The class listening to Basu teach them and stopping him to ask questions !

The little joys on saturday afternoon !

Deepam on Times of India !!!

It was nice to see Deepam featured in the Times of India paper on 14th July 08. The big goal for our group is to positively affect 1000 kids by 2010. Media mentions such as this will surely help us gather more support in the goal chase !

Here is the online article. If you want to know more about Deepam, please go to www.deepam.in

Idea # 4 - The Village Potter

Before I begin - Am just "reporting" here -

A few months ago, i met this guy - An Indian, born and brought up in the US. He had returned to India to do social work for a year. He is my age ( young !! ) and had travelled to a village, about 250 km west of Chennai, India. This village was in the middle of hilly terrain and hence, a trip to the grocery / vegetable store takes more than a day. And none in the little village could afford a refridgerator. Result - The food that people ate usually was devoid of vegetables and most of them were undernourished.

His solution - Low cost "refridgerator".

He designed a "system" that would lower the temperature inside the "system" by 10-15*C compared to the outside temperature.

The System - 2 pots : a large and a small one. The smaller pot is placed inside the larger one and the space between the two is filled with sand. Sand is always kept watered. The resulting evaporation through the pores in the pot caused the cooling and lowered the temperature inside the smaller pot by 10-15*C .

Since the cost of this "system" is just Rs.80 , all the household in the village could afford this system, store the vegetables and eat healthy food.

and.. the village potter is having the time of his life!

(P.S. I meant to write this one months before - but completely forgot about it. Thanks to Abhi for the link to Guy's blog, where he had written about the pot idea ! )

Sports Story #5 : The Pull

It was more than a year ago - i would put on my running shoes and head out for the usual run. I succeded, as far as getting on the road. Most days, i ended up walking and in the few, i did run, the run would stutter to a stop and a walk, in a few minutes. Physically, i could've run a marathon ( which i actually did, at Mumbai in Jan 07 ). But it was the mind - a thousand thoughts . This was right after the Mumbai marathon finish ! I tried - to not think at all. To break free - of the thoughts. I wanted to wake up fresh. I wanted to sleep. I wanted the energy. And i almost gave up on my runs.

Between the mumbai marathon finish in Jan 07 and March 07, the shoes just gathered dust , from my house, not the road. The shoes, btw, were new - a 6k adidas ( new shoes usually don't have try too hard to get dirtied ).

And i did run in May 07 - the midnight marathon - managed my best half marathon timing so far - 2:15 .

Sometime in March, this guy took a liking to call my phone at 5 am in the morning !! I ignored it a for few days ( well, can't go running, having not slept a wink ). He decided not to give up ( just like me ! ). He threatened to come home ! And i did turn up for a morning run - when everyone else had burned the road and got ready to go home . Walked for a bit with him and i went home. In a few days, his calls woke me up on time and my jogs took me across a few km. He would run with me , get me immersed in a conversation and take me away from the 'thoughts'. Soon, i was running with him for a good 45 mins.

For more than a month, he would run with me on most days. This guy runs the fastest in my running group, but for a month, he ran at my slow / steady pace. He pulled me out ! Thanks Coach ( Hari )

This post is dedicated to his dad and mom, both of whom passed away, recently.

I guess , it is my turn to take a liking to call his phone at 5 am...

Any Given Sunday - Peace

This one gets me all the time ! Even now, after a few years and many hundred times of listening . When i was a part of Frost cricket team, we used to listen to this one before the big games / tournaments... :)

Enjoy

Moview Review : Dasavatharam

I have not taken the initiative to watch a movie in a long time - I blame my friends for all the pampering - the pull, tickets, pick-up and more :) . But for some reason, i was bent on watching Dasavatharam last weekend. When the first "source" didn't work out, the fall back was my usual guy - Always got tickets from him for weekend shows / 'closer to painpoint' shows. The 30+ calls i had to make, all of Saturday to get the tickets to watch Dasavatharam was definitely worth the time. A case of making up the mind to do something ( watch the movie ) and doing all it takes to accomplish ( watch !! ).

Plus :

• The pace of the movie - i thought i was reading a Bourne series book :) ( yess! )
• "RAW Kamal's" comedy !! He replaced the need for Vivek / Vadivelu
• Stunts - One of the best i've seen in Tamil cinema
• Story and the Characterisation of "Flectcher" , "RAW Kamal " , "Scientist Kamal "
• Brilliant acting by Kamal in each of the roles

Minus :

• Screeching by Asin - Not to blame her. She hardly had any scope.
• Music - Could've been a lot better
• Make-up Mishaps - Some roles had near perfect make-ups but some let down badly

I went in expecting a serious movie from Kamal. It turned out to be an entertainer. Friends and i thoroughly enjoyed the movie !

It is definitely a must watch !

Choices and Cravings

Choices, sees a few in front of him. Picking 1 has always been easy. When the car has built up speed to the crossroads, there is only one way it can go. The direction and speed , dictated by the events and not really the daily traffic.

Insurmountable want ? Passion ?

Deepam Starts off the 2nd program

Friends,

Please check www.deepam.in , for the post on the latest program.

Am also posting here...

Deepam started off its 2nd computer program at Besant Nagar. Thanks to Nalamdana, we have a clean place (with a great view of the sea ) where we teach the kids, at the Olcott Kuppam area.

Start Date : May 24 , 2008
Place : Olcott Kuppam, Besant Nagar
Class : Saturdays - 2 PM to 4 PM
Duration : 4 Months

Ram lead the class, taking the kids through an interesting path, trying to get the kids to open up and ask questions. He began by getting the kids to talk about the dreams and openly encouraging the kids to go after the dreams.


In a subtle way, he was making the kids think , leading them into areas they have never been before - the master at work ! It was a lesson for not just the kids - for us volunteers as well !! From thirukural to tamil movies, civil engineering to animation, input / output devices to MS Paint, the kids were taken through an interesting session.

The kids then had their "hands-on" session - they let their creativity free on MS Paint. It sure was a happy feeling to see the kids hooked on to the laptop, exploring MS Paint - they probably know more tricks with the tool than many of us do !!!



Personally, the class is a source of great joy . The times spent with the happy kids just whizz past ! Every time in the last 2 weeks, i had gone on near empty gas ( late night work .. ) but came out of the session charged up. The kids' energy levels rub off on us !! Their smartness keeps us on our toes . The class' also serve as a way to discover myself as a person - it teaches me to be patient all the time . This is a class where learnings happen both sides - both the volunteers and the kids learn :)

If you guys have the time, just feel free to drop in during the class / volunteer to teach .

thanks

kk

My Favourite Writer !!!

I wish i had her ability to express thoughts... Like she did here

" For the chronic traveler some journeys end and some others begin. The feeling of standing at the very brink of a new world always seems to persist. Maybe that is the drug, his only known addiction. His face, like worn leather, looks hardened by the sun and toughened by the winds. The scars on the other hand, marks from another world, tell vivid stories. His skin is by no means flawless........

.....Defeat is his when another journey, another trip, another mad plunge seems beyond his mental fiber.... "

Exactly what was running through my mind ! Thanks Anu !

ECR Cycling

After an absence of almost 4 months, i rode my bike - thanks to the ECR Cycling event organised by Chennai Runners and TI cycles. The participation and the ride was just simply awesome!

We had over 40 people cycling and many of them had never attempted the planned distance - 30 km !

I was very happy to see some pals cycle all the way to the finish. Having never cycled this distance before , they were apprehensive at the start. The finish line was one joyous scene - everyone on the finisher's "high" and lively !! The excitement, positive energy and the "high" was visible on every single finisher ( all of them cycled the entire distance ).-Archu / Amie - the 2 sports who had never done endurance sport before ! Both completed the distance easily !


Personally, i had a great ride. I started off pretty well and led the group for about 10 km, before i was overtaken by guys riding in TREK's ( Some day, i will get a TREK too ). At the 15 km turnaorund point ( crocodile bank ), TI had had a pit stop with refreshments. I had much needed energy bars and water and decided to chase the TREK's to Mahabalipuram.



A stead head wind kept coming at us right through till Mahabalipuram. I loved cycling the stretch between Crocodile bank and mahabs - we did 28-29 kmph . At the mahabs turnaround point, we had done 27 km in little over an hour.

The ride back was made easy by the tail wind. With speeds around 26-27 kmph, we were cruising until a puncture stopped a friend's ride. We lost 20 mins , before the backup vehicle picked him up. Then on, it was a smooth ride to the finish line.

A big thanks to all my pals who waited patiently at the finish line !

Ride stats :

Total Distance - 55 km
Route - ECR from Toll Booth to Mahabalipuram and back
Avg Speed - 25 kmph
Top Speed - 29.5 kmph