Kids' day out..

What does one day of no work and just fun mean to you?

To me, it's a routine since that's how I spend most of my time these days, what with no classes and a laptop.

To some, it's a break from the monotony of their work.

But for the 170 kids who had come for Lakshmi Bal Mahotsav, it was a never-felt-before experience!

Lakshmi Bal Mahotsav, a tribute to Lakshmi, is an annual event conducted by Samarthan Club of IFMR in her memory. Orphan and slum kids chosen from some NGOs are brought to IFMR and lot of games are conducted. In simple words, it's a Kids' carnival. This year's event conducted on 29th November is the second one and children from 4 NGOs-Nesakaram, Sarvodaya, Sevalaya and Exnora-participated in it.

I'm not sure what kind of activities these children indulge in normally. It's surprising to see that they are so talented. There was a drawing competition and the drawings that they came up with were simply mind-blowing. I'm sure this is the first time some of them have met children from other NGOs and they were delighted to meet their peer group. They sang, they danced,they teased, they went on the merry-go-round, they threw darts and like any congregation of kids, they fought. Bottom line is they had loads and loads of fun.

Can a simple balloon bursting competition be received with the enthusiasm of a trip to Disney Land? Some of you might say 'after all they are kids. They enjoy everything.' I seriously don't have an answer to that. All I can say is that the difference is most of the kids don't have their parents. Some don't have a proper house to live in. And almost all of them live with a fraction of what we have. Those things we consider are necessary like cellphones, laptops, iPods, cinema in a multiplex, a good meal in a good hotel, etc. are luxury to them. A simple crayon set which is dispensable to us is a prized possession for some of them.

They are not just kids. These are THE kids. The millions in India and elsewhere who dont have their parents, a proper shelter, good diet and most important of all, love of any form who constitute a huge clan. And you can make their day with a smile. Or a small chocolate. Or better yet a day with them. In my experience with kids so far I have noticed that just our presence and little bit of attention and care and love can work wonders. You'll be their hero or heroine. You'll be their role model. A 12-year-old girl asked me how I got the courage to take the mic in front of so many people (I compered parts of the event). I said when she is 24 and is looking at a bunch of 6 to 12-year-old kids, she'll have the courage to do a lot more. Hope I gave her the right answer.

To come back to the original topic, these kids in Lakshmi Bal Mahotsav had a lot to cheer about. And they brought out the child in the hardened executives-to-be. The volunteers comprised of MBA students and researchers gave their best from organizing the events on time and without a glitch to running behind the kids to prevent chaos (in this they failed miserably). At the end of the day, we parted with a heavy heart. One of the kids said,'I have never in my life had fun like this. This day will be unforgettable to me'. Another one said,'Akka (sister),you should never forget us' and 'You should come visit us atleast once'. But Durga's was the most profound statement. She didn't say a word, but she had tears in her eyes...

And those tears spoke volumes.

The Silent Vigil

It's exactly one year since she left us.

When I first met Lakshmi, I was completely bowled over. How can somebody talk non-stop? How can somebody talk non-stop when you are meeting them for the first time? She did. It was our first day at IFMR. When I met her in the reception of the hostel, She said,'Oh! You are Karpagam? I know I'll like you.' How can somebody not fall for that charm? I did.

She was the most vivacious girl I have ever met. The brightest. The first thing you'd notice about her is the non-stop chatter. Nobody was spared from an insult including herself. And when that insult is directed at you with a sweet voice and an innocent expression, it takes sometime for you to catch on. But you could never get angry with her because you know it's all said in good humour. One the few which I received was, 'I dont like it when you come into my room.' I stood for a full 30 seconds with my mouth hanging open. Her eyes twinkled and I realised I had been subjected to one of her pranks.

Then out of the blue, one day, she left us. The culprit being a govt. bus which took a sharp turn and ran over her. She died just as she had lived. In a hurry. I'm sure all of us will remember the exact moment when we got the news. I was returning from the gym after an exhausting work out, my stomach growling in hunger and my legs begging for some rest. And as i read the text informing of her accident, all I could think was it cant be her. Surely, if there existed a God (which i seriously doubted) He would never have let this happen to Lakshmi.

Personally, her demise gave me a whole new perspective of life. Nothing is permanent. And life is too short to worry over trivial things. It's too short to be cautious. And most important of all, never hate anybody. Be a friend to all. Am mentioning this particularly because, though Lakshmi was quite popular, I was never a part of her inner circle. And I would have really liked to be her friend.

Now that she is gone I realise there are a lot of things which I would have liked to tell her. Like what an amazing person she was. Or how there was always a positive vibration surrounding her. Or how the way she had an answer for every single question thrown at her had inspired me. And this has also made me realise that it is important to appreciate people for all the good things they have.

It also raised a lot of other questions.. Is there an after life? Is Lakshmi watching us lighting the candles for her. Did she notice the tears pooling in some of her friends' eyes, while we lit the candles and prayed?

R.I.P. Lakshmi. You will always be remembered..

The bitter taste of Humiliation

Disaster!!

There's a table tennis competition tomorrow. And I, being my arrogant and over-confident self, failed to practice for it. Now am looking down the barrel of defeat.

I accept it's a bit early to say this. But I know myself, don't I? During a practice match today, I played the worst game I could have ever played!

Ok. A brief flashback.

I picked up table tennis during my tenth standard. We had one table in our school, two bats, number of curious students and one over-worked father(the christian one)who was the coach. Play-time was after school or during lunch, whenever we could sneak some time. Later when I went to Avila (one of the best convents in TN), to my dismay I found out that there were players who played at the state level! And down went my confidence of wielding the TT bat like a virtuoso. College came and with it the novelty of being the only female table tennis player! can you believe that?? In a college with almost seven hundred students I was the only player! The physical education sessions used to be a torture since I had to play with guys and they resented every minute of my presence there since I was relatively a novice.

Particularly one of my seniors loathed me since the PE ma'am asked him to coach me for the inter college tournaments. Day after day, he silently endured the torture of playing with me since I couldnt hit 2 shots continuously. When I went into second year, a girl joined the junior batch who was a district player and i'm sure my senior heaved a sigh of relief. TT was my escape portal at that time.. As much as I could, I spent my time the indoor stadium.

Fast forward 4 years and here I am at IFMR. The past two years formed, and still forms, an unforgettable chapter in my TT history.. There are people who are passionate about TT and are extremely good at it. Whenever I see them play, it is always with a sense of wonder.. They spin and twirl and smash the ball left, right and center. And all I can do is wonder if I'll ever play at that level. Again the cycle of being the only active female player continues here and usually I ended up being the only girl in a room filled with boys. But hey! this is IFMR, the B-school! Nobody casts a critical eye on you if you play TT at 5 in the morning with a bunch of guys!

After almost an year of near monopoly in which I was the unchallenged womens player, one girl joined the junior batch who blew me off.. When I first saw her, i thought 'well, here's a greenhorn'. In the first match we played, I was cocky and I swaggered to the table. By the time I came to my senses, she had raced ahead to 8-1 That was a wake up call for me. Now all I had in my mind was that I should reach double figures before I loose. And let me tell you, I had push myself to my ultimate limits to do that. The score was 21-11 when the game got over! Mentally, she had given me a hard shake..

A week ago, we got to know of this competition. The gap between the last match and the practice match, had dulled my memory of the humiliating defeat and I was under the impression that I lost because I was not in my full-form then. As the game progressed, I felt the déjà vu of that long forgotten game. The score was 6-0 and the rest... well, take your guess! Humiliation and defeat are my tags, when she is concerned. The only consolation is, she beat one of the best guys in my batch! Some consolation, huh? :D

Tomorrow what will happen? Will it be a re-run of the old match? Keeping my fingers crossed!!

MBA and I

Swaying from side to side,
I was on a roller coaster ride.
Heavy are my eyes, drooping closed,
I couldn't open them, even if one poked.

Bonds and securities bounce off my head,
My imagination goes, on a jaunty tread.
Oh! There is the risk of getting caught,
In spite of the sleep, with worry I'm fraught.

The prospects of an imminent break,
Look very remote and painfully bleak.
Never have I wanted one more,
All my senses are on uproar.

One sunday during my internship...

Sundays are fun,
Mind's bright like the sun,
No work gets done,
Alas, sooner do they run,
But at CSO Partners all days are fun-filled ones,
Except for the occasional firing from the gun,
There is intention in the pun. :D

(CSO Partners is the company where i'm doing my internship and here the gun is my guide.. facing him is like facing a firing squad. :D)

A lonely summer day..

Sun sun go away,
Come again another day,
Little and sweet and smart and intelligent and cute Karpa wants to play... ;)
Sun sun go away!!
Otherwise she'll kick you out of the way,
And let you dry like a hay,
She will have her say,
If you dont listen to her, you'll pay,
She's doesnt want the month of may,
Coz it gets hotter in the day,
The power has gone away,
What will he say?
When she confronts him in her usual way!!

Goodbye to you, my trusted friend..

Parting is all we know of heaven,
And all we need to know of hell.
Moments shared, memories stored,
In my mind, they've taken abode.
Let all your wishes and dreams come true,
The smallest of whims and fantasies be yours.
Farewell to you, my dear friend,
The world is small and has no end.
Wherever you are, earth or moon,
I promise you, I'll see you soon.

We are ready to lead once more-Barack Obama

As I sat in the TV room of my hostel with 10 other guys on the 20th of January,2009,2200hrs IST, I realized I was one of the millions from across the world, from the biggest metros to the smallest villages, witnessing an incident that will be written down in the pages of world history in bold words with an indelible ink. It was the day Abraham Lincoln had dreamed for and Martin Luther King Jr. had fought for. The first African-American President of the United States was about to be sworn in. Like over a million of others gathered in front of the Capitol building, I was waiting for the swearing in ceremony to start. It felt as if something important was about to happen as soon as Barack Obama was sworn in as the President.

The atmosphere in my hostel was festive with people drifting in and out of the room and cracking jokes on the celebrities gathered for the ceremony. And I was sitting there staring intently at the TV screen, trying to tune out the noise surrounding me. BBC was doing a live coverage of the ceremony. After half hour of TV-staring I started to feel bored. As if on cue, Michelle Obama and her daughters arrived, to keep me hooked on. The TV was showing anybody who is or was associated with the White House or the Capitol. Then there was George W. Bush serenely walking towards the stage oblivious to the enormity of the damage he was leaving behind or indifferent to it.

Finally the protagonist of the show arrived amidst roars and applauses. The day he had been dreaming and campaigning and waiting for had dawned and he looked as ready as he can ever be to shoulder the huge responsibility awaiting him. The aura surrounding the man was almost tangible. As if you could cut through it with a scissor. Finally when it was time to take the oath Obama stumbled and faltered before swearing to “protect, preserve and defend the Constitution of the United States”.

What followed next was one of the grandest speeches I have ever had the chance to listen to and it was delivered such charisma and zeal that it overlooked the previous slip in repeating the oath. It was filled with hope, optimism, determination, conviction and similar adjectives. He started off by thanking George Bush for his sacrifice for the nation and his generosity and co-operation. Whether it was sincere or sarcastic is known only to Obama. He sounded sincere when he said the challenges facing America will be met. He pointed out how America is now and how it will come out of the predicament. He spoke about the past in which people had travelled across the oceans and toiled in the sun till their hands went raw so that their children and grandchildren and grand grand children would have a better life.

By and large, it was a very inspiring speech; for those who wanted to be inspired. Jon Favreau, Obama’s Chief speech writer had made sure of that. For the rest of the cynics, like me it was just a beautiful speech prepared for a special occasion; a speech into which much thought was put in to make it appealing to those who voted for him and make them think they have made the right decision. Now this observation of mine would raise a few eyebrows. The reason why I think so is because, with due respect to him, Obama could not have chosen a worse time to become the President of the largest economy of the world; an economy which has crumbled within the blink of an eye and taken many economies down along with it, a time when the country is looking at the worst economic crisis and the unemployment rate has leaped to a 16-year high of 7.2%. The markets are battered and so is the hope and belief of the people.

How successful will Obama be in restoring America’s past glory and its people’s confidence? Will the country have “A New Birth of Freedom”? Will Obama be the change the country is desperately hoping for? History will answer these questions for us. Meanwhile, all we can do is nothing but keep our fingers crossed, hoping that this man can work miracles.