Sri's Musings from Bangalore

Note: This is an old report - a narrative I sent to by "group list" a while back in April 2009.

Dear Friends and Family,

Newspaper and TV are loaded with news that make us sad, mad and unhappy most often. I fear to read the papers and seldom watch TV – but when I do flip through the channels, most images seem to disturb me. Not sure how it is with most of you, but I would feel wonderful and at peace if our media would focus on the positives and nicer more pleasant things in life.

…

I would like to do a brief report out on a “regular” basis about “good things” happening around us. This is the first report or “digest” if you will, towards that end. Hope you will feel good about these and share your own positive stories. By sharing more little stories of sharing and caring, of creativity and compassion, of saving, re-use and concern for the environment, we could increase the +ve Energy around us. They could be little or large things, creating a small or a super positive impact….

* Mar 31, Tuesday

** While waiting for my husband to pick me up, I saw a lady construction worker cross by. I was having a cookie (snack in my lunch bag) and shared it with her. It was that nice “benne biscuit” (butter cookie) that’s so well made at the Woodrose club opp. our apt. where I bought it from. Anyway, the lady was quite pleasantly surprised by my gesture. I noticed as she moved away, that she did not eat it, but put it away in her shirt pocket, perhaps to give it later to her child that might be home. It was a hot afternoon and I wish I had a bottle of clean, fresh & cool drinking water to hand to her too. I’m sure she would have appreciated that very much – will remember to do that next time I see someone like her again on a hot summer afternoon.

* Mar 28, Saturday

** As the world celebrated “Earth Hour” today, it was good to see many homes in our flats also participate by shutting off the lights from 8.30-9.30 pm IST. We also participated and it was a small inconvenience to move out our dinner time in an attempt to save on electric power - a valuable resource. Maya stayed home in the balcony with a couple of her friends (and they sang songs she said) while Renganathan and me took a walk in the neighborhood for half hour, came back home and I cooked and laid the dinner table by candlelight for a few minutes!

* Mar 27, Friday

** Happy New Year (Yugadi/Ugadi) - Best Wishes!! See details of this festival on Wiki link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ugadi It’s the dawn of a New Year for people from the Deccan region of India – between the Vindhya mountains and the Cauvery river (states of Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh). People of Maharashtra call it Gudi Padwa and Sindhis, people from Sindh – celebrate the day as Cheti Chand). It was a holiday – nice to have a 3-day weekend – quite relaxed.

* Mar 25^th, Wed

** While driving to work, we saw a guy on a bike, looking at the sky and driving. Perhaps he does not want to see the rough roads (Bangaloreans can relate to the “state of B’lore roads”), but rather just focus on the clear beautiful blue sky? And others drivers will “simply adjust” to his way of driving!

* Mar 22^nd, Sunday

** My husband and me watched Tamil movie “Abhiyum Naanum” (Abhi and me). It’s a beautiful father daughter story set in the beautiful Ooty-Conoor region – lush-green tea plantations! It was wonderful to experience hearts that are “as large as the great outdoors” and “as limitless as the universe”. We can learn from our children, they have experiences too and may view things in a certain different refreshing kind of way. Love can be spread across not just close kith and kin, but to fellow humans that come into our lives at various stages – there is so much that can be “ours” – a family, a village, a nation, a world… “Slumdog …” was successful, but movies like “Abhiyum Naanum” depicting selflessness and unconditional family unity, respect and love - that spread the message of universal love will do a community good. (Here’s one link about the movie à Preview)

* Mar 20^th, Friday

** I took an auto from the entrance of our flats to go to my cousins’ place. I was very pleased to see a bunch of brand new autos lined up in the auto stand there. All of them had digital meters (which are “farer” than the other “analog” ones). I got talking to the driver and he mentioned to me that he owned the auto. Also, that he bought it on loan and some good soul in our apartments, actually signed the loan surety for him and a bunch of other drivers. That was awesome I thought, for someone to sign-off on behalf of all these people that he might not even know too well. So much trust and belief – somewhat like what Muhammad Yunus did with his Grameen Bank. When I got off at my destination, the driver gave me back the change and took exactly what the meter indicated – Rs. 56 (I noticed it was a little less that what I usually pay, but his meter was “good”). I guess when someone has trusted them, they in-turn work with integrity – spreading truthfulness.

** When I got home from work today, I was pleasantly surprised to see a courier waiting for me. It was a book that was mailed out to me from Chennai by Lakshmy, a friend from Houston . I was very glad to receive a copy of “Shout Out – Women of color respond to violence”. It was published in 2007 and is a nice collection of experiences depicting powerful ways in which women are standing up and fighting back violence against women. There are many stories of people working ardently to make a difference. One section of Chapter 1 “Strength in the Service of Vision” talks about “Voices of Pioneers: The Origin of the South Asian Domestic Violence (DV) Movement in the United States ” . This section is by Lakshmy Paremeswaran. She has covered the interviews she did with 4 founders of 4 South Asian DV orgs – Apna Ghar ( Chicago ), Manavi (NJ), Saheli (Austin) and SAWERA ( Portland ). I had spoken to Lakshmy on behalf of SAWERA a few years ago and it was nice to read this section and learn about all the movements that started then and are now well established entities serving our communities.

** On my way back from work – this hot March afternoon, I rode the BMTC bus (state run buses). When I got off, I handed a bottle of cold-clean drinking water to the BMTC bus driver. I often fill a fresh bottle at work – when I head home. The driver has a bottle of his own – but the large 7-up bottle he filled up in the morning, had become “boiling” water sitting under his driver’s “hot seat” (no pun intended J) (Links à overcrowded BMTC bus and another one – but happy and care-free riders who help out when the à bus breaks down J, typical rush hour traffic). Water, the fresh “suitable for drinking” kind, taken for granted in some parts of the world, is a scarce resource in many places à more so in cities like Bangalore . So, it’s always good to share it with fellow-commuters, esp. on a hot summer afternoon.

* Mar 20^th, Friday

* *Business world covered Vaatsalya – a socially responsible group that’s involved in affordable health-care and providing much needed services in Northern Karnataka and other smaller towns in various parts of the state. The article was about five young entrepreneurs who could make it big in the future http://www.businessworld.in/index.php/Corporate/In-A-League-Of-Their-Own.html

Although Vaatsalya was not among the top-five --- it was among the next best ideas: http://www.businessworld.in/index.php/Corporate/The-Next-Best-Ideas.html

See pic of the Ashwin Naik – one of the two founders. Renganathan now works for this group and it was nice to see the good news! Seemed like a close contest. Siva Ramamurthy from Intel (whom we knew in PDX , OR ) was among the judges, and that was a pleasant surprise too! See: http://www.businessworld.in/index.php/Corporate/A-Close-Contest.html

*Mar 19^th, Thursday

** At a time when hiring is rare and on the decline in fact, it was surprising to receive a momento from my company – a token of appreciation to employees for helping with hiring. They gave us a nice coffee mug with company logo and all. A nice gesture indeed! Even in tough times, they do need to fill some key niche areas and that is always a challenge. The cup will also encourage employees to reduce use of paper cups for coffee at the office - a nice environmental initiative too!

* Mar 18^th, Wednesday

** It was a pleasant surprise to received large donation from a friend I’ve met once but now know well through regular e-mail contact. The funds will go support 3 causes – a “Child Labour Avoidance Program” of a wonderful org. called Goodwill International, a small contribution to children of Matru School for the Blind in Yelahanka, education support for a poor Medical student and a young driving aspiring to break some barriers and move “up”.

* Mar 13^th, Friday (Friday, the 13^th, actually auspicious J )

“The Blue Drum Campaign for Waste Management in Mayflower”. I heard about this “environmental” project of residents of our neighborhood flats – building next door to ours - name of that tower is “Mayflower”. The report talks about how “residents of the Brigade Millennium complex launched a ‘Blue Drum Campaign’ recently to manage waste better. “Guards, housekeepers, maids, children and parents all got involved and it has worked”. Glad to share the good news. This is an Interesting and useful campaign – a new residents initiative. See the full report on “How this JP Nagar flat community cuts down its waste” à http://bangalore.citizenmatters.in/articles/view/884-waste-management-jp-nagar-flat

* Sometime in Feb

** We had an accident on the busy “infamous” Bannerghatta Road – got rear-ended during crazy rush-hour traffic. This was the first accident that Renganathan has had in the over fours years of driving in Bangalore ! We and the person who hit us remained calm. We just pulled over to the side of the road and let the incident go un-noticed almost as if it were. There was no commotion or “huge traffic jam” that is typically the case even if one vehicle just brushes against another. We exchanged business cards and decided to settle the dues with the Insurance agencies. It turns out that our insurance needs to pay even thought the fault was with the other driver. And with the claim, our premiums will go up. We did not know this. Anyway, we got an estimate for the repairs and to our pleasant surprise, the gentleman who hit us, very willingly came and handed us 50% of the cost of repairs. The issue was very amicably settled and there were no hassles what-so-ever. In fact our bill tuned out to be a little lesser that first expected, so now we owe this person a little amount back – I’m still working on meeting him to hand over that extra cash.

* Feb 13^th

** A dear friend sent me this wonderful link – a site she helped create! It’s a beautiful outlet for young children. Started by a group of parents who believe in helping every child realize his or her true potential. This is what they say about their new venture: “It is our endeavour to provide a safe, friendly, creative, fun-filled, interactive, and moderated online experience, FOR, OF and BY children, ages 5 through 16, with rich global content” ZapZany is a forum to encourage and nurture creative learning and artistic expression among children. With the challenges of modern day parenting that is magnified by the influence of media and the internet, we believe in positively motivating our children, by providing the right mix of input from parents, experts from various walks of life and positive role models for children/parents. Check us out at www.zapzany.com and tell your family and friends about us”

* Feb 12^th

** Another dear friend told me about this wonderful group and I joined it. It’s called “Freecycle” and their Bangalore group is "freecycleblr@yahoogroups.com" http://groups.yahoo.com/group/freecycleblr/

Works on the good-old “barter” principle. This on-line community is open to all who want to "recycle" that special something rather than throw it away. Everything posted must be free. This group is part of The Freecycle Network, a nonprofit organization and a movement of people interested in keeping good stuff out of landfills. Check out freecycle.org for other cities and info on the movement!

That’s it for this edition J

If you’d like to share any of your stories along the lines of the ones above, or any other +ve thoughts and stories, you are welcome to send them to me to include and distribute to my “friends” circle. It will be nice to spread the goodness and let it catch on like wildfire.

Best Wishes,

-Sri Lakshmi (Cheema)

"People are just as happy as they make up their minds to be." ß Borrowed from someone in my resident community e-group.