Mashood:
LET ME START BY DESCRIBING the lessons we have learned from our Taramani
experience:
After one year of working in Taramani, we asked ourselves if we are
effective, useful in this? At first we used to go there daily, involved
in every thing, conducting tuition classes, going with them to meet other
organisations. The volunteer talent was not used so fully.
Long term thing was lacking because IIT population is transient.
So maybe it is too early to draw a conclusion on this.
We feel that we can do the same work more efficiently by organising
the local leadership. We said, we will help you. So they started
monitoring their own tuition classes, they meet with government authorities
themselves. So our work is saved and I also think this is a better
way of doing it.
Prasanna:
HOW DID I GET TO KNOW AID? Around August I got my internet connection.
I have been thinking for the past 4 years, “I should be doing something
…” So I gave an infosearch command for community development and social
service. I stumbled across this AID India web page. I sent
a mail to Pushpa, I waited, no response, I finally called her. She
invited me to see the film WhenWomen Unite. They saw me as a fellow
who is pretty restless, who cannot stay in the same place. So Balaji
said, come to Kandhili, I will give you specific tasks.
Another thing we decided was we should have our weekly meeting on the
weekday so that we can go to the field on weekends. I would like
other chapters to consider this—well US has two days weekend, but Indian
chapters should consider meeting strictly on weekdays and going to field
on weekends, otherwise we will just keep on meeting and meeting.
First thing any AID volunteer is told is, when you go to Nemeli, forget
that you are from AID, there is no such organisation in the village, there
is just TNSF and only TNSF.
So I have been going every weekend to the village. So initially
Balaji gave me this work in the computer center, I was teaching the tutor
how to teach. I gave examples, made her do a mock teaching to me.
One more thing I told them is that we will help in marketing, they
can say that someone has come from Madras for teaching the tutor, improve
the market value of the classes.
You know how difficult conveyance is in the village, they have been
asking for cycles. So we have been driving these IIT people, somehow
get the cycles.
Savings – one of the most beautiful experiences I had, on Oct 4.
I went and spoke in my bad Tamil, they asked, why are you coming.
I am coming here because I want your children to be like me. Because
of my parents I am standing before you in this fashion. So I want
your children to be likewise grateful to you. So I told them unless
there are 20 people I will not come. So believe it or not the next
week they were waiting for me to tell me they were 21. So I go there,
they show me as a showpiece.
Abirami:
I AM A NEW MEMBER OF AID, I am also part of PITON, Present in Times
of Need. So I will just tell you about my experience in AID.
So Balaji said, you are free on Saturday and Sunday, why don’t you
come.
So these people asked me to wait in Guindy station at 5:30. I
am staying in Crompet, it is too far, and I don’t have access also, so
they sent one person, a great champion called KrishnaKant. At that
time I don’t know who is Krishna Kant and he does not know who is Abirami.
That is the fun. So it seems, he asked two people are you Abirami,
are you Abirami. They said no. At last I found him. It
seems Prasanna gave the instruction to Krishna, stand in the station towards
Mount Road. The people came and searched me. So I kept on calling,
Balaji, Pushpa, until 9:00.
But I made it a point, I should visit Nemeli. Okay, that time
I missed the trip. Next time they said we will arrange someone to
pick me up. No no I said. That time somehow this fellow did
not come. He was supposed to come at 6:45 he came at 7:15.
Again I went to the public booth to call, and the public booth wala said,
what they ditched you again? So that way I became very famous there.
I talked to the villagers, they said, yes, we accept that the savings
scheme is nice, but there are some people who are not in a position to
save, why don’t you introduce some vocational activities so that we can
earn and save. I hope this will be considered.
All Saturday s and Sundays I will be free and I will be in a position
to contribute myself more to AID activities.
Meera: I think that when we as outsiders come in we do give some
recognition to the local activist and that is a contribution in itself,
just by showing up.
Venkat:
We also put up slides in the Open Air Theatre (OAT). We have
a slide that says, are you proud of your country, is your country proud
of you and other typically senti stuff and reach out that way. We
also put up posters, but people do not take them seriously, write graffiti
on them. Also the film shows – we organized a film show on Sept.
18th with help of NSS. On the same day Balaji gave a presentation
and we discussed Anna Hazare’s programs.
Within IIT we have 12 serious volunteers. As AID volunteers grew
more in number, we need better communication. Most volunteers are
in Ganga, Sarayu and Kaveri hostels. So we needed more discipline,
meeting at a given time and place. Balaji gives a more global view
of AID.
On Friday we send out call for agenda items, post agenda on Monday,
have meeting on Wed, and post minutes again on Fri. Sometimes so
many people show up that we have to organize the meeting itself like a
conference with moderator, etc. Average turnout is 10.
Some of our achievements have already been outlined by Prasanna.
One is cycles, when we decided to get more involved in Nemeli. We
talked to Prof. Deshmukh in physics department, very helpful. He
donated Rs. 1000 and put us in touch with security office. We collected
cycles which were left with the security officers, used the Rs. 1000 for
repairing the cycles, which we were planning to take yesterday but will
take in our next trip to Nemeli.
We also went around the campus, focussing on professors housed in the
campus, door to door talking to people about AID. Another thing is
getting faculty involved. No description would be complete without
talking about Dr. Veeraraghavan, who has been a pillar of support for us,
arranging so many facilities for our activities, including the lecture
hall for this conference.
We also want to get more involved in fundraising. There is a
faculty association in IIT Madras, and we plan to make a presentation to
them as well. We may also be able to collect the money through SAC,
which is easier than collecting door to door. Each hostel has a student
amenities center, where small articles like soap etc are sold. We
thought of making a small token with the AID logo along with a catchy phrase
or sentence, placing a brochure of AID there and when people go to ransack
SAC they can collect these tokens.
The CSH is the nucleus, it also serves as a place where people can
come to find out about AID. If we are able to have a few articles
in the IIT Madras newsletter. Sarang is our annual cultural fair.
You have people from all the nearby colleges coming as well. This
year it is the last week of the month. We may present a small skit,
and presentation of AID by Balaji or Pushpa or somebody. It can go
a long way to publicize AID. We are also thinking of having a stall
in Sarang where we can publicize AID and also raise funds, possibly by
selling sattemavu. Sarang will also help us reach out to other colleges.
150 colleges will be there. I am sure some of them will become curious
about AID.
As far as long term plans go, sustenance within IIT – many of our volunteers
are in their first year and will be here for at least
3-4 more years. There are three more batches of students
coming in by that time so our number can only grow.
We also have an idea of having a newsletter for AID Madras. So
thank you all. AID Madras is still a baby, alive and kicking.
Jaya Shankar, Lecturer in Economics
WE REACHED TARAMANI, and got introduced to Ganesh, who is the leader.
In the few days I had with them I conducted some sessions, how to improve
spelling – all of them are interested in studying. I met one lady
who is 18 years old, married with one child, who wants to learn spoken
English. So we have started this. I have also given them a
board with chalk pieces. I have taught them how to read and improve
their conversational English. We had one conversation in the bus
stop, one in the garden. There they learned the words necessary in
those contexts.
I would like to talk about two qualities we as AID volunteers need
to have to organise ourselves and reach out to others: responsibility and
commitment. As social human beings, we have a responsibility to induce
a harmonious atmosphere, and respect for others. We must strive to
bring peace and prosperity in to our lives. Social responsibility
is not a new concept in our community. According to Bhagavad Gita
social growth should be gradual and moderate. Society is the custodian
of the youth and the economic power.
Commitment is a great power. Where there is commitment, there
is glory, as one performs ones responsibility as a social worker.
One such organisations is ours, Association for India’s Development, who
have committed as rational human beings to fight poverty in India.
India is a multi-faceted nation as all of us know. Our society’s
problems are far too complex and too deep. Poverty, unemployment,
health problems… Who is responsible? That is a big question mark.
It is in us as social thinkers – every heart has to vibrate to the
iron string of commitment. Economic development does not take place
in a vacuum. Economy is not a mechanized system. We have to
fight to solve these problems with a continuous process of perseverance.
We start, but to continue is more difficult. As Helen Keller said
we can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough. As
members of AID we are commissioned to study the pulse of the poor.
To quote U.S. Senator J.B. Gulliver, once a poor man himself, “I am not
wasting my sympathy on the children of the poor. Whatever sympathy
I have I will give to the children of the rich. If you have $100,000
and give it to a boy to start out in life, he does not start. Keeping
the boy and the $100K apart would be much better for the boy. The
cabin where Abraham Lincoln was born did not shelter a king, but something
more – a man.”
As a democratic family, we can form small groups meeting every month
to discuss topics of your choice, anything from cricket, to the market
economy. This develops collective strength and can foster a sense
of responsibility and fuel collective action to make our community and
our nation a healthy and diverse one.
I was introduced to AID by my son in Maryland, S. Ranjit. I have
been teaching economics and computer science in St. Michaels Academy.
This is my 21st year of teaching. Now I am a part time teacher, so
that I can be committed to the society. I wish you all the best of
luck
Ravi: I think the link between students and people like you who
could guide us, is very important. We also found this in Maryland,
where a few professors (only a few) got involved, and there was great joy
in the interaction. So I am very happy to see this.
I was also thinking that maybe some of you in the IITM group at some
opportune time could go to IITB and talk because that is how AID spread
in the US it is different if we go and talk, than if you yourself come
and tell them.
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