Parents: Should they try to be their kids' friends?

With so much input coming from all kinds of specialists and especially from the western world (I have nothing against them personally) the current tendency of parents in Indian cities trying to be their kids' friends is setting an alarming behavioural pattern in the kids. Kids always were smart now more so because of the exposure to  all media. While trying to be friends, parents forget that they are parents first, they have a job (a thankless one at that) and any slack on their part would make the job of developing their kids into responsible citizens a muddled one. I am no academic in kids psychiatry, but you would accept my view that when u are trying to teach some value, firmness is essential. Consistency in imparting is a foregone assumption. Above all, since the kids see with their ears and hear with their eyes, practising of  what is taught is also of paramount importance if it is to be inculcated without failure. Citing my own example, as well from those around me in all spheres of life, I have seen a disturbing trend. Children are becoming more self-centered, loud mouthed, mean minded and devil-incarnates, when parents are taking their role of parenting casually. The usual excuse of what can I do, if that is the fate, unfortunately will work in reverse here because of the easy nature. A non-conforming act/talk/behaviour should be dealt decisively and firmly. It has no place in our society, if we want what we have lost. Other wise, in the coming decades, we can see the decadence of western society, seething into our very own veins, and killing us morally completely. We depended on foreign investments, for our industries and economy but we did have a wonderful culture of our own, which was vibrant having stood the test of time. Alas, now it looks like we are going to succumb to that western influence and are heading towards a path of no return if there is no correction immediately. Parents, please look back on what you cherish most and what is the best you have learnt from them and try to impart that to your kids so that they may also feel empowered to face the world with sound values. This whole article needs a bit of re-look and I would definitely welcome a debate on the points raised and methods to achieve.

A Blood Donation Camp Hosted at Gunata Vihar

It was proposed to have a blood donation camp On 8th Nov 2011 at our residential quarters, gunata vihar. Nimhans blood bank had been approached to collect the blood and sanjaynagar lions club would assist with the conduct of the camp along with us volunteering residents. The camp preparation had been done previous day itself with all furniture, wastebaskets chairs etc in place. On 8th at 9.15am the team from Nimhans came with all the donor beds, blood extraction kits, and donor refreshments. We added large sized banans for replenishing the sugar and salts in the body of donors. Camp started in right earnest at 1030am with our Controller coming with his family to donate blood. But only his daughter could donate blood as he was deferred for high blood pressure. We were in for a surprise when eight ladies came to donate blood all of them donating for the first time. Hats Off to you all ladies may you donate many many times more in your life!!! Also, there were a unique couple, col SK Mishra and his wife leena Mishra who donated blood creating a record in the campus. The volunteers team of sanjaynagar ably lead by Shri Kurien matched the vigor and smile of the RWA team comprising Saravanan and his friends. I had a whale of a time interacting with first time donors, there were 31 of them to make sure, they do indeed come back to donate many times in future. The camp was a roaring success with 68 units collected from the camp. Here once more to all those 68 donors, a hearty congrats and thank you for saving lives by donating blood and thanx to all those volunteers who made the event a memorable one.You may watch the photos of the camp by clicking on the links below.
Voluntary Blood Donation & CARDIAC Screening Camp
Blood donation camp photos.https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1888235504167.74563.1789843046&type=1https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.2222562239617.2098315.1114550859&type=3

An obituary to two people from very different parts of the world

Its with a very sad heart that I noted that Shri Mattur Krishnamurthy that wonderful half of the gamaka duo of keshava-krishnamurthy passing away at bengaluru on vijayadashami day 06 Oct 2011. the man who promoted and propagated the gamaka art form through his renditions of the bharata and ramayana ably assisted by the resonant voice of kesavamurthy. Many will not have interacted with this simple human being had single handedly bought about the establishing of bharatiya vidya bhavan branch in london and stayed there as its director for close to three decades(not sure). True gandhian that he was, he wore that wonderful smile like that of happy kids on his face and his white attire and the vidhuti and kumkum on the forehead completed the dress. I had the good fortune of meeting him many times during the visit to bharatiya vidya bhavan functions in bangalore. He was the constant along with ramanujan at the khincha hall on most functions there. Ever patient with his audience and always expressing thoughts in clear, precise and well modulated soft tones we have lost a gandhian in this era of instant attention seekers and self styled experts. May he rest in peace. You are leaving behind a large fan following who admired and tried to bring at least some simplicity into their lives.


Sadly, at another part of the world, we have lost a genius Shri Steve Jobs who gave apple and mac computers, the animated movies through pixar and not to forget the ipods, iphones, ipads and U name a gadget which had that I must have it feel he would have had a hand in its coming to the earth. May his soul rest in peace. Though he was a college drop out by choice, he made the life of college students so bearable through his gadgets. Each segment of human beings were touched by at least one of his gadgets. Such was the vision and design capability of this great engineer. 

pratham-the ngo that promotes reading in kids.

Set up in 2004 to promote reading activity among kids, Pratham has grown hugely in last few years. Please copy paste the rest of the blog to promote it amongst friends. thanx

Activity: Pratham Books was set up in 2004, as part of the Read India movement, a nation- wide campaign to promote reading among children. Pratham Books is a not-for-profit organization that publishes quality books for children in multiple Indian languages. Our mission is to see "a book in every child's hand" and democratize the joy of reading.

In the last 6 years we have published over 200 titles in upto 11 languages and have spread the joy of reading to over 12 million children!
Details: Read about our why we are using Creative Commons here: http://creativecommons.org/weblog/entry/24780
Support: reading, literacy, education, kidlit, children's literature, publishing
Note: We have put a lot of our content under the Creative Commons framework and we have begun to see success with this. Which means that we make our stories and illustrations available under an open license model and the larger community can then repurpose our content to create something completely new and thus contribute to the cause of a book in every child's hand. Our books have been adapted by our community into a range of  new creations from audio and Braille books for the print-impaired, to iPad and iPhone applications - all to reach every child in India.

We are hoping that many more people can come forward and help translate/remix/re-purpose/distribute our Creative Commons licensed content.
This post is a part of BlogAdda's Bloggers Social Responsibility (BSR) initiative. I am exercising my BSR. You can too with three simple steps. Visit http://www.blogadda.com/bsr/  and support the NGO's.

Giving in India

This is a different kind of blog post. I am posting this for the twestival which is on for the benefit of NGOs. The money generated will be donated to a charity which one chooses. So, friends if you feel strongly that you can do something, please be that and do.

        Much has been written about the giving in print and bandied about in the e-media. But, considering the close to 120crore population of our country, it is never enough and never sufficient. the least each of who can think, and feel for the under previleged, is to do something that is practical and do able than preach about the same. Its like this, by writing this blog, i will be spending my 10 minutes, the thoughts go around the people, who dont have shelters, who dont have a square meal a day, can't afford schools, but will benefit from the large hearted efforts of common people like u and me by those ngos which are nurturing them. If you can't donate money, no issue. Please donate ur time, talent and any other thing which you feel, will make life better for those, who dont have those.

I would like the amount generated from this blog be donated to India Literacy Project.

ಹಳ್ಳಿಯಿಂದ: ಬೆಂಬಲ ವಾಹನದೊಂದಿಗೆ ೧೩೫ ಕಿಮಿ ಸವಾರಿ

Shri Nelyadi govinda Bhat had an adventurous trip of around 135 km in his recumbent bike recently. the  link will lead to that post.


ಹಳ್ಳಿಯಿಂದ: ಬೆಂಬಲ ವಾಹನದೊಂದಿಗೆ ೧೩೫ ಕಿಮಿ ಸವಾರಿ

BLACK EAGLE'S DAY OUT ON JAN 16 2011

5th Bangalore Bird Race was scheduled on 16 Jan. Probably the largest in terms of team members 7 in total, and diverse in its composition, the Black Eagles set from IISc campus in the wee hours. Ably lead by Dr Gururaja KV and supported with occasional  glares and looks by the wise captain ((c) guru) Priti Gururaja. Bringing human touch with identifiying and pointing with avanyaru nodi, ivan ivanallava... was Dr Harish Bhat with constant ribbing on sarathi of the trip. I wonder where Dr HS Sudhira stores that inexhaustible source of energy in his 5o kg fragile frame? Its definitely not easy manoevering the bangalore traffic. He knows best being the man who gaveus urban sprawl! But his driving skill, we will explore in instalments. His passion for bird watching, was evident in the way he was excitedly pointing out the (at least to me difficult to spot even with binocs) lone rangers in distances. Dr Raghu Hedge, had come with his full trek kit, awe inspiring camera in tote, water bottle hitched to the everpresent backpack. How can I not mention my pick up and drop, cousin Dr NA Aravind, who with his keen ears and sight could come to identifying conclusion in a jiffy.(the one he dilly dallied did cost the eagle's their 15 seconds on the ramp PS also as Harish rightly said, who wanted a three way tie to the bird of the day???? sharing 2/3 of nice calenders!!)

       As the team assembled at the CES parking lot, as is the tradition, (BTW, I am going to bird watching after a gap of a few decades??) and started off in royal style to wards the silver jubilee pond. If you are looking for all the birds we spotted on the way, I will link it later. The sight of almost empty and barren pond bought tears to the eyes of team members whose fond memories were ignited in a unique way. the highpoint of this leg was the spotting of only the second sight till date of orange breasted green pigeon (link). the oohs and aahs of the team members were heard by the obgp but still he managed  to strike a stoic pose knowing fully well the fans and load of appreciation ahead. 

        The end of this leg culminated in the Nesara with steaming idli vadas bathing in sambar and hot coffee. Team left for the Hebbal lake, which unfortunately resembled the hampi ruins. The numbers and variety of winter visitors were meagre and not worth the stopover. But an interesting point here was a keen kid in his pre-teens, evincing interest to join the eagles on their expedition. He was sporting a pretty high tech camera, aiming and shooting any thing coming in the way. The kid was given some key pointers on birding and id by our Sudhira in his inimical style. 

       Surprisingly, traffic on the bellary road didnot test Sudhirs prowess. At puttenahalli lake (I don't know why it is still called so, because I could neither spot lake or water) which is covered mostly by hyacinth(?) few waterbirds were noticed and after a brief chat with the guards on duty, we left. A surprising feature by the side of the entrance is the CNR bar and resturant (renovated) evoking strong memories of the former director of IISc.

ನಿದ್ರಾ ಭಂಗ

ಮೊನ್ನೆ ಇದ್ದಕ್ಕಿದ್ದ ಹಾಗೆ ನಡು ನಿದ್ದೆಯಿಂದ ಎಚ್ಚರ ಆಯಿತು. ವಿಶೇಷ ಏನು ಅಂತ ಕೇಳ್ತೀರ? ಬಲ ಕಿವಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಒಂದು ಸೊಳ್ಳೆ ಹೊಕ್ಕಿತ್ತು. ಪಾಪ ಅಂಕು ಡೊಂಕು ಒಣ ಬಾವಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಸಿಕ್ಕಿ ಬಿದ್ದು ಹಿಂದು ಬರಲಾಗದೆ ಮುಂದೆ ಹೋಗಲಾಗದೆ ಫಜೀತಿ ಪಡುತ್ತಿತ್ತು. ನನಗೋ ನಿದ್ದೆ ಹೋಗಿದ್ದೊಂದು ಕಡೆ, ಈಗ ಸೊಳ್ಳೆ ಏನಾದ್ರು ಕಿವಿ ಒಲವೆ ಕಚ್ಚಿ ಬಿಟ್ರೆ ಏನ್ ಮಾಡೋದು ಅನ್ನೋ ಯೋಚನೆ ಇನ್ನೊಂದ್ಕಡೆ. ಸರಿ, ಒಳ ಕಿವಿಯ ತಮ್ಮಟೆ ಹತ್ರ ಹೋಗ್ತಾ ಇದ್ದ ಹಾಗೆ, ನಗಾರಿ ಬಾರಿಸಿದ ಸದ್ದು, ಕರ ಕರ ಪರ ಪರ ಅಂತ ರಾತ್ರಿಯ ನೀರವ, ನನ್ನ ಯೋಚನೆ ಎರಡನ್ನೂ ಕದಿಯುವ ಸೊಳ್ಳೆ. ಮಗ್ಗುಲು ಬದಲಿಸಿದರೆ ಹೊರ ಹೋಗಬಹುದು ಅನ್ನೋ ಯೋಚನೆ ಬಂದಿದ್ದೆ, ಮಗ್ಗುಲು ಬದಲಿಸಿದೆ. ಊಹೂನ್ ಸೊಳ್ಳೆ ಜಪ್ಪಯ್ಯ ಅನ್ನಲಿಲ್ಲ. ಮತ್ತೆ ಕರ ಪರ, ಯಾವ ಎಮೆರ್ಜೆನ್ಸಿ ಹಿಂಸೆಗೂ ಕಮ್ಮಿ ಇಲ್ಲದ ಕರ್ಣ ವೇದನ. ಅಯ್ಯೋ ದೇವರೇ ಈ ನಡು ರಾತ್ರಿಯಲ್ಲಿ ಯಾವ ಕಿವಿ ಡಾಕ್ಟರ ಹುಡುಕಲಿಕ್ಕೆ ಹೋಗಲಿ ಅಂಬೋ ಸಂಕಟ ಬೇರೆ. ಅಮ್ಮವರನ್ನು ಏಳಿಸೋಕ್ಕೆ ಭಯ (ಆಮೇಲೆ ಸುರುವಾಗೋ ಹಿಂಸೆಗಿಂತ ಕಿವಿ ನೋವ ವಾಸಿ) ಬೇರೆ. ಇದರ ಮಧ್ಯೆ  ಕಿವಿಗೆ ಹೊಕ್ಕೊಂಡ ಅರಳೆ ಯಾಕಪ್ಪ ಮಲಗೋ ಮೊದಲು ತಗಿ ಬೇಕಿತ್ತು ಅಂತ ನನ್ನನ್ನೇ ಜರೆಯುತ್ತಾ ಅತ್ತಿತ್ತ ಮಗ್ಗುಲ ಬದಲಿಸೋ ಕೆಲಸ ಸುರು ಮಾಡಿದೆ. ಇಸ್ತರೊಳಗೆ ಪಾಪ ಸೊಳ್ಳೆ, ಯಾವ ಕಾಲದಿಂದ ಕಲೆ ಹಾಕಿದ್ದ ಗುಗ್ಗೆ ರಾಶಿ ಒಳಗೆ ಸಿಲುಕಿ ಸುಮ್ಮನಾಯ್ತು. ಅಯ್ಯಬ್ಬ ಬದಿಕಿದೆ ದೇವರೇ ಅಂತ ಮಲಗೋ ಮೊದ್ಲು ನೆನಪಾಗಿದ್ದು ಅಪ್ಪ ನನ್ನ ಬಾಲ್ಯದಲ್ಲಿ ಕಾಲ ಮೇಲೆ ಮಲಗಿಸಿಕೊಂಡು ಪ್ರತಿ ವಾರ ಕಿವಿ ಸ್ವಚ್ಚ ಮಾಡ್ತಿದ್ದ ಸೀನು. ಭಾನುವಾರ ಮಧ್ಯಾನ ಸ್ನಾನದ ನಂತರದ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಅದೇ. ಒಂದು ಸಣ್ಣ ಸೈಕಲ್ ಸ್ಪೋಕೆ ತುದಿಗೆ ಅರಳೆ ಸುತ್ತಿ, ಹಗೂರಕ್ಕೆ ಕಿವಿಯಾಗೆ ಸುತ್ತಿಸುತ್ತಿದ್ದರೆ, ಸಣ್ಣಕ್ಕೆ ಅಮಲು ಏರ್ಕೊತಿತ್ತು. ನಿಜ ಹೇಳ್ಬೇಕು ಅಂದ್ರೆ ಅದ್ನ ಅನುಭವಿಸ್ಬೋದಷ್ಟೇ. ಬರ್ಯೋಕೆ ಖಂಡಿತ ಆಗಲ್ಲ. ಈ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಇನ್ನೊಂದು ಕಿವಿಗೂ ಮುಗಿತು ಅಂದ್ರೆ ನಾವ್ ರೆಡಿ. ಸಣ್ಣದಾಗಿ ಹೇಳ್ಬೇಕಂದ್ರೆ ಪ್ರತಿ ವಾರ ನಾನು ಕಾಯ್ತಿದ್ದ ವಿಶೇಷ ಕಾರ್ಯ ಇದು. ಅಪ್ಪ ಏನಾದ್ರೂ ಕಿವಿ ಕ್ಲೀನ್ ಮಾಡಿ ಇಟ್ಟಿದ್ರೆ, ಸೊಳ್ಳೆ ನನ್ನ ಕಿವಿ ಧಂ ಅನ್ನಿಸ್ಬಿತ್ತಿರೋದೇನೋ?