An appeal

I am a very happy man today. My computer has never been put to use in a better way than this - serving as an education medium to the students at a government school near Sultanpalya, Bangalore. They have been using this computer to teach students and to get them interested in the learning experience.

This time around, when I met the teachers and heard from them that the computer was being used regularly and that it has been put good use, I haven't stopped smiling like a kid who just won his first trophy! (in fact it is my first!)

Okay, now for the appeal - During this interesting conversation, I found that though the Government does enough by providing food and some clothing to these children, these children still lack some other necessities for education - Books & pencils, Footwear, Bags, extra pair of clothes etc.. I am more than glad to provide them the necessary things, but my appetite is not satisfied by just this.. What will they do the next year and the year after that? I want to build up a mechanism to cater to this.. I am currently building up a fund and volunteers to help me with this noble cause for education..

Also additionally for all you teachers out there, even those that have them buried inside them, I request you to bring them out get the to talk to these wonderful kids. On your Saturdays, and Sundays, get yourself out of the bed early and come out to talk to these lively souls and encourage them to be as mightier as you are, teach them, equip them with the right knowledge, show them the light, (ok, I hope you got my point)..

The good news is that I have found some help in the form of Bharath, Rohith, Siva, & Vaishali. They have already made their initial contributions and have promised they would be glad to provide more than just the money in the future. I am hoping to hear from all of you who are reading this. Also please spread the word out to others.. Please include a link to this post. Just leave me a comment/tweet about how you want to help.. I shall get in touch with you..

Some file photos taken when they were all just excited about the new computer.. 

Creativity overflows.. 

Another interesting thing is, according to the teachers, this photograph has been published in some of the Kannada daily newspapers like - Prajavaani, Kannada Prabha etc, If you have happened to come across it, I would very thankful to the one who sends me a scanned copy or at least, the date on which it was published.

Right & Wrong?

Back in my hometown, after a gap of 7 months was not a big surprise to me.. The ride from the airport to Hebbal and further towards Manyatha reveals the same holes that Bangalore was trying to hide in its beautiful dress that it wears called the "IT/Silicon Capital of India". Dusty roads, delayed construction of flyovers, erratic driving and how can I miss, people still spitting on the roads.

Youngsters like me are constantly under attack from residents for not taking matter into our own hands but exhibiting "escapism", washing our hands - off and flying off to other countries. Negotiating these attacks are very hard and to a certain extent they are justified, though the incriminatory charges are not entirely true. People in Bangalore are exposed to better education system than compared to many other parts of the world. The people in Bangalore are considered as highly talented skill force not just in Engineering, but also in areas like movie making, medical, business ventures involving arts and in fact every other field which requires creativity or a special talent or skill. This is the perception of Bangaloreans across the world. Wherever I travel, I am given the highest respects for my intellectual but more because that I am from Bangalore! NRI (as my wife & mother calls me) are spreading the positives of Bangalore wherever we travel. Recently in Korea during a networking dinner and among some of the greatest minds and some of the high ranked university professors, I was offered the High-Seat (the best seat) because I was from India. This is the word that we spread across the world, that India is a strong force to reckon with, and Indians having the greatest of minds in the world..

Socrates, the 3rd Century Greek Philosopher believed that no one knowingly does wrong. Which he thought meant that if a person does not know what is right, then that person will do wrong, but in the other hand, if the person knows what is right will do right. If this is really the case, then there is a need to re-evaluate reasoning, the rationale for decision making and doing things - simple wrong things like spitting on the road!

How can anybody educate an already educated workforce? How do you convince people who are so good in what they do that they forget to get a picture of what's going on around them? Is it that there is so much of information out there that people just are not able to handle the information infusion? Is there a difference in people about the knowledge of what is right and what is wrong across the world?

How to take this country that is making a big positive mark in the global stage (ignoring the corruption scandals) to the next level which it absolutely deserves? How to help people make better decisions in their daily life? How do you change the inherent belief of people that there are still provisions of improvement and really a long way for reaching saturation and perfection?

Wouldn't it be a faster change if people think of improvements not just at the global scale but also from within!

Thanks to my mother, here is a Youtube Video Link of a stomach churning message talking about youngster's not being able to differentiate between Black and White. This video is about a cowherd expressing his displeasure with the youth and their mindless waste of time. Some important expressions in this song are his references to

• Vivekananda's strong awakening words to the young lions of India to develop muscles of Iron and nerves of steel 

• The very relevant part of this song touches upon the subject of this post - where the cyclones of technology and advancements in modernization has flooded out the candle of  knowledge and humanity. 

Straight from the movie Kappu Bilapu by the famous Kannada movie maker - Puttanna Kanagal. (Unfortunately there is no english subtitles for this song) Credit to Sirigannadiga.