I am the receiving end ~ part 4

                                            IBYS – The big brother

This is the week to show my appreciation to people who care……

Each time I go to Tenerife, I always visit IBYS (International British Yeoward School).

During my last visit, I made a power presentation of Swami Brahmananad Pratishthan for the group of IBYS students. After my power presentation, a 7-years-old young boy came up to me and asked me if he could help those children in India. I was so touched by his interest for those children whom he had never ever met that I cuddled him closer and explained to him about mental retardation.

The students were moved by my presentation, and they organized a boot sale and a fund raising program where they sold cakes, pastries and other delicacies made by them. Before I left for India, they invited me again to the school and handed over 500 Euros for the kids.

IBYS is the school for elite who have helped our school since last eight years.

In 2002 Mrs Linklater and Mr. Arthur (the staff members) decided to step in and give us a hand on our very huge project called “Project-50” which would enable an additional fifty students to be accommodated in our school for vocational activities. The expansion of our school meant a large expense for a brand new Vocational unit to be built on a totally new floor. The school under their guidance organized various bazaars , fairs etc and contributed partly for this project.

Since last eight years, our relationship with this school has matured. They helped sponsor our 'Go Green' project, whereby children are trained in gardening and are able to earn a little stipend by selling the sapling

For our children who were finding it difficult to use the public transport, IBYS collected funds and helped us to buy a mini bus for the school.

Over the period, their regular funds have been used to furnish the different classroom. As recent as in May 2010, kitchen articles were also purchased for our vocational unit.

We have two students who are sponsored by them; the expenses cover everything, education, uniform and activities.

During this ‘Joy of Giving week, I would like to show my appreciation to these 2 wonderful teachers, Mrs Margaret Linklater and Mr. Kevin Arthur, and the students of IBYS, who have sacrificed so much for a small school , in a distant land , a modest school for the mentally challenged which has really spent a long time struggling to stay afloat .

Thank you so much!!!

I am at the receiving end ~ part 3

FB status message has weight

One good thing I like about the facebook is the status updates.

I spend more than thirty minutes per day, reading my friend’s updates. “What’s on your mind?’ it says and I am highly amused reading the thoughts of my friends, sometimes in verse and sometimes in quotes. Some are funny, some are silly, some just crib and some are very informative.

And

Some status messages on Facebook have some weight and this I discovered when I saw Mayuri Shaarma’s status.

Her status messages are appreciated in blogosphere; they are witty and fun to read. Many people have suggested to her to jot down the messages for a future book sale (of that I am jealous, heheehehe, nah, actually envious)

During the Rakhi festival, she purchased some rakhis made by the kids of the Special School, these were simple Rakhis, some vibrant colorful threads with small beads meticulously strung together and she had loved them. One day she surprised me by posting her status message that mentioned me, “Earn some karmic points, by buying beautiful Rakhi’s from Swayam. Contact ‘Pushpa Moorjani’ for more details.”

This status had great results. Many of her friends hopped over into my friend list and many of her friends contacted me to ask for details. Such wonderful friends she has. Not only did they help in sale of Rakhis but have also been associated indirectly with the school. Her friend Jyotsana Kumar is blogger who writes regularly about the problems faced by the parent’s of MR Child, her blog is very informative and beneficial to the parents of our students and it is now linked with the school blog.

Her other friend, Mamta Khatiwala, who lives in USA, ordered more Rakhis than what she would need and paid generously for it, all this for the school that she has never visited but heard about it from Mayuri’s FB status.

What was more, she sold those extra rakhis to her friends and collected more funds for the school, her reason being that she would normally purchas rakhis in her home town for around $2-$4 and they were so pathetic. She felt cheated when she was forced to buy them because she believed that those were the left over Rakhi's that our Desi Bandhu's ( store owners) got from India and sold them there at premium price & people like them bought it as they had no choice.

“I sincerely believe that God has his ways to pick people and bless them by sending opportunities as such!” says Mamta

How true!!

Blessed are those who get these opportunities to meet such people who connect them with the other world and lucky are the kids at my school.

During this ‘Joy of Giving’ week, I take this opportunity to thank these three young ladies.

Thank you Jyotsana and Mamta, Thank you Mayuri, IOU big time!!

I am at a receiving end ~ Part 2

Power of Internet

Four years ago, much before I discovered Facebook, I was an active Ryzer. I took part in daily discussion at different forums and made many friends. Many times the friendship extended to private messages that had tightened my friendship with many people and they had seeped into my closer circles.


Inner strength and compassion can make one touch the person whom one has never physically met. The distance between two people depends on common interest. Two people sitting in the same room may be miles apart, on the other hand if one truly cares, the distance diminishes and all that matters is the interest in sharing the moments that lead to the common goal of happiness. The person who finds such friends is the luckiest one.

And I am truly blessed with many such good friends!!

Vimmi Jaggi (Vee Jay) is one of those friends whom I came in contact during those days, four years ago. She would send me private messages and we would exchange notes. She expressed her admiration for my work and wanted to help my school. One night I stayed up late to have long chat with her. I had never before spoken to any stranger online. This was my complete new experience. It was the first time that I realized the power of internet. I became aware that there are many people out there who can be reached by only ‘words’, that you don’t have to physically touch the person to see whether they care, that as long as you do things with a clean heart, the universe provides the opportunities.

I was hesitant to talk, I am not used to talking with strangers, I would only chat on msn with my family members and close friends who are spread around the world, Vee Jay was the first stranger to whom I spoke online and she made me comfortable and listened patiently as we discussed the activities of my school, Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan, Centre for Mentally Challenged; she was impressed and she ordered two hundred dollars worth of greeting cards and a painting in oils made by the children of my school. She helped sell those cards to her friends in USA and spread the awareness about my school.

Our friendship has come a long way. I have never met her till now, someday I will. Every time we chat, she will inquire about the school and their activities and she is very keen to visit my school when she visits me in Mumbai in future, someday. She has helped spread the awareness about this school to all her friends in her circle.

During this ‘Joy of Giving’ week, I take this opportunity to thank my friend Vimmi for showing me the power of internet and helping me spread awareness about my school to the unknown world.

Thank you Vimz , thank you so much!!!

I am at the receiving end ~ Part 1

The Joy of Giving week starts on 26th September and I have been at the receiving end.

I am blessed with well wishers who admire my work with ‘Mentally Challenged children at Swami Brahmanand Pratishthan’ and they have extended their hand, reached out to me and have helped me to certain extend in helping me follow my dream,

So what is my dream?

It’s a simple dream of empowering the mentally challenged to lead a better life. I can never change their physical handicap, it is something that they are born with and they have to learn to live with, I cannot even change their living conditions, actually I can hardly change a thing but this is my feeble attempt to bring a smile to their faces by trying to help them in which-ever-way I can.

And for this, I am grateful to my friends and well-wishers for their moral and their financial support.

The next week, during this ‘Joy of Giving’ week, I will dedicate one post per day to show my appreciation to my friends who have cross my path, turned back and walked a mile with me.

So, watch out this space………

Sweating over 500-rupee-note

source: banknotes

I was in two minds today, either go to ‘Arena Animation Class’ for Flash practice or go to school for some updates.

I am all ready at 12 noon, I wanted to go to ‘Arena’ but I know that the instructor may not even bother to teach me any new tricks on animation because he does that only every alternate days and today is not that day, so by the time I have walked out of my gate, hailed an auto, I say ‘Bandra Bus station’

I am lucky that the auto overtakes my bus in time for me to board it.

I settle in the front seat just behind the driver all set for the 90 minutes trip, the cool AC breeze just above my head has no regulator. *Oh dear*! I have my BlackBerry to keep me away from other distractions.

The conductor comes to my seat and I give him 500-rupee-note and tell him “Belapur, CBD.”

“Give me the change, I won’t take your 500-rupee-note” he says

*What the hell* the bus ticket is Rs60 and he wants a smaller note? How can he not have a change?

“I have no change. My journey is long, you may give me the change at the end of the journey, and there is lots of time.” I say, as I fumble with my reading glasses.

“We don’t accept 500-rupee-notes” he says

Now this is news for me. A public bus does not accept big notes and they have no change? Are they afraid of fake notes that are doing the rounds in the city nowadays?

They want no risk.

*Thinking if those Babus will also stop accepting Rs500 in bribes*

“So what you want me to do? I don’t have smaller notes.”

“In that case you cannot travel in this bus.”

Huh? He is asking me to de-board the bus because I have bigger notes? *I have heard about people being asked to de-board if they have been pickpocketed and are not having any cash on them" but this? This is ridiculous.

I ask the girl sitting next to me to move over so that I can get off the bus. She is sorry for me and asks me to request the people in the bus for a change of 500-rupee-note.

*How silly it will look if I flash my 500-note, seat by seat, asking each commuter for a change?*

I am in no mood to draw the attention to myself, the bus is moving quite slowly, actually crawling, and there is too much traffic jam. I ask the driver to wait while a get the change from the shop outside.

None of the shops oblige. Nobody has 500-rupee change!! I never knew this was such a big note!

The driver is getting restless and refuses to wait.

*Go to hell* I wave out to him and he drives away.

Now I am desperate. I enter a fast food kiosk and he is willing to give me the change but, only if I give him some business.

I am not hungry, nor I am thirsty but order a bottle of orange juice.

With this unnecessary extra baggage of this juice bottle dangling by my fingers, I am too lazy for a long trip, I decide to go to ‘Arena Animation class’ instead.