chroma thoughts...:)

Friends, mentors, comrades, co-enablers and countrymen! It has been almost a month since I joined for the much acclaimed Gandhi Fellowship programme as a fellow for the batch 2016-18 by Kaivalya Education Foundation . So I just thought of sharing with you all, what my line of work is as a Gandhi Fellow.  Currently I’m working with four schools – two English medium, one Hindi medium and one Gujarati medium - under the ‘Thane Municipal Corporation’, all of them being under-resourced. My role is to act as a support system for the schools as whole and work towards obtaining necessary resources for the school and improving the Student Learning Outcome (SLO) of the students of classes 3, 5 and 7 in the subjects of Language and Math. Also, one of the main processes of the fellowship is ‘Community Immersion (CI)’, in which the fellow stays in a particular community for a month, studies the necessities and requirements of the community and initiate a public system project t...

"Where art thou?" He asked. And somewhere from a parallel universe, she too asked: "Where art thou?" Both of them never knew when exactly these words cropped up in their minds, or the reason for it. And also that someone else from a different reality was asking the same question to the stars up there. For him, it connoted to a longing for someone. But for her, it was about something long forgotten. For him, it was pertaining to the death of an acquaintance (he doubted). But for her, it was just an other lost story. "When someone leaves us, the space or void so created remains as it is. Such that it cannot be compensated by anything or anyone else." He thought. "It is an intense and never ending desire for life that leads us to many things; and at times also abstains from many others." She thought. "In any given scenario, words find it tough to translate emotions. Certain things stay as it is. Incorrigibly." Both of th...

“On really romantic evenings of self, I go salsa dancing with my confusion.” -           Waking Life (2001) Dazed Guy : I think my rationalism has reached such an extent that nothing interests me. Anything and everything around seems to be meaningless. Confused Guy :  How could that happen? Can you explain? Dazed Guy :  Just consider the very idea of patriotism. It is way too hypocritical, I feel. When something unique to Thrissur happens, say Thrissur Pooram , we make this statement that we’re proud to have born in Thrissur, the cultural capital of Kerala and so on. On 1 st of November, we say that we’re proud to have born in Kerala, the God’s own country. And on January 26ths and August 15ths we yell out that we’re proud Indians, while rest of the year we don’t miss out on a chance to mock the people from the neighbouring States even. Confused Guy : Rationalism is the doctrine that reason is the right ba...

… Siri: So, are you an atheist? Cortana: For a long time, I had been thinking that I was an agnostic. But now, I feel that I’m an atheist at times. Actually, I’m in a state between both right now. You know, I don’t believe in a single supreme power. And I have this idea that man shouldn’t believe in his supremacy. Also do I believe in Karma and Equilibrium. So essentially, I’m somewhere between an agnostic and atheist. Siri: Hmm.. Cortana: I know. It might be disheartening for you to see that someone whom you love is in a state of confusion, in a kind of dilemma. Siri: When did I ever say that? Cortana: I just assumed. At least, you admire me. Don’t you? Siri: That is never possible. We are from two different realms. And we are meant to be rivals. Don’t you get that? Cortana: Well, that increases my hope. Siri: Come to the point. Cortana: Yeah. Atheists are the most humane people I’ve ever come across, for the simple reason that they always...

The whole idea of writing this post came from the conversation I had with a friend some time back. She had visited our school and to her astonishment most of the teachers had the same or similar comments on the present day kids; that they find it hard to concentrate on something for a mere five minutes. The kids of the Lower Primary can’t get to learn the multiplication tables just because of the concentration levels that they possess. And most of them have this say that it getting worsened year by year. Much of the reason for this phenomenon can be attributed to our technological advancement or easy technology that our generation has got access to. Who has got time and patience for learning mathematical tables when each and every data they want are available at their fingertips at 3G speed? It was with such amusement that I noticed my cousin’s two year old daughter using an iPad. Well, she’s got an iPad for herself to keep her entertained. And also she uses any other Android mob...

It has been a year since the launch of Thrissur Chapter of Rhythm of Nation , a youth NGO committed to e-literacy and environment. Started off in Mumbai, RON also has its wings across Bhubaneswar, Orissa, Thrissur and now in Chennai. It was on 5 th January 2014, that the RON team in Thrissur started off with its very first campaign “Project LOL”( Learn Out Loud) under the guidance of Jithin Raj , the founder of RON . “Project LOL” is an e-literacy initiative by RON for the kids who have no direct access to facilities such as computers/laptops and internet. LOL has been one of the most successful campaigns by RON across its various other chapters. One year, and we’ve been into five campaigns here in Thrissur. And it has been such a pleasure to be part of it. #1- Project LOL, St. Anne’s Orphanage, West Fort, Thrissur. RON volunteers with the kids at St.Anne's We had forty-five kids ranging from classes 6 th to 9 th at St. Anne’s and around thirteen vol...

May 30, 2014. Thrissur. Watched the movie “ Bangalore Days ” FDFS, as decided earlier. Loved the movie. It’s a clean entertainer. Its not about the movie that I’m writing now. But then, it is about Cinema only. It was very much crowded by the ticket counter and there was an air of excitement around as it was a much hyped movie due to the wonderful star cast and also for the much acclaimed Director, Producer and Cinematographer. As I was going to collect my reservation tickets, I noticed someone standing in the queue. He would have been around seventy years of age, and was wearing a shabby shirt and a dhoti. He had a pale face and grey hair. This old man was struggling hard not to lose his place in the queue, in the midst of all the young people around. One could easily make out that he wasn't that affluent. And that sight set me thinking. “How come an old man generate such an interest in a youth oriented movie?” The lead actors, the director, the produce...