Four daring and courageous acts have got etched in my memory:
The first one happened more than thirty years ago, and I had read about it in a newspaper. The incident took place on a Mumbai Suburban Railway platform. A Gujarati group of persons were immersed in conversation among themselves and were totally oblivious to the surroundings. A child belonging to one of them was playing and while it was at play, it was moving backwards and suddenly it fell on the railway track. There was a hue and cry all around, and everybody was awe struck and did not know what to do. And the train was entering into the platform and was coming fast
A college girl suddenly jumped into the track lifted the child and with the child on hand she instantly climbed over the platform at the opposite side, and moved to safety! And within seconds the train had entered that spot.
When asked later by the journalists how she managed to carry out the act, she shrugged her shoulder and answered, “just like that!”.
The second one happened about five or six years ago. This was narrated to me by one of my friends, who had read it in a newspaper that day.
A Russian Security man was holding a baby in his arm and was standing in a balcony of a fourth floor apartment. The baby suddenly jumped out of his hands and was falling! Without even thinking for a moment, the Security man jumped out of the balcony. He was the first one to race to the ground, and as he fell he turned upwards, and throwing his arms upwards, he caught hold of the falling baby in his arms!! The baby was unhurt, and the man had a back bone fracture!
The third one happened about a year or so back! There were floods in a part of Rajastan. Many people were stranded in a village, and the water level was rising menacingly. A bank Officer belonging to that village and working nearby, rushed to the rescue of the village people in his jeep, and moved the people to safety, batch by batch. After completing the task, he was retuning back, when the water had raised neck deep already. Knowing that there is no hope for his survival, he rang up his brother, a high ranking police officer in Tamilnadu, and informed him of his plight, and soon he got immersed in water. His brother’s efforts to save him by contacting the officials in Rajastan were not successful. This I had read in a Tamil magazine.
The Fourth one took place recently, about one month back. A school van taking the children back home capsized into a tank. A teacher of the school named Sugandhi who was in her twenties, was also travelling along with the children in that van. She could retrieve herself from
capsized van and reach the bank safely, but, when she looked back at the van, she saw the young ones struggling to come out. Unable to bear it, she went into the water again, once, twice and thrice to help the children to get out of the van and reach to safety, but, in her fourth attempt, she was not successful . She succumbed to the water. When the firemen retrieved the bodies, she was seen holding the hands of three children in her attempt to save these ones also.
Salutes to these people!!
December 20, 2009
December 16, 2009
Eradication of poverty and upliftment of villages
I find that lots of people, especially students and youth are offering their voluntary services to social organizations, which in turn are involved in the development of villages and in uplifting the poor. Volunteers from US, Australia and Europe visit India, the South Asian countries and the African countries to better the standards of living of the poor. Even in India, good lot of people from the top bracket are offering their services, timewise, moneywise or both to better the conditions of poor, especially children and women.
One of the major reasons for the villages lagging behind is the disparity in pay scales for the same job between a village and a town, a town and a city, a city and a metro, and a metro and a destination in a developed country. Thus if a villager gets $2 per day for a job, the wages are $3-4 in a town, $5 in a city, $6-8 in a metro, $10-12 in metros of top bracket and $40-80 in a developed country, that is 20 to 40 times that of a villager.
But, when it comes to buying an item by a villager, the product being manufactured somewhere else, costs more in a village, than say in a metro of top bracket. Thus, compared to his counterpart in a top bracket Metro, the villager pays 5 or 6 times more relatively. He is penalized here. This holds good for hospital expenses, education expenses, consumer goods, or even agricultural inputs, though many of the agricultural inputs are given at subsidized rates by the government. Where will the poor villager go?? Most of the items mentioned above have become essential items nowatimes.
Adding to these woes is the rampant alcoholism prevalent in the villages.
Making the villages computer savvy and linking these villages to other villages as well as to the world at large by internet is one good way of improving the income of the people. They will get better price for their produce which in turn will percolate down to the income of every one. For example, the price of an egg at Namkkal, a town in Tamilnadu is seen as a benchmark in the country.
Even at village level, all over India, the parents and the children are for good education for the children. Knowledge of English and knowledge of computer are becoming a must, that even the school drop outs attend the classes regularly, when the classes on these subjects are taken by some agency. Thus a good road linking the village to the outside world and an SMU vehicle to take these children to the schools and colleges nearby will be of great help. These vans can also be used to commute a patient to nearby hospital in an emergency. Even commuting the workers to nearby towns and cities to help them earn better wages may be thought of.
Local skills and attractions may be marketted to bring extra income to the people. People may act as guides in tourist locations in the villages or nearby. They also can market their produce there, which is happening already in most places. The NGOs may pitch in here to professionalize the business for the villager, where possible, so that the villager gets better value for his product or service. Local skills may be utilized to manufacture handicrafts, wherein an eye for the market is constantly kept. Thus the popular, modern and the new replace the existing ones. As example the food plates and cups made of leaves of some plants and trees are gaining popularity, especially with plastics shunned by people. These can be produced in large scale as cottage industry and supplied to the hotels and catering people in big way!
Educate the people to give off their addiction to alcohol. Industries may be found if they don't pollute the atmosphere, water bodies or the surroundings. Solar energy and wind energy may be encouraged in villages so that they get 24 hours uninterrupted cheap power supply. Utilize the Mahathma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Schemes properly to improve the infrastructure in the villages, and the amenities and facilities. Form Self help groups especially of women.
Not that any of these ideas are new. Kuthambakkam village in Tamilnadu developed by Mr.Ilango Rangasami stands as an example. When I typed 'Ilango' in google search, somewhere it instructed me to type 'Ilango Rangasamy' or 'Kuthambakkam' to know about the developments in this village. When I typed 'Ilango Ramasamy', the very first web article nri-home-coming.com/LessonsFromKuthambakkamOct18Chicago.pdf gave much better write up on this topic than I can ever do. The article also gives the names of the developed villages in India, Ralegaon Siddhi near Pune (by Anne Hazare), Alwar and Neembi in Rajastan (by Rajendar Singh), Kuthambakkam (by Ilango), Nagarasu in Uttaranchal (Anil Joshi), Vanarai in Maharashtra (by Mohan Dharia), Sagroli in Maharashtra, Vizag area villages (Parameshwar Rao). A reading of the article throws up many interesting details and also an in depth look into the village development. The other articles may also throw up many more details.
One of the major reasons for the villages lagging behind is the disparity in pay scales for the same job between a village and a town, a town and a city, a city and a metro, and a metro and a destination in a developed country. Thus if a villager gets $2 per day for a job, the wages are $3-4 in a town, $5 in a city, $6-8 in a metro, $10-12 in metros of top bracket and $40-80 in a developed country, that is 20 to 40 times that of a villager.
But, when it comes to buying an item by a villager, the product being manufactured somewhere else, costs more in a village, than say in a metro of top bracket. Thus, compared to his counterpart in a top bracket Metro, the villager pays 5 or 6 times more relatively. He is penalized here. This holds good for hospital expenses, education expenses, consumer goods, or even agricultural inputs, though many of the agricultural inputs are given at subsidized rates by the government. Where will the poor villager go?? Most of the items mentioned above have become essential items nowatimes.
Adding to these woes is the rampant alcoholism prevalent in the villages.
Making the villages computer savvy and linking these villages to other villages as well as to the world at large by internet is one good way of improving the income of the people. They will get better price for their produce which in turn will percolate down to the income of every one. For example, the price of an egg at Namkkal, a town in Tamilnadu is seen as a benchmark in the country.
Even at village level, all over India, the parents and the children are for good education for the children. Knowledge of English and knowledge of computer are becoming a must, that even the school drop outs attend the classes regularly, when the classes on these subjects are taken by some agency. Thus a good road linking the village to the outside world and an SMU vehicle to take these children to the schools and colleges nearby will be of great help. These vans can also be used to commute a patient to nearby hospital in an emergency. Even commuting the workers to nearby towns and cities to help them earn better wages may be thought of.
Local skills and attractions may be marketted to bring extra income to the people. People may act as guides in tourist locations in the villages or nearby. They also can market their produce there, which is happening already in most places. The NGOs may pitch in here to professionalize the business for the villager, where possible, so that the villager gets better value for his product or service. Local skills may be utilized to manufacture handicrafts, wherein an eye for the market is constantly kept. Thus the popular, modern and the new replace the existing ones. As example the food plates and cups made of leaves of some plants and trees are gaining popularity, especially with plastics shunned by people. These can be produced in large scale as cottage industry and supplied to the hotels and catering people in big way!
Educate the people to give off their addiction to alcohol. Industries may be found if they don't pollute the atmosphere, water bodies or the surroundings. Solar energy and wind energy may be encouraged in villages so that they get 24 hours uninterrupted cheap power supply. Utilize the Mahathma Gandhi National Rural employment Guarantee Schemes properly to improve the infrastructure in the villages, and the amenities and facilities. Form Self help groups especially of women.
Not that any of these ideas are new. Kuthambakkam village in Tamilnadu developed by Mr.Ilango Rangasami stands as an example. When I typed 'Ilango' in google search, somewhere it instructed me to type 'Ilango Rangasamy' or 'Kuthambakkam' to know about the developments in this village. When I typed 'Ilango Ramasamy', the very first web article nri-home-coming.com/LessonsFromKuthambakkamOct18Chicago.pdf gave much better write up on this topic than I can ever do. The article also gives the names of the developed villages in India, Ralegaon Siddhi near Pune (by Anne Hazare), Alwar and Neembi in Rajastan (by Rajendar Singh), Kuthambakkam (by Ilango), Nagarasu in Uttaranchal (Anil Joshi), Vanarai in Maharashtra (by Mohan Dharia), Sagroli in Maharashtra, Vizag area villages (Parameshwar Rao). A reading of the article throws up many interesting details and also an in depth look into the village development. The other articles may also throw up many more details.
December 11, 2009
Health and mind 1: seeing!!
Seeing, just proper seeing is also a yogic exercise, like breathing, I feel. Yoga means ‘to unite’, and here the whole body and mind unites with the eye when one sees properly, relaxed and without effort, and to his best ability. To my amazement, I came to know that Dr.Bates had already explored, pioneered and spearheaded in this field of seeing properly and without effort. As per their website, Bates association for visual education has evolved the methods, and has trained a set of practitioners to teach people to see the right way! They teach one to improve the eyesight without lens (read glasses) or surgery. Please refer http://www.seeing.org/ or Google search “seeing” and click on Dr.Bates method – Bates Association for visual education, for more information. I am yet to find more about them, or enroll myself for improving my vision though!
When you put your body and mind behind seeing and without effort, the system pools up maximum or the needed energy for seeing and you are able to focus on the object fully. When the eye focuses, the zooming probably automatically happens! In a Phillips TV advertisement, Sachin Tendulkar declares that when he starts batting, he sees the cricket ball as a peck initially, but, as he bats more and more, he is able to see the ball as big as a football over the time! The Cricket coaches always advise the batsman to keep his head down, and probably that helps him to focus on the ball more easily. Pete Sampras, as I watched him in TV, used to swerve to his right and left to gear himself up to focus on the ball that is being served. Most Indians have read in Mahabharat about how Arjuna fully focused and concentrated on the reflection in the pond of the eye of the revolving fish yantra and shot at it by an arrow from his bow to win the hands of Draupadi. In a movie, Bruce Lee, when he points a finger towards moon, asks his disciple to see the moon, and only moon. A lover gobbling up his or her darling with his/her eyes is an ever endearing scene to poets and of course to all of us!
Any instructor on personality development, asks you to look directly on the eye of the person you are engaging in a conversation or in an activity. This helps you to develop confidence. But, seeing anything to your best always makes you confident naturally. You are looked upon as a leader. You are faster, more courageous and adventurous and more of an extrovert, when your vision is better, and proper seeing helps you to improve your vision and grasping.
Proper seeing in the relaxed manner probably pumps more blood to the brain. This helps you to feel fresh alert and energetic all through the day! Thus a simple natural yogic exercise that can be practised all through the day!
When you put your body and mind behind seeing and without effort, the system pools up maximum or the needed energy for seeing and you are able to focus on the object fully. When the eye focuses, the zooming probably automatically happens! In a Phillips TV advertisement, Sachin Tendulkar declares that when he starts batting, he sees the cricket ball as a peck initially, but, as he bats more and more, he is able to see the ball as big as a football over the time! The Cricket coaches always advise the batsman to keep his head down, and probably that helps him to focus on the ball more easily. Pete Sampras, as I watched him in TV, used to swerve to his right and left to gear himself up to focus on the ball that is being served. Most Indians have read in Mahabharat about how Arjuna fully focused and concentrated on the reflection in the pond of the eye of the revolving fish yantra and shot at it by an arrow from his bow to win the hands of Draupadi. In a movie, Bruce Lee, when he points a finger towards moon, asks his disciple to see the moon, and only moon. A lover gobbling up his or her darling with his/her eyes is an ever endearing scene to poets and of course to all of us!
Any instructor on personality development, asks you to look directly on the eye of the person you are engaging in a conversation or in an activity. This helps you to develop confidence. But, seeing anything to your best always makes you confident naturally. You are looked upon as a leader. You are faster, more courageous and adventurous and more of an extrovert, when your vision is better, and proper seeing helps you to improve your vision and grasping.
Proper seeing in the relaxed manner probably pumps more blood to the brain. This helps you to feel fresh alert and energetic all through the day! Thus a simple natural yogic exercise that can be practised all through the day!
When a child is seeing along properly what he/she writes, his/her handwriting improves dramatically. And any act one does, seeing the act properly all along, comes out perfect, and the act is also executed faster
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