Sunday, August 31, 2008

இனிய பிறந்த நாள் வாழ்த்துக்கள் ஜி3 அக்கா

மூவாயிரம் பின்னூட்டங்கள் வாங்கிய அபூர்வ சிந்தாமணி, பாசக்கார தம்பிகளை மேய்த்து கட்டும் அருமை அக்கா, பிளாக் உலகின் 'லேடி கைப்புள்ளை', பயமறியா பாவையர் சங்கத்தின் உறுப்பினர், Powered by Ctrl C, Driven by Ctrl V என்ற கொள்கையில் உறுதியோடு இருப்பவராம் எங்கள் ஜி3 அக்காவுக்கு இன்று பிறந்த நாள். வாழ்த்த வயதில்லை, வணங்குகிறோம்.

இன்று அக்காவின் பிறந்த நாள் என்பதால் மொத்த கேக்கும் அவங்களுக்கு தான். :-)

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

A day to remember

Yesterday went to Avvai illam in Adyar. We had agreed to sponsor for lunch for that day. The warden asked us to come there at 12.30. It was an emotional trip down the memory lane for the same place was once patronised by my dad.

We arrived dot on time (something of a record considering my notoriously unpunctual ways..but, that i wouldnt have missed the trip for anything in the world is a totally different thing). To our dismay we found both the main doors to be locked and since it was sunday no one picked the fone in the office. To our luck one cute looking kid, who was playing near the door, heard our voice and came to our help. We told her that we wanted to meet the warden. You should've seen the enthu with which the kid dashed towards the office room. The warden was an old lady (should've been in her late sixties) who was providing free service, being in her post retirement days. She took us through the place and gave us a brief history of that institution which has been founded on 1931.

Its dedicated only to gal children and has got a school and teacher training institute in its campus apart from a sprawling ground with volleyball and badminton courts. [One point to note is that they have two ferocious looking dogs which are un used to male visitors, as informed by the lady. Luckily I was walking with the warden. ]

We went through the buildings there which were in a really sad condition. I guess ever since they were built they would've hardly seen any renovation. The electrical wirings were dangerously old and were quite scary. The slanting roof made of "Odu" had some holes and were also in a real need for repair.

Since it was holiday, we couldnt see many kids and most of whom we saw, were busy washing clothes. The warden rang the bell for lunch and suddenly out of nowhere the dining hall was swarmed with kids. It was an amazing feeling to see so much kids after a long time and each one carried their own numbered plate for lunch. Those who had missed their plates shared it with their friends. All their chirpiness and laughter were so heart whelming and was a real joy to watch. When the warden rang the bell asking them to pray there was pindrop silence. All the children had their eyes closed and were actually saying some prayer. It was cute and heart breaking at the same time :(

We had actually taken camera to take snaps but felt so overwhelmed that we decided against it. I was surprised to see initials in front of all their names and when we checked with the warden we were shocked to hear that almost all the kids in that institute have parents!! In fact for around 50 of them they've both the parents alive, who for reasons known only to them, have left their kids in that place. And most of the remaining 200 and odd kids had atleast one parent, mostly mothers who got married to someone else and after their second marriage have left the kids there!!

I checked with them on what would be more helpful for them as a contribution. They accept anything as a contribution - be it food,clothes,money or physical help.
For feeding 200 plus kids one course of meal they require Rs 2000. They also run a school and educational expense for a kid in higher secondry comes upto 500 per annum and senior secondry comes close to Rs 1500 i guess. I dont remember. Also they want funds for renovating their buildings and for constructing new ones.

I came back from that place with my perspective on my wants and needs totally changed. How so little effort from our side can have such a drastic change on their lives and how selfish my thoughts seem when compared to their situation. And how blessed we are and how much we complain over things which appear so trivial when compared to what those kids lack. Even if we spare our used stuff with them, that itself would help them a big way.

I am more than sure that, all of us have a good samaritan in us, waiting for an opportuntity and a slight push in the correct direction. And more often than not we have this hesitancy over the legitimacy of a person or institution before we part with our hard earned stuff. The only way to get over it is to actually visit places like these and get a feel of your own. Believe me, words can hardly explain that feeling. I know of two people ( Nandu and Sat) who are already into this in a big way and have dedicated more than their time and money in efforts like this and are running an organisation called SMILE (for more details http://smilewelfarefoundation.blogspot.com/). And i am sure there are many more who are silentlly doing their bit for the society. Hope we get many more like them. May their tribe grow.

Friday, August 8, 2008

இன்று மாதவி பந்தலில் ஒரு கொண்டாட்டம்.

இனிய ப்ளாக் யூனியன் நண்பர்களே, இன்று
என்ன நாள் தெரியுமா? நாராயணனையும்
நமசிவாயனையும் பாரபட்ச மில்லாமல் பெருமை
படுத்தும் நமது ஆன்மிகப் புலவர் பதிவு புயல்
கேஆரெஸ் என்று அன்புடன் அழைக்கப்படும்
'கண்ணபிரான் ரவிசங்கர்' அவர்கள் இவ்வுலகில்
இன்று அவதரித்த திருநாள்.

மக்களே வாங்க வந்து உங்க வாழ்த்துக்களையும்
வாழ்த்து பாக்களையும் தெரிவித்து கொள்ளுங்கள்
என்று அழைக்கப் படுகிறீகள்.




ஆகவே இங்கு வாழ்த்தும் அன்பர்களுக்கு எங்கள்
யூனியன் சார்பாக எல்லாருக்கும் நமது பிறந்த நாள்
கொண்டாடும் சக நண்பர் இந்த கேக்க கட் பண்ணி
கொண்டாடுவார் (குடுப்பார் என நம்புங்கள் !!) என
அறிவிக்கப் படுகிறது.

ஹாய் ரவி, இனிய பிறந்த நாள் வாழ்த்துகள்.

Monday, August 4, 2008

Vetri nichayam



Naga Naresh Karutura has just passed out of IIT Madras in Computer Science and has joined Google in Bangalore .

You may ask, what's so special about this 21-year-old when there are hundreds of students passing out from various IITs and joining big companies like Google?

Naresh is special. His parents are illiterate. He has no legs and moves around in his powered wheel chair. (In fact, when I could not locate his lab, he told me over the mobile phone, 'I will come and pick you up'. And in no time, he was there to guide me)

Ever smiling, optimistic and full of spirit; that is Naresh. He says, "God has always been planning things for me. That is why I feel I am lucky."

Read why Naresh feels he is lucky.




Childhood in a village
I spent the first seven years of my life in Teeparru, a small village in Andhra Pradesh, on the banks of the river Godavari . My father Prasad was a lorry driver and my mother Kumari, a house wife. Though they were illiterate, my parents instilled in me and my elder sister (Sirisha) the importance of studying.

Looking back, one thing that surprises me now is the way my father taught me when I was in the 1st and 2nd standards. My father would ask me questions from the text book, and I would answer them. At that time, I didn't know he could not read or write but to make me happy, he helped me in my studies!

Another memory that doesn't go away is the floods in the village and how I was carried on top of a buffalo by my uncle. I also remember plucking fruits from a tree that was full of thorns.

I used to be very naughty, running around and playing all the time with my friends. I used to get a lot of scolding for disturbing the elders who slept in the afternoon. The moment they started scolding, I would run away to the fields!

I also remember finishing my school work fast in class and sleeping on the teacher's lap!

January 11, 1993, the fateful day
On the January 11, 1993 when we had the sankranti holidays, my mother took my sister and me to a nearby village for a family function. From there we were to go with our grandmother to our native place. But my grandmother did not come there. As there were no buses that day, my mother took a lift in my father's friend's lorry. As there were many people in the lorry, he made me sit next to him, close to the door.

It was my fault; I fiddled with the door latch and it opened wide throwing me out. As I fell, my legs got cut by the iron rods protruding from the lorry. Nothing happened to me except scratches on my legs.

The accident had happened just in front of a big private hospital but they refused to treat me saying it was an accident case. Then a police constable who was passing by took us to a government hospital.

First I underwent an operation as my small intestine got twisted. The doctors also bandaged my legs. I was there for a week. When the doctors found that gangrene had developed and it had reached up to my knees, they asked my father to take me to a district hospital. There, the doctors scolded my parents a lot for neglecting the wounds and allowing the gangrene to develop. But what could my ignorant parents do?

In no time, both my legs were amputated up to the hips.

I remember waking up and asking my mother, where are my legs? I also remember that my mother cried when I asked the question. I was in the hospital for three months.

Life without legs
I don't think my life changed dramatically after I lost both my legs. Because all at home were doting on me, I was enjoying all the attention rather than pitying myself. I was happy that I got a lot of fruits and biscuits.




'I never wallowed in self-pity'
July 28, 2008


The day I reached my village, my house was flooded with curious people; all of them wanted to know how a boy without legs looked. But I was not bothered; I was happy to see so many of them coming to see me, especially my friends!
All my friends saw to it that I was part of all the games they played; they carried me everywhere.

God's hand
I believe in God. I believe in destiny. I feel he plans everything for you. If not for the accident, we would not have moved from the village to Tanuku, a town. There I joined a missionary school, and my father built a house next to the school. Till the tenth standard, I studied in that school.

If I had continued in Teeparu, I may not have studied after the 10th. I may have started working as a farmer or someone like that after my studies. I am sure God had other plans for me.

My sister, my friend
When the school was about to reopen, my parents moved from Teeparu to Tanuku, a town, and admitted both of us in a Missionary school. They decided to put my sister also in the same class though she is two years older. They thought she could take care of me if both of us were in the same class. My sister never complained.

She would be there for everything. Many of my friends used to tell me, you are so lucky to have such a loving sister. There are many who do not care for their siblings.

She carried me in the school for a few years and after a while, my friends took over the task. When I got the tricycle, my sister used to push me around in the school.

My life, I would say, was normal, as everyone treated me like a normal kid. I never wallowed in self-pity. I was a happy boy and competed with others to be on top and the others also looked at me as a competitor.

Inspiration
I was inspired by two people when in school; my Maths teacher Pramod Lal who encouraged me to participate in various local talent tests, and a brilliant boy called Chowdhary, who was my senior.

When I came to know that he had joined Gowtham Junior College to prepare for IIT-JEE, it became my dream too. I was school first in 10th scoring 542/600.

Because I topped in the state exams, Gowtham Junior College waived the fee for me. Pramod Sir's recommendation also helped. The fee was around Rs 50,000 per year, which my parents could never afford.

Moving to a residential school
Living in a residential school was a big change for me because till then my life centred around home and school and I had my parents and sister to take care of all my needs. It was the first time that I was interacting with society. It took one year for me to adjust to the new life.

There, my inspiration was a boy called K K S Bhaskar who was in the top 10 in IIT-JEE exams. He used to come to our school to encourage us. Though my parents didn't know anything about Gowtham Junior School or IIT, they always saw to it that I was encouraged in whatever I wanted to do. If the results were good, they would praise me to the skies and if bad, they would try to see something good in that. They did not want me to feel bad.

They are such wonderful supportive parents.

Life at IIT- Madras
Though my overall rank in the IIT-JEE was not that great (992), I was 4th in the physically handicapped category. So, I joined IIT, Madras to study Computer Science.

Here, my role model was Karthik who was also my senior in school. I looked up to him during my years at IIT- Madras.

He had asked for attached bathrooms for those with special needs before I came here itself. So, when I came here, the room had attached bath. He used to help me and guide me a lot when I was here.

I evolved as a person in these four years, both academically and personally. It has been a great experience studying here. The people I was interacting with were so brilliant that I felt privileged to sit along with them in the class. Just by speaking to my lab mates, I gained a lot.

'There are more good people in society than bad ones'
July 28, 2008


Words are inadequate to express my gratitude to Prof Pandurangan and all my lab mates; all were simply great. I was sent to Boston along with four others for our internship by Prof Pandurangan. It was a great experience.
Joining Google R&D
I did not want to pursue PhD as I wanted my parents to take rest now.

Morgan Stanley selected me first but I preferred Google because I wanted to work in pure computer science, algorithms and game theory.

I am lucky
Do you know why I say I am lucky?

I get help from total strangers without me asking for it. Once after my second year at IIT, I with some of my friends was travelling in a train for a conference. We met a kind gentleman called Sundar in the train, and he has been taking care of my hostel fees from then on.

I have to mention about Jaipur foot. I had Jaipur foot when I was in 3rd standard. After two years, I stopped using them. As I had almost no stems on my legs, it was very tough to tie them to the body. I found walking with Jaipur foot very, very slow. Sitting also was a problem. I found my tricycle faster because I am one guy who wants to do things faster.

One great thing about the hospital is, they don't think their role ends by just fixing the Jaipur foot; they arrange for livelihood for all. They asked me what help I needed from them. I told them at that time, if I got into an IIT, I needed financial help from them. So, from the day I joined IIT, Madras , my fees were taken care of by them. So, my education at the IIT was never a burden on my parents and they could take care of my sister's Nursing studies.

Surprise awaited me at IIT
After my first year, when I went home, two things happened here at the Institute without my knowledge.

I got a letter from my department that they had arranged a lift and ramps at the department for me. It also said that if I came a bit early and checked whether it met with my requirements, it would be good.

Second surprise was, the Dean, Prof Idichandy and the Students General Secretary, Prasad had located a place that sold powered wheel chairs. The cost was Rs 55,000. What they did was, they did not buy the wheel chair; they gave me the money so that the wheel chair belonged to me and not the institute.

My life changed after that. I felt free and independent.

That's why I say I am lucky. God has planned things for me and takes care of me at every step.

The world is full of good people
I also feel if you are motivated and show some initiative, people around you will always help you. I also feel there are more good people in society than bad ones. I want all those who read this to feel that if Naresh can achieve something in life, you can too