ABRACADABRA!

I always was sceptical when it came to watching a magic show! But am just back after seeing magic happen before my very eyes! My job involves story telling to children,and I was invited to a residential school outside Chennai close to Hosur(about 6 hours by road from Chennai towards Bangalore) to do a 4 day worshop for their kids who are in the age group 5- 13.A school which is a 40 minute drive from the Hosur bus stand in a place called Baliganapalli. It is a co-ed and the children who study there are kids from the economically backward class.The screening is very strict & those kids with a basic IQ level are chosen. These kids are those who come from homes that cannot afford even one square meal a day.

An illustrator friend of mine & I reached there on the 19th night least expecting what we were to see the next 4 days. What we did see was sheer MAGIC!!!On 20th we were taken around the school and then started our sessions after we were formally introduced in the assembly to all the kids. They are all children who are well groomed. Literally & figuratively.Smartly dressed they read the news & stunned us with their perfect pronunciation & enunciation of the words. Once we entered the prekg i.e., 5 year olds , we were surprised with their immediate reaction to their teacher which was, "Aunties are tall,Raji mummy you are short!" They listened with rapt attention to the story with puppets & asked grammatically right questions,all from children who could not speak a word of English a few months back. Our next session was with the 7th & 8th graders. We were trying out a story with pictures on such senior students for the first time but the way they reacted was great!

Each session was an eyeopener for us.Each class a challenge to us. The kids are so fortunte to have a well equipped library & they make full use of it. By the time they are in the 5th grade many of them have read "The Lord of the Rings"!! As they go higher they are so aware of so many things happening around them.Generally when we work with children we try to make them think out of the box ,but with these children they naturally think out of the box!!Talking to them is sheer pleasure and the way they think is mind boggling!!

OVERALL AN AWESOME EXPERIENCE WE WILL NEVER FORGET. THE TEACHERS LOVE WHAT THEY ARE DOING AND IT SHOWS IN THE PRODUCTS THEY ARE TURNING OUT.

Started by Dr.Abraham George Shanti Bhavan is an institution which is his dream. His "India Untouched" part of which is how & why he built this is a great book.



Shanti Bhavan is a place true to its name A HAVEN OF PEACE.Led by a dynamic principal, Mrs.Lalitha Law, the whole team is a dedicated lot.
They always welcome volunteers who are there from all over the world and share some of their knowledge with these children. An exposed lot the children are very creative.

If you have time on hand and you want to use it well try volunteering at Shanti Bhavan.Donations are welcome too.
The details are there in their website www.tgfworld.org.
If you have friends who are looking for a teaching job & want to do it for the love of the profession suggest Shanti Bhavan.
They pay their teachers well for,after all they are the ones who are the magicians.

And if you like me believed magic does not actually happen, take a trip to Shanti Bhavan & you can see magic before your very eyes.

I HAVE, DON'T YOU WANT TO?

Similarly Different

Two movies I saw recently and really enjoyed were:"Thavamai Thavamirundu" (Tamil) and "Rang De Basanti".



Though in two different languages and two varied themes they were both similar but still different.


Both were stories which we have already seen over and over again but... the treatments are what makes them click with the audience.

Both have moments in them which bring a lump to your throat, tears to your eyes which come out so naturally .......maybe it was the acting (natural & a great job by all in the cast ), the screenplay and the direction that worked the magic.

Both the movies make you THINK and THINK HARD at that!Like one reviewer called RDB as a dream & a nightmare.I think it applies to TT too.....!

A dream he justified is what makes you want to go back to sleep & a nightmare helps your sleep vanish!

In a way both the films do exactly that, while TT has a first half so predictable & a "I know what's coming next" feel... RDB has a first half which breezes past so fast that you hardly realise that the film is half way through....

IT's in the second half that things change and the message that the director wants to convey is conveyed so smoothly and subtly that at the end of the film you take home the message and remember it too!

Loving your parents and serving them and loving your country and serving her in the best way you can are the messages the two films convey.

Both themes we have been overloaded with, but.... what what makes these two films stand out is .......... that they both have been shot believably. If at all there is anyone to blame for the current situation it is YOU.
SO LOOK IN is what the films say & they succeed.

Both have touched the right chords and force us to try and look inwards. A journey so essential in today's rat race. We do not take time for this journey inwards.
It definitely is difficult but not impossible if each of us decides to do our bit.

Wat say?

Just their innocent answers!

Kids have a way of stunning you, not knowing the magic they can work on you!

My nine year old son was arguing with his four year old cousin and suddenly he said,"Don't act smart , i have 2000 braincells in one head & i have 10 heads like that , so don't act smart with me. Do u know how many that is?" The four year old instantly replied," I know 20,000." Overhearing all this I was stunned at this quick caculation.
I prodded my nephew Yash, "Please tell me how did you know that 2,000 in one means 20,000 in ten?" He looked at me and didn't answer initially. Then he gave me this all knowing look & said," That's because Doddamma, i have 65,000 cells in my one brain itself."